Meet Ralph Leitner and Family and Friends

photos this post all © Ralph Leitner
Great shot Ralph! It says it all for your family - you, paddling, your favorite hike here up - Desolation
and Ross Lake!

“Sea kayaking is about journeying. Sea kayaking is about exploring. Sea kayaking is about sharing experiences and memories with others. There is more to sea kayaking than just paddling.”

Pete Dingle

Ralph and his family and friends have been coming up every year to paddle these beautiful waters since the early 1990's.

Ralph first visited Ross Lake and the North Cascades in the 1970's when his Boy Scout Troop hiked 50 miles from the Canadian border down the Eastbank Trail to a gravel road that is now highway 20.

He returned with his troop to paddle 50 miles on Ross Lake,  the seed was planted - he was hooked.

He and family and friends have made it back every year since 1993 when he brought his 2 year old up here camping.

Ralph's favorite hike is the Desolation Trail up to the lookout.  One year camping out next to the cabin he met a group from the North Cascades Institute.  They were having one of their famous field seminars where they were studying the beat poets and writers who frequented these beautiful peaks and valleys in the 50's and early 60's.

What could be better - hanging out with family and friends watching the sun set over the Pickets and North Cascades listening to the words of poets and writers of several generations - Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, Philip Whalen, and most recently Tim McNulty - wow.

The jagged spires of Hozomeen.....

"Hozomeen, Hozomeen, the most

beautiful mountain I ever seen...... '

Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels

Thanks for sharing these memories, family traditions and adventures.

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."  -- Kenneth Grahame - from the Wind in the Willows