Chuck and Marion Hessey collection is back home in Yakima

Since 2008, I've been holding photos and papers from Chuck and Marion Hessey of Naches, Washington. The Hesseys were among the most widely traveled skiers and hikers in the Northwest during the 1950s. They helped establish Glacier Peak Wilderness and North Cascades National Park. I met Marion in the early 2000s and worked with her to digitize the Hessey movies and transfer them to UW Special Collections. Clips from the Hessey movies can be viewed here .

After Marion's death, her estate transferred a collection of photographs and papers to me. I don't need to hold these materials any more, so I've donated them to the Yakima Valley Museum. Folks interested in viewing these materials can contact the museum. I scanned about 300 photos from the collection and am providing a sampler below. Enjoy!

Marion and Chuck Hessey in the Spanish Camp cabin (Pasayten country) in 1958:


Marion Hessey skis near Remmel Mountain in 1958:


Enchantment Lakes in 1964. Note the glaciers:


Phil Dahl on the slopes of North Star Mountain, c1953:


Mt Daniel's Lynch Glacier in 1965:


Skiing Hogback Mountain above White Pass in 1955:


Marion Hessey and friend below the Butterfly Glacier (Dakobed Range) in 1953:

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The pics aren't loading for me... maybe its just me?

Lowell, is it possible there's some sort of hot-linking protection on your website? I tried embedding one of the images on another website, and got a broken image, as well.

Thank you for posting this - what a cool topic!

MtnPavlas wrote: Lowell, is it possible there's some sort of hot-linking protection on your website? I tried embedding one of the images on another website, and got a broken image, as well.

Thank you for posting this - what a cool topic!

That's weird. I've never heard of folks having trouble seeing photos that I've linked from my website and I've been doing it forever. All the photos I've ever posted on TAY have been hosted on my website.

I tried viewing this TAY thread on several devices, including an iPad that's not logged into any accounts, and I can see the pictures okay. So I'm stumped.

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Edited to add

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I posted a link to this thread on Facebook and several folks have clicked through to TAY and had no trouble viewing the photos.

I can see the photos just fine. Thank you for all your work preserving the materials from the Hessey's. And the Yakima Valley Museum is the perfect place for them to be appreciated by future generations. 

I hadn't seen that Crystal movie Lowell.  Its fun to see how things have changed.  All those open slopes due to logging for the mining ops up there look so sweet.  I stopped nearly every scene to study from where it was taken and what I was looking at.  It was a good 15 minute rabbit hole. 

PS I couldn't open the still shots either, but that is often the case for me.

Eric Lindahl wrote: I hadn't seen that Crystal movie Lowell.  Its fun to see how things have changed.  All those open slopes due to logging for the mining ops up there look so sweet.  I stopped nearly every scene to study from where it was taken and what I was looking at.  It was a good 15 minute rabbit hole. 

Don't know if you ever saw Crystal's 50th anniversary video. They used clips from Chuck Hessey's movie in that program.

These pictures are amazing (and inspiring). Thanks for posting.

Eric Lindahl wrote: I hadn't seen that Crystal movie Lowell.  Its fun to see how things have changed.  All those open slopes due to logging for the mining ops up there look so sweet.  I stopped nearly every scene to study from where it was taken and what I was looking at.  It was a good 15 minute rabbit hole.

According to Julie VanPelt's 2012 book, "Crystal Mountain, Built by Skiers," the Silver Creek area was used by sheep ranchers in 1890s. Forest Service Rangers suspected that the ranchers burned their grazing areas after each season to keep them open for future use. Given the amazing (and depressing) growth of trees on East Peak just during my lifetime skiing at Crystal, this seems plausible to me.

Cool post, thanks Lowell!