Chet's Memorial tree is now planted and settling into its peaceful spot in our beloved Como Park.  The tree is an Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), a long lived, majestic species whose seeds will feed songbirds and small mammals long into the future, chosen also because white pines are expected to tolerate climate change well in Minnesota.  The sight of this gorgeous tree gives me joy, as I hope it does for you as well.

Celebrate Life!

Lucy Osojnicki commented that 30 North Stars were in attendance at Chet's service on Feb. 22.  In her words, that is a testament to how much he was loved and admired. Thank you all for coming.

Lucy shared photos of the first 10th mountain hut to hut trip that took place in 1985, including trip members (front row) David Siskind (with brooms), George Vania, Chet Mirocha, Ted Cardozo and Sam Meddaugh.  Always a teacher, this photo shows Chet giving avalanche beacon training to the group.  In 1987 he also took High Altitude and Mountain Medicine training in Colorado.  

Past, present, future.  Sonia, (Stephanie’s daughter, Chet’s granddaughter) was surprised that the ski trip photo board at the service on Saturday displayed one of Chet’s 10th Mountain hut to hut ski trips. 

“I didn’t know Grandpa went to those huts!”, she exclaimed.  “I visited a 10th Mountain hut earlier this month, Harry Gate’s hut!”

We enjoyed looking through her Grandpas’ photo album this afternoon, and we discovered club member George Vania’s beautifully kept, typed daily journal tucked inside it chronicling a North Star trip 16 people took in 1990.  The trip started  — where else — at Harry Gate’s Hut!.  Sonia’s crew snowshoed in and enjoyed the same views, sunsets, 7.5 mile uphill climb (wow) and evening camaraderie.  Her grandpa's 1990 trip then went on to a separate hut to hut sojourn starting from Shrine Inn, to Fowler, Jackal and ending at Vance’s hut.  The trip was organized by Ted Kardozo, one of the pulk (supply sled) pullers.  Tom Rice was also a pulk “handler” along with Don Youngdahl, which on the steep alpine climbs could pose a challenge no matter whether going up, down or sideways.

On February 15, the 1990 group had a perfect day with excellent skiing.  Video clips were taken that day (which I would love to see), of everyone’s “unique style”.  From George’s Journal:

“As one would imagine, a lot of climbing is involved in this type of skiing.  In todays’ case, we did 3.5 runs with over 3,000 foot drop and climb…Each climb up is a meditative experience of one foot in front of another.  One keeps one’s eyes focused upon the tracks ahead and feels total involvement of both the arms to hold the skis in place, and the legs to thrust the body up the mountain.  This is a core group of competent skiers.  It was not possible for me to do telemark turns in the 3-4 foot powder.  The powder was in layers and if you got down to the roller bearing 3rd layer with your ski tip, it was a guaranteed face plant.  Chet was much more successful and a delight to watch.”

Past.  Present.  1990.  2020.

And now let’s travel back to the harrowing years starting in 1942 when the 10th mountain huts were built for their intended purpose, to train the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army to simulate conditions these ski soldiers would face in the Alps.  Erling Ellison, Sonia’s dad, learned first hand from his first father in law, Malcolm Schreiner, a sharp shooter from eastern Wisconsin, about his experiences there.  These hand picked men included as part of their training the actual hauling in of the materials and the help in building of the huts we now enjoy.  Malcolm was deployed subsequently in 1945 to the Italian Alps.  They were on wooden skis, guns slung on their backs with attacks and counterattacks happening acting sort of as point men, getting behind the Axis lines, trying to block their advancement.  Malcolm explained that along with bringing in equipment, they at times acted in what is now called “guerrilla warfare” from their skis.  Many men were lost in this endeavor.  The Division was successful and helpful in their mission.

Past and present legacies and experiences came together today, bringing into view the beauty of connection to nature, the necessity of organization, planning and execution, and the vast strength we can access within our bodies of both mental conditioning and sheer physical endurance.  

Let’s get out there and enjoy it!

2017

Dad shared a story yesterday at the dinner table, after I asked him if he had ever been to Alaska.

“Several times,” he said, and explained about the field samples he took on a trip to Fairbanks where a certain fusarium grows very well in that climate and is easy to collect in the research plots they have there for growing wheat.

“Did you ever go not for work, but just for recreation or pleasure?”I asked.

“Oh, yes!” he replied, his eyes lighting up.

Here is the story he told of his experience Telemark skiing in and around the Ruth Glacier, near Mount McKinley on a guided trip he took to that area, before the name change to Denali, in the 80’s. This trip was taken with his beloved Telemark skis as his traveling gear and companion.The trip was guided by a couple who used to also lead trips he enjoyed in Colorado, the10th Mountain Division hut to hut skiing.

Ruth Glacier is accessible only by airplane. They were flown in from Talkeetna on a single engine bi plane with pontoon runners attached for landing on the snow. Accommodations were igloos, which kept them quite warm and out of the wind. Weather conditions at that altitude and in such a remotely located area need to be monitored so that skiers don’t get socked in due to high winds and stormy weather. Some of the days were beautiful, clear and sunny, and on these days, they could see the wind whipping 90 miles per hour nearby on Mt. McKinley in the distance, swirling in a sort of eddy of snow near the summit.

After the skiers exited the plane, and got their gear together, they were roped together as they made their way up to the camp. This was so that if someone fell into a crevasse they would be able to be rescued and pulled out. There are also other kinds of special equipment used like a ski pole with a radar or beep that could be activated if you got buried in an avalanche – another risk of the area. It was very typical to hear avalanches swooshing down the slopes in the distance. You also had to be careful about not poking your skis into the snow in certain places, moving carefully, so that you would not open into a crevasse. So, they skinned and skied up the route to where the camp was, with its igloos waiting. And of course, lots of fresh powder snow and long, lazy slopes for excellent Telemark skiing conditions! Camaraderie, I’m sure was there to be had as well, and lots of good food, spirits and stories shared in the evenings!

At one point, as they were skiing along, roped together, an avalanche let loose that was a bit closer than what they had previously experienced, rumbling like thunder as tons of snow slid down the mountain. Though this avalanche began rather close to them, it was not close enough to be a big danger; their guides advised that while it was still safe enough, they should quickly move back about 100 feet or so to stay safe. People were snapping pictures as they did so, and Dad has a slide of this as well. As the avalanche thundered down, it lost momentum and finally stopped so near to the party that the force of its ending point sent up a cloud of its own snow that enveloped them with a shower of lightly falling snow that settled down around them. 

What a moment that must have been!

On the day near time to leave, one of those winter storms came up on the radar, and it was not the best. Bad weather was moving in. The plane was radioed to come pick them up. For some reason, I’m not sure why, there was only room for 9 people on this plane, and there were 10 people in the group. Someone needed to stay behind to wait until the plane could return, as soon as it could, to pick that last person up. Dad volunteered to be that person for reasons of his own, and was left with some food and told to wait in the igloo for the plane to come back. How lonely and quiet it must have been inside that igloo, listening to the wind whistling past in ever-increasing velocity as the storm amassed in intensity, growing closer. No sun shining that day! And so quiet, being alone in that remote, inhospitable place as day drew closer to dusk and then into night. When Dad heard the motoring sound of the plane’s engine coming in the distance, he heaved a sigh of relief. I’m sure he smiled and looked out at that approaching plane with a much lighter heart! 

And that is the story of Dad’s McKinley experience, high up along the Ruth Glacier, in Alaska.

Visits and revisits: Continuation of cooperation with Chemistry Department, Agricultural University of Poznań, Poland - revisits to Wawel, Kraków and Poznań (Chet and Donna Mirocha with Barbara, Krystyna and Piotr Golińscy).

Leisure time: active time to rest and to “accumulate power” – Barbara, Krystyna and Piotr Golińscy from Agricultural University of Poznań, Poland in Donna and Chet cabin (campfire and rollerblading).

Hospitality: Chet and Donna house was always open for guests and visitors (Barbara, Krystyna and Piotr Golińscy from Agricultural University of Poznań, Poland).

Cooperation: visiting professor Piotr Goliński (Agricultural University of Poznań, Poland, from June 1993 till May 1994) working and cooperating with Chet (Phytopathology Department, St. Paul, University of Minnesota).

Conferences: Third (September 1992, Radzików, Poland) and Fourth (May 1995, Martina Franca, Italy) European Fusarium Seminars influenced significantly our cooperation.

I am thankful that Chet was my friend. I have many fond memories of us cooking sloppy joes at Loaves and Fishes, biking together, studying Spanish together, having coffee and talking, learning the iPad. And memories of the dayswe spent with him and Donna in Tucson. I will miss him, but know his spirit will always be with us.

I'm writing from France.
I came to stay with the Mirocha Family in winter 1974(by then I was 20).
I was and still is a friend of Mary. We've met in France.
I will never forget the few months I share with your Family.
Stephanie with her rate called Sugar.
Julie cutting my hair.
Yours parents welcoming me into your home.
I had the privilege to spend time to The Cabin,
and to cross country ski with them.
I certainly also remenber Paul also called Pablo by Marouchka...
Sorry for my english, I was very very moved to see all these pics with yours parents.
Take care of you all, and hello from France             Dany Malaval

I have many fond memories of my dear friend Chet. We shared many adventures together: canoeing together up the Gunflint Trail, from our favorite camping spot on Flour Lake, to the Stairway Portage into Rose Lake, and then across the border into Canada’s Arrow Lake where we once were chased out of our campsite by a bear, getting snowed in on a winter camping adventure where a herd of deer slept next to our heated tent to stay warm, and the many pleasant weekends at the cabin where we read and hiked, or skied together.

Adventures but learning experiences as well: all the “ologies”, from botany to zoology, from biology to geology, from loons to beavers , from trees and fungi to insects  and rocks, Chet shared his vast knowledge with me. 

During the many years that I have known Chet it had become very  evident how much Chet loved his Donna and the the kids. He was a loving husband and a good father, a fine example of a “good man”.

All these shared times together and many more I will never forget. I will miss you, my dear friend!  May you rest in peace. I’m sure that they have canoes in Heaven.

Memorial Tree Fund:  We plan to purchase a memorial tree in Chet's name to be planted in Como Park next Spring. 

Read more about Chet and trees in Speaking for the Trees here.

On Nov. 26 I wrote a short essay about my dad which you can view by clicking this link, Hole in the Landscape. It is just one entry of many from my website blog I call Morning Walk Report.  Dad loved to read these, and I looked forward to and enjoyed his responses to the short writings I posted there.  Thanks for reading!.

Stephanie

Thank you, Dad, for picking flowers for me on my wedding day.  Some of them were wildflowers which you gathered with other family members.  I think all of you had a good time doing that!  Some of them we purchased for the tables and for the bouquets I made.  Flowers and especially the wildflowers are a rich memory of that day.

From Bob Paul Paulson

Bob, an old friend of the family sent this photo of his camping trips with Chet many years ago.