Mt. Index (on the left) as seen from the Skykomish River approximately a mile northwest of The Drunken Bear
Yellow skunk cabbage (Lysichitum americanum).
Peaks seen from the banks of The Drunken Bear (looking northwest).
Looking up river (the peaks in picture 3 are in the background).
Our little piece of heaven is located near the small town of Index, WA on Highway 2. It is a little over an hour's drive from the city of Seattle. The property runs along the beautiful Skykomish River (sometimes not so beautiful...more about this in a future post). We are surrounded by mountains with forests of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Alder and various other trees. Many of the trees are covered in a carpet of green sphagnum moss. The undergrowth consists of huge ferns, salmon berry. tall huckleberry bushes (filled with delicious berries in late summer), and other plants and bushes too numberous to mention. Huge rocks jut out from the forests as if they were put there for lookout points. The area around Index is well known for its rock climbing regions. So far none of our friends have taken advantage of the rock climbing and at this stage in life, I, myself, plan to leave that for the younger ones. You can spend hours sitting along the river taking in all the beauty of the region. Roger, my friend, thank you for finding this little bit of heaven which we now share with all your friends.
I thought it would be fun to have a name for our property. While on a trip through Yosemite and the vicinity I passed a bar called "The Drunken Fish". I thought what a fun name that would be since we were located along the Skykomish River. When I got home I discussed the name with Steve and some other friends. People seemed to like it until someone (yeah, you Yoey) suggested...fish doesn't sound "manly". After rethinking, I suggested "The Drunken Bear". That name seemed to satisfy everyone.
By the name, you might think we are always drunk. Well, we are not always inebriated, but we do like to have a good time and when you are sitting around a campfire, you do need something to quench your thirst. This in turn allows you and your friends to loosen up and you hear all kinds of interesting stories and tales. When there is more than one person at the campfire you can almost be assured there will be laughter and good times. I have to admit I have been at the campfire by myself and still had laughter...thinking about events of the past...or the future.
We have also had cowboy poetry read...thank you Bob and we have had a ballad sung...thank you Glenn. Once I read my diary of my first trip to Europe to my fellow travelers, Steve and Yoey, and we relived our European trip with many good memories. I get excited thinking of the good times ahead and hearing more about my friends lives and their history.
Welcome to The Drunken Bear.
Oh, and for a real drunken bear, check this out...
Mt. Index as seen from the front of the Mt. Index Café.
There was a great man named Roger Rigney who had visions of a cabin along a river. Before Roger had the chance to reach his dream he passed on. His family gave me and my friend, Steve Carlson, the opportunity to keep the property by taking over the payments. This was in early 1998. Since that time, there have been many wonderful gatherings on the property with many a night sitting around a campfire.
It is 10 years later and a cabin is in the process of being built.
I grew up in Montana, living there until 1974 when I decided I wanted to live in a big city. Seattle was the friendliest city I had visited and I have never regretted the move.
