CWU Police lieutenant and climbing buddy summit 12 Northwest peaks in 11 days

Central Washington University Police Lt. Marc McPherson and his Ellensburg climbing buddy, Nick Burson, were featured in a Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper article over the weekend, chronicling their 11-day mission to summit every volcano in the Cascade Range taller than 10,000 feet.

McPherson and Burson — a corporal in the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office — set a goal of climbing all the tallest volcanoes in the Cascades, from Lassen Peak in California to Mount Baker, east of Bellingham.

Last summer, they made their first attempt, starting with Lassen and working their way north. But they encountered trouble on North Sister in Oregon and decided to postpone their ultimate goal until this summer. Seeking redemption, they decided to start with North Sister this time around.

Their strategy ended up paying off.

"We wanted to get the one that got us last time out of the way first," McPherson said in the article. "Turns out that was not actually the toughest part of the trip."

McPherson and Burson set out July 23, with North Sister in their sights, and then crossed a saddle and summited Middle Sister. Then, they drove two hours to a trailhead for South Sister, reaching the peak that night. Next, they drove south to California, where they bagged Lassen Peak, Mount Shasta and Shastina.

"We did our first six mountains in the first 72 hours," Burson said.

The duo tackled the 10,502-foot Mount Jefferson next and then kept moving north to Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Glacier Peak and then the grand finale, Mount Baker.

When they reached the Park Butte Trailhead after descending from Mount Baker on Aug. 2, they'd been on the road for just shy of 11 days. All told, they'd hiked nearly 170 miles and gained 72,014 feet of elevation.

In reflecting on the trip, they talked about what they enjoy most about being on top of a mountain.

"We love the peacefulness up there," McPherson said.