Harvey Manning, 1925-2006

While perhaps not an icon of Pacific Northwest backcountry skiing, I personally believe that we all have a lot to thank Harvey Manning for, and sure am sad to see him go. 

Following is a link to the Seattle Times article on him earlier this week:(Perhaps Charles or another can correct the link if it doesn't appear correctly.)



I know that my younger years were shaped greatly by his work, and I wouldn't trade for a minute my romps on Tiger and Cougar mountains over the years, not to mention early backpack trips with my Dad that were planned around descriptions in his many guide books.  Who among us does not have at least one "Manning" title on our bookshelf?

As the Editor for the First Edition of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, and as a champion for Wilderness areas in Washington including the creation of North Cascades National Park -- not to mention the Mountain to the Sound Greenway -- his fingerprints are on just about everything I cherish about Washington State and the Cascades.  The list goes on and on...

If you knew him, you either loved him or hated him.  I happened to agree with him on many issues (parking fees, etc.) and I enjoyed corresponding with him over the years.  His type-written, hand-corrected notes were always entertaining and opinionated.  In the most recent (about 6 weeks ago), it was clear that he wanted to see a change in Congress, and I am happy to know that he lived long enough to see that happen.

Whether you appreciated his style or not, he sure was effective, and has left a lasting legacy for the rest of us to enjoy and admire.  I am not sure who the next Harvey Manning will be, but let's all be motivated by his dedication and commit ourselves to staying involved with respect to the current and future decisions that will shape our wilderness areas and trails here in the Pacific Northwest.

Happy Trails Harvey -- may you never look down and see a parking pass on my dashboard 

J.P.

Thanks J.P.

Over in CascadeClimbers.com, I posted an excerpt of some of my favorite writing by Harvey Manning. See this thread .

Harvey got pretty crotchety in later years, and many people were turned off by it, but his contributions were so profound that I've always been inclined to cut him a lot of slack. We owe him a lot.

Harvey Manning vigorously promoted creation of what he called the "Ragged Ridge Wilderness Area." That proposal has morphed into the current "Big Sky Wilderness" that has passed the U.S. Senate several times but was blocked by the chairman of a House committee. That Chairman lost the election and prospects for the wilderness bill passing seem good. It would be a fitting tribute to Harvey Manning to name that wilderness area for him.