Jack's beloved Desolation Peak inspires band name

British pop sensation Keane got drunk one night and decided to release an alt-country album. They named their alter-ego band Mt. Desolation, after Jack's beloved Desolation Peak in the Cascades.

Read about it here.

Cool.

Desolation Peak alternative?

If, like me, you'd love to visit Kerouac's Desolation Peak in the North Cascades but it's too tough a trek, there's an alternative that might give you a similar experience. It's the fire lookout at Park Butte, a few miles southeast of Jack's beloved cabin. You can read about it here. At 7 miles and 5,400 feet with a 2,200 foot elevation gain, it rivals the hike to Baxter Peak here in Maine, which almost did me in during the summer of 2009. I haven't tried anything nearly that difficult since, and may not again. But, it's in the back of my mind.

I plan to hike French's Mountain later today. It's more my speed. After all, I am approaching the double nickel. And, it's only a couple of miles from home.

A visit to Desolation Peak

Click here for a modern-day story about a visit to Kerouac's beloved Desolation Peak, referenced in several of his novels. I wrote about this in a previous post available here.

If I could visit one Kerouac destination that I doubt I'll ever really do, this is it.

Jack's Desolation Peak cabin in the news

I've posted the above picture in the past - it's the fire lookout cabin where Jack spent three months or so in 1956 and his experience there is featured prominently in his novels The Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels. Here's a recent article from the Ottawa Citizen: Beat goes on at Kerouac's Cascades cabin.

It's definitely a Kerouac fan destination. Just the travel logistics to get to the trailhead are daunting, so only diehards make the visit.

I'd love to see it, but may have to settle for the photograph.

Desolation Peak

According to this website, below is a picture of the "mountain shack" (that's what Jack called it) Kerouac lived and worked in as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades in 1956. He writes about that experience in Desolation Angels and The Dharma Bums.



This website has a bunch of cool pictures of the shack and the surrounding beauty, accompanied by text from Jack's novels. The latter site says the shack is 14' by 14', was built in 1933, and is still used by the forest service.

Sign me up for a month this summer! I'm taking June. Crystal wants July.

Yair!