Spring 2001 - Blanchard Mountain

Worth the Ride
by Laura Query
Photos by Chris Goodenow

During the last 13 years, Mike McGlenn has come to believe the wilderness always looks better from six feet off the ground. As a member of the Backcountry Horsemen of America since 1988, he has roamed many Northwest trails on horseback. And; although McGlenn is always ready to ride anywhere, Blanchard Mountain is his recreational home.

For McGlenn, Blanchard Mountain offers one of the only trails that allows horses and is open year-round in northwest Washington, aside from the Baker Lake Trail, which is more than 85 miles away from Bellingham, Wash. .

McGlenn and his wife Chris, residents of Bellingham, visit the mountain with their horses, Whip and Smokey, up to three times a week between October and July. McGlenn’s hobby has become such a priority that he no longer accepts appointments for his independent marine inspection business on Fridays. .

In addition to riding Whip, McGlenn does a lot of service on the mountain with the Whatcom County chapter of the BHA. .

The BHA is a group of volunteers whose primary purpose is to defend "the legal and moral claim by American people to use horses and mules for recreation on public lands." .

Established in Montana’s Flathead Valley in 1973, the group has continued to flourish as both a club and community service organization. Its members perform more than 33,000 hours of volunteer service on public lands annually. Approximately 3,000 members in 33 chapters in Washington state do everything from trail maintenance and litter pick-up to educating the public on responsible outdoor practices. .

"It was started by a group of guys sitting around a campfire, literally," McGlenn said, his silver hair catching the rays of the sun shining through his office window. "They were concerned about the stock user being pushed out of the wilderness by other groups." Between 1996-1998 McGlenn served as the president of the BHA of Washington. He is currently running for the national chairmanship of the organization. However, at the time he joined the BHA, McGlenn knew very little about horse training or trail riding. .

"I’ve been riding this same horse for 13 years; we learned how to do this together," he said. "When we started neither of us knew anything. I sometimes wonder if we do now. "When you can put together your mental training and your animals' mental and physical training and the two of you become a team ... it gives you a deep sense of accomplishment and companionship." .

In their time riding together, McGlenn has come to know Whip’s personality very well. "He’s a little ornery, like his owner," McGlenn chuckled. .

McGlenn said he enjoys working with Whip and described the satisfaction he feels as a member of the BHA. .

"It’s fun," McGlenn said. "There’s a great deal of satisfaction riding on a trail and seeing a log with holes in the middle of it and saying ‘I sawed that log out of this trail, this trail is open because I came and worked that day.’ Or you cross a bridge and think ‘this bridge wouldn’t be here if me and my horse didn’t pack the timbers in for it.’" .

The need for the services BHA provides has increased since McGlenn began riding on Blanchard Mountain in 1988. Human influence on the area, such as vandalism and litter, is great. .

"Vandalism is an ugly thing," McGlenn said. .

For the last three years the BHA of Whatcom and Skagit County have conducted annual garbage clean-up workdays on the mountain. An average one-day work party will collect anywhere from 1,500 to 2,200 pounds of garbage, McGlenn said. .

"It always amazes me how someone can carry a full can of beer five miles to a lake and not be able to lift the empty can to carry it out," McGlenn said. "I find a paper latte cup six miles up the trail, and the wind didn’t blow it there." .

Vandalism is just one of many threats to Blanchard Mountain. Logging the area could have severe economic and social consequences. .

"There is an economic value to a trail," McGlenn said, recalling the long line of trailers he often sees parked on the ridge near the trailhead on Blanchard Mountain. "It has to do with how many people use the trail, what they pay into the economy for gas, stables and restaurants. It’s a large industry." .

The mountain is known around the Northwest for its beautiful views. It is a popular recreational area for many groups. .

"The impact is fairly far reaching," McGlenn said. "If you close an area, the people who were recreating there have to find a new place to go. If we can’t go to Blanchard [Mountain], where are we going to go?" .

A study published in the BHA Informational Booklet found that the recreational segment of the horse industry is worth nearly $28.3 billion per year in the United States. More than 4.3 million people participate in the horse industry nationwide, and it employs 317,000 people. For this and many other reasons, there is a current proposal to make Blanchard Mountain a Natural Resource Conservation Area. More than 28,000 acres in Whatcom County have this designation, said Mark Morrow, public information officer of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Making Blanchard Mountain a NRCA would protect it from timber harvest while maintaining its accessibility. McGlenn, however, is skeptical of the NRCA proposal. .

"I am not necessarily100 percent for this NRCA designation," McGlenn said. "I would like to see the area preserved but through some other means." .

McGlenn is worried that if the area were designated a NRCA it may become inaccessible to horsemen and other recreational groups. .

"One of the concerns we have about making this a NRCA is that when that status is given something it can literally be fenced off and everybody closed out, depending on how it is set up," McGlenn said. .

Fellow BHA member Sam Miller agrees with McGlenn that Blanchard should remain accessible to all recreational groups. .

"It’s a unique spot," said Miller, who has been with the Whatcom County chapter of BHA since its inception in 1986. "We sure don’t want to lose it. We feel connected to that trail and have put a lot of time and effort into its maintenance." .

McGlenn agrees with the way the DNR is currently managing the area. .

"The DNR is, in my view, sensitive to what’s being done here," McGlenn said. "They manage it in a slightly different manner than they would something that is 20 miles up in the mountain because it is more of a community forest." .

The days of riding pass quickly, and for McGlenn the battle continues. Protecting his home away from home is always a challenge, but well worth the ride.

Archives | Introduction | Welcome to Blanchard Mountain | Paper Trails | The Harvesters | A Cedar Living | Setting the Stage | Trail Block | Worth The Ride | Economics of Logging | Economics of Recreation | Living in the Shadow of the Mountain | A Walk in the Woods

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