White Pass

White Pass

White pass, just east of Mt Rainier marks the passage of time for me as this was the last time I was able to take to the woods with my father before age and health considerations got in the way. Dad had recovered from bypass surgery and seemed to be in excellent health. One of the brothers in our ward was sponsoring a 25-mile backpacking trip and I was thrilled to have along my two boys and their Grandfather.

A few years earlier, Gramps and Grandma Marquis and my brothers Dave & Chris when on a similar short backpack trip – we had such a good time then so I was really looking forward to this one. It is just so easy to let the travails of young adulthood swamp out such opportunities. As an adult with my own kids about out of the nest, I hope to make such trips a more regular part of our lives. White Pass is a gentle swale between great mountains, but even so there were challenging sections. We made all our own food and ate like kings. Every morning at the crack of dawn, Dad would take to the water. He always loved to swim and even now at his 75^th birthday, swims in local pools. However, in these frigid lakes, Dad always earned the official polar bear award diving in early morning with nary a whimper whilst most of us fraidycats waited till the noon sun enticed us.

Jared, Jordon & their cousin Shawn backpacked and carried their weight with no complaint. We had them use the old tube tents just like I had as a 12 year old scout on my own 1^st 50 miler.

At one site we found a great cliff to jump from.