Norman Clyde
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| Norman Clyde | |
| Born | April 8, 1885 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Died | December 23, 1972 (aged 87) Bishop, California |
| Burial place | Norman Clyde Peak |
| Known for | Mountaineering first ascents in the Sierra Nevada |
Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885–December 23, 1972) was a famous mountaineer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 100 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana. He also set a speed climbing record on Mount Shasta in 1923. [1]
Clyde was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He attended Geneva College graduating in the Classics in June of 1909. After teaching at several rural schools, including Fargo, North Dakota and Mount Pleasant, Utah, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1911. After two years of graduate work he returned to teaching, mostly in northern California.
He spent many summers traveling about in the Sierra Nevada, bagging first ascents. He served as climbing leader at Sierra Club base camps where he became known as "the pack that walks like a man" because of the huge backpacks he carried. In addition to as many as five cameras, he carried a hammer and cobbler's anvil in order to make field repairs to client's boots.
He became principal of the high school at Independence, California in 1924, but resigned in 1927. He was accused of firing of a gun during a discussion with some students who came to vandalize the school on Halloween night. Subsequently he spent his winters as the caretaker of the local lodges, including Glacier Lodge on Big Pine Creek, and a fishing cabin which belonged to Lon Chaney, Sr.
Clyde lead or participated in many mountain rescues and is credited with saving a number of lives. He said of himself, "I'm like the village half-wit who could always find Old Bes the cow when nobody else could. I just imagine where I'd go if I were Old Bes – and then I go there." He also helped in many recoveries and is remembered for discovering Pete Starr's body on the Minarets, in 1933, after all other searchers gave up. Clyde buried Starr's body where he found it on Michael Minaret. [2]
Norman Clyde still guided parties into the Sierra into the 1960s, when he was in his seventies. In the 1950s and 1960s, he lived by himself at the old Baker ranch-house on Baker Creek near Big Pine, Inyo County. Because he was trained in the classics, Norman Clyde loved to read books in Latin and Greek. At the Baker ranch-house, Clyde had thousands of rare classical books. At age 80, he was still sleeping outside the ranch-house on a mattress and sleeping bag, as long as it was fair weather. In the spring of 1968, he transferred to a skilled nursing facility in Bishop where he could receive adequate care. He died in Bishop at age 87, surrounded by the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada that he loved so much.
Clyde Minaret, Clyde's Ledge, Clyde's Meadow, and Norman Clyde Peak (one of the Palisades) bear his name. His ashes were scattered from Norman Clyde Peak by Smoke Blanchard, his son Bob Blanchard and a party that included Jules Eichorn.
[edit] References
- ^ Eichorn, Arthur Francis, Sr. (1954). Record Ascents and the 1925 Marathon. Mount Shasta Herald. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
- ^ Secor, R. J. (May 1999). The High Sierra, Peaks, Passes, and Trails. Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-625-1.
[edit] Bibliography
- Clyde, Norman (1998). Close Ups of the High Sierra. Spotted Dog Press. ISBN 0-9647530-3-0.
- Clyde, Norman (1971). Norman Clyde of the Sierra Nevada; Rambles Through the Range of Light. Scrimshaw Press. ISBN 0-912020-19-9.
[edit] External links
- Galic, Hrvoje. Lonely Grave in the Sierra. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
- Alsup, William. The Search for Peter Starr. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
