Mt. Stuart
Saturday, November 8, 2025
8:53 AM PST
Ellensburg, WA
Last year on a spring trip to MRO, a rest stop had a great view of the Stuart Mountain Range. I love a good informational plaque, so I read one about its history: Civil War general George B. McClellan named its eponymous peak, Mt. Stuart, after his dear best friend Captain James Stuart. Stuart died some time earlier during a battle with an indigenous tribe in Oregon. I only have a faint mental image of why he may have been there…
I’m not fully sure why this story stuck with me, six months later, but I now have a favorite mountain range. It’s my desktop wallpaper, and whenever it comes up in casual conversation as one’s favorite mountain ranges are bound to do, I profess my love dearly for these fairly unknown peaks. As far as mountains go, anyway. You hear about Tahoma, Baker, the Cascades a lot as a Washingtonian. Yes, the Stuarts are not quite visible from Seattle, but I still think they’re underground. Kinda like Radiohead.
Fun fact about George McClellan: he was a governor of New Jersey, my “home state” (whatever that means.) The neighboring street in my childhood town is named after him, yielding constant complaints from my 10th grade history teacher. He found him a bit of a coward, and some Wikipedia-ing yields that he (McClellan) fell out with Lincoln after essentially abandoning Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Antietam. Nevertheless, I often feel a vague emotional connection to other people from New Jersey, so that’s one reason I have a favorite mountain range.
But I think it’s just an interesting story. I have no idea what a New Jerseyan was doing all the way in eastern Washington State, in the antebellum era, naming mountains. Did he climb it? Why did he look at the same mountains I look at now and think of his dear, dead friend? Did his friend like mountains? What led to his untimely demise?
I doubt there is conclusive records to answer most of these questions, but anyway not everything needs an answer and I don’t even care to know it. I like residing in this area of uncertainty from time to time, and I like having favorite mountain ranges.
I know that it’s become a bit of an Internet meme to add “whimsy” to your life—and I disagree with the notion. I think my life is plenty wonderful without needing to maximize anything about it. I enjoy reading really long (29 page!!) research papers about the stellar formation history of M31, even though it’s been like 12 minutes and I’m still on the first page. It’s not particularly whimsical for the common reader. I enjoy always being late for class, somehow. But I guess, if you ever feel the need to really add some spice to the mundane, even though it’s plenty flavorful on its own, you can find your favorite mountain range.
Not that I’m gatekeeping the Stuarts, but they are my favorite. There’s plenty of other good mountains out there!
I’m at MRO! I may have mentioned this above. It’s my only trip this winter, but perhaps I’ll be back in spring. I worked on the dome paddle a bunch yesterday, and today we will mess around with more stuff and go back to Seattle.
Yes, I have eight research papers on M31 to read for a new research project I got involved with. I did not know M31 was “just” Andromeda, but now I do!
Tuesday my friends and I are driving to Vancouver for Veteran’s Day. It will be fun! I have a long but busy week ahead, ending (and continuing) with more midterms. This second part of the quarter has really sped on by, but we have another month yet.
I don’t have much else to say personally. I was looking forward to this trip the whole week and now I’m here! And I have more reading to get to. See y’all later.