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Big Red bites the dust- RIP

We are sad to say the the trustĀ­ed red 95ā€² Ford van that has transĀ­portĀ­ed many a climber into the mounĀ­tains of the North CasĀ­cades has finalĀ­ly thrown in the towel.

There were times when Big Red was not cruisĀ­ing, like the heat wave it drove through on the east side of the mounĀ­tains on the way to Winthrop. Vapor lock. Too hot to cruise, but some kindĀ­ly local folks let our group flop for the night on their farm before the group resumed the next day, on their way to the fanĀ­tasĀ­tic LibĀ­erĀ­ty Bell MounĀ­tain. Now that is an added advenĀ­ture right there- thanks Big Red!

But, for the most part, Big Red delivĀ­ered and safeĀ­ly transĀ­portĀ­ed our groups from the busy streets of SeatĀ­tle and up potĀ­holed roads on obscure CasĀ­cade MounĀ­tain logĀ­ging roads leadĀ­ing to the remote trailheads. 

Weā€™ve replaced Big Red with a new ToyĀ­ota SienĀ­na van, which will proĀ­vide betĀ­ter fuel effiĀ­cienĀ­cy and a very comĀ­fortĀ­able ride for our guests. Hard to replace the charĀ­acĀ­ter of Big Red though and the well over a 100,000 miles of wear in tear in the mounĀ­tains. With luck and some TLC, it wil be runĀ­ning around on difĀ­ferĀ­ent misĀ­sions as we have donatĀ­ed the van to a VetĀ­erĀ­ans organziĀ­aĀ­tion- keep on truckin!