This hike by Jeremy and Christopher, up Tabletop
Mountain on the north side of Mount Baker may be the worst case ever of
Nephews in Danger. This is also remembered as one of the most fun times
their uncle ever had with his nephews. In years to follow there were
other snow related Nephews in Danger adventures, such as a skiing trip
up by Monte Cristo, and another skiing time with Christopher by Baker
Dam when there were some extreme out of control moments on steep
downhills, but their uncle still has nightmares about a few moments
during the Nephews in Danger adventure shown in the following photos....
Leaving the parking lot at where the road to Mount Baker
ends. This area is only open to cars from mid Summer til it gets
covered with snow again. This Nephews in Danger incident took place in
early September. Mount Shuksan is in the background. The Mount Baker ski
area is to the left of the nephews, a few hundred feet lower in
elevation from where we are here and Mount Baker is to the right of
where the nephews are in this photo.
We begin the ascent up Tabletop Mountain. It looks
fairly safe. And there are a lot of fellow hikers.
We are now well up on Tabletop Mountain, trying to pass
some slow semi-elderly people with walking sticks. Mount Shuksan is to
the right in this photo.
Jeremy appears a bit concerned as the climbing grows
steeper and looking down becomes a bit more scary.
Success. The nephews have climbed their first mountain!
And so far there really has been no danger.
After some convincing Jeremy and Christopher agreed to
sit down on top of Tabletop Mountain with Mount Shuksan in the
background and pose for what became their uncle's all time favorite
photo he has ever taken. They are obviously in no danger here.
With Mount Baker behind him Jeremy pretends to throw a
snowball at his uncle. The only one in danger here is the uncle.
Well. This is one of the never before revealed photos
documenting a moment of a Nephew in Danger. Jeremy asked if it was all
right to 'ski' down this slope. It didn't look too terribly
dangerous his uncle thought, and it seemed to end in a nice safe pile of
large boulders. As Jeremy began his slide he quickly picked up speed.
His uncle quickly hurried after him, afraid something bad might happen.
But Jeremy executed a maneuver he had seen watching ice skaters at the
Olympics and came to a very graceful stop. While his much heavier uncle
careened out of control and only stopped when the ice turned to rock.
But this wasn't the worst moment of Nephews in Danger, nor is it the one
that has produced nightmares. The worst moment was owned by Christopher,
not Jeremy. We'll look at that next...
Christopher asked if he could go down this. His uncle
thought it looked less dangerous than the one Jeremy had just gone down,
so his uncle did not say no. As soon as Christopher reached the point
you see in this photo he literally shot into the air, flipping onto his
stomach, sliding down the slope very fast, putting arms out to try and
stop. Rocks and boulders dotted the snowfield. There were holes in the
ice, and a few ice ponds. Christopher slid what seemed like a couple
hundred feet. By the time Jeremy and his uncle reached Christopher, he
was standing and shivering and a bit wet. And he asked if he could do it
again. This time his uncle said, no, it's getting late, we better start
heading back.
Triumphant mountaineers, and veteran Nephews in Danger,
Christopher and Jeremy stand in the growing darkness, with Mount Baker
behind them, ready to make the long trek back to the van.
This may appear to be a Nephews in Danger moment, but
it was not really this dark and we could see quite clearly and follow
the trail quite easily.
This day their uncle told his nephews that they would
come back to Mount Baker the next summer and climb the south side of
Mount Baker. But we never did. Jeremy made it part way up the south
slope, on his uncle's birthday, a couple year's after this, but no climb
was ever made up the slope of Mount Baker. Only nephew Joey was ever put
in that danger...Christopher and Jeremy's uncle may be in the area the
Summer of 2002, perhaps the long promised climb up Mount Baker might
happen then...
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