Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Trailblazer: Vernon Pick’s Apocalypse Now

  • January 26, 2016
  • Ben Osborne
Total
58
Shares
58
0
0
0
0
0
Total
58
Shares
Share 58
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

Just outside of Lillooet, traveling north on the Duffey Lake Road, you might spot the carved “Walden North” sign and mistake it for a B&B. It’s a welcoming, solid timbered sign on a quiet gravel road running back into the canyon.

Walden North is actually an Apocalypse-proof shelter built in the early 1970s by Vernon Pick, an American uranium miner seeking the perfect place to ride out a nuclear holocaust. Walden North has its own hydroelectric plant and monolithic buildings with concrete walls two feet thick. Vernon Pick was a trailblazer.

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

By Jane Carrico

He was born on a Wisconsin farm in 1903, left home at age sixteen and a year later joined the US Marines. After a stint as a hardrock gold miner in Manitoba, Pick spent seventeen years running an electrical company in Minneapolis before moving back to Wisconsin to convert a derelict flourmill into an electrical workshop that he powered up by building his own hydro generator.

Pick had very little formal education – only one year of high school and a handful of university extension electrical courses – but he possessed an incredible appetite for knowledge, spending his spare time studying philosophy, literature, science, religion and, apparently, eschatology. He was a multi-talented renaissance man with utopian ideals matched only by a thirst for technological innovation.

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” —HENRY DAVID THOREAU

The quiet, self-sustaining lifestyle Pick and his wife Ruth enjoyed in Wisconsin ended in 1951 when a fire destroyed his workshop. The Picks decided to use their insurance money to pull up stakes, buy an Airstream and go west.

They got as far as Grand Junction, Colorado when Pick caught uranium fever. At age 48, he spent an extremely grueling nine months prospecting in the rugged Utah canyonlands when, down to his last $300, he made the lucky “yellowcake” strike that catapulted him into wealth and fame as the “Uranium King of America.”

 

Read Trailblazer: Peter Croft, Getting Out There and Getting After It

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

 

In 1954, Life magazine published “Vernon Pick’s $10 Million Ordeal” and a rags-to-riches story that led to a flood of random visits and letters from folks begging for funds. Pick helped some of them but ultimately decided he wanted to make a more lasting contribution to the future of humanity.

He started off with an estate in California he renamed Walden West in honour of his hero, author/philosopher/naturalist Henry David Thoreau and his 1854 book Walden; Or, Life in the Woods. Pick converted the estate into a research facility staffed with twenty scientists but his dreams of a nuclear-powered future with energy “so cheap it won’t even be metered” gradually faded.

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

 

In 1965, nearly 20 years after Hiroshima, the BBC documentary-styled drama The War stoked public fear of the nightmare of full-scale nuclear war. Cold War paranoia sparked a bomb shelter boom across America and Pick decided to abandon Walden West and build a long-term survival retreat to prepare for the end of days.

Knowing that rain brings airborne radiation down to earth, Pick analyzed North America’s rainfall patterns and determined two locations most sheltered from radioactive nuclear fallout – somewhere in Arizona, and Cayoosh Canyon, hidden in the rain shadow of B.C.’s Coast Mountains. After scouting both locations Pick, aged 62, chose Canada and proceeded to spend much of his fortune fulfilling his vision.

At first, Vernon Pick was secretive about Walden North’s true purpose. He told locals who helped build its two-foot-thick walls and install bulletproof windows that he was simply concerned about forest fires.

 

Read Trailblazers: Don and Phyllis Munday

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

 

A heavy smoker, Vernon Pick died of lung cancer in 1986 and is still fondly remembered in the town of Lillooet for creating many jobs in the construction of his dream and then by producing photocopier drums, microchip components and fine furniture.

By all accounts he was a gentle and magnanimous man who embodied the American spirit of rugged individualism and do-it-yourself Yankee know-how. He was self-made, self-taught and self-reliant yet still open to the vagaries of fate. Pick’s biographer Jack Langton called him, “the greatest prospector, philosopher, mentor, employer, pilot and lifetime buddy I ever knew.”

 

MLCM_EarlyWinter2012-13_SPS V2.indd

 

After his death, most of his equipment and possessions were auctioned off and Walden North is no longer stocked and equipped in the state of preparedness Pick envisioned. The once-spotless workshops and funicular-accessed main house are now in a vandalized state of disrepair and disuse. In Pick’s office, custom teak shelves still hold decaying sets of Art in America and Harrowsmith magazines. A big-screen TV and speaker towers remain in the living room but floors are littered with layers of rodent droppings, smashed crockery and moldy books. The compound, including a guesthouse and gatehouse, is currently owned by Fortis BC, run as an independent power plant and not open to the public.

Twenty-six years since he last roamed the halls of Walden North, Vernon Pick’s feared Apocalypse hasn’t yet materialized. But thanks to the solid foundations he put under his dream, there may be a future for Walden North yet.

 

Read 50 Years of Skiing in Whistler: Trailblazer Toshi Hamazaki

Total
58
Shares
Share 58
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • COAST MOUNTAINS
  • Duffey Lake
  • Trailblazer
  • Vernon PIck
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • Skiing
  • The Great Outdoors

Edge of the World: Pitsbergen—First Descents Everywhere With 24 Hours of Sun

  • January 26, 2016
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • THE GEAR SHED

Helly Hansen Racer Jacket

  • January 27, 2016
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-stack-winter-2023
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Blue Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • January 6, 2023
Golden-BC-mountain-biking
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

Shifting Gears

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 18, 2022
Nicholas-Spooner-moose-skier-touring-Quebec
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

Vie en montagne Winter-Spring ’22-’23 Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 12, 2022
View Post
  • Food & Drink
  • On The Trail
  • Travel

Under the Influence: Oregon (part 2)

  • Editor
  • December 7, 2022
AleTrailsPenticton_TinWhistleBrewing_BenHaggarPhoto
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

Ale Trails: Penticton

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 25, 2022
Action-Takers-Mountain-Life-Ontario
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

The Action-Takers

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 20, 2022
bubblenet feeding on herring in the Great Bear Rainforest, B.C.
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail

Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 17, 2022
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-cover-Jenna-Kitchings-Collingwood-surf-crop
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling

ML Blue Mountains Fall ’22 Issue Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • October 6, 2022
Featured Posts
  • Fjallraven-Nuuk-Parka-daniel-blom-photo_jacket 1
    Gear Shed: Multisport Winter Roundup
    • January 26, 2023
  • Brian-Hockenstein-surfing-Iceland-water-and-ice-ML 2
    In the Land of Water & Ice
    • January 24, 2023
  • L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec 3
    L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing
    • January 27, 2023
  • Marie-Pier-Desharnais-A-Womans-Experience-on-K2-flag-crop 4
    Marie-Pier Desharnais: A Woman’s Experience on K2
    • January 23, 2023
  • Smith-Survey-JR-helmet-matteBlack-greenMirror_3Q 5
    Gear Shed: Smith Survey Jr. MIPS Helmet
    • January 14, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Wachs_Fairly-Mellow
    Friday Flick: “Fairly Mellow” at Fairy Meadow Hut
    • January 20, 2023
  • Paul-Manning-Hunter-Kananaskis-River-surf
    Behind the Photo: Rockies Edition
    • January 19, 2023
  • knorthphotography.Beverly-Glenn Copeland-crop
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Finding the Universal Broadcast
    • January 17, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Behind the scenes of three action photos from ML’s Rocky Mountains edition.
The @banffmountainfestival 2023 Signature Image Search is on🚨
In 1986 @beverlyglenncopeland recorded Keyboard Fantasies using an Atari computer, a keyboard and a drum machine. After releasing it on cassette and selling maybe 50 copies, he went back to writing for Sesame Street and making the odd guest appearance on Mr. Dressup. In 2015, a cassette made its way to Japanese collector Ryota Masuko, a record store owner with a big online presence, who quickly bought, and then sold, all the Keyboard Fantasies cassettes he could find. Record labels worldwide lined up to reissue the hidden gem on vinyl.
MUSIC SERIES TICKET SALE IS NOW LIVE 🗣️
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

ML staff and gear partners highlight the latest jackets, boards, crampons, hoodies, insoles and bindings in alpha order. #Linkinbio to learn more!
Adventures like this one require an inspiring team. @timemmett is a longtime friend, adventure partner and extraordinary human; an explorer, pro climber, surfer, freediver—you name it. @luca.freediver is an incredibly talented freediver, fresh off breaking the Canadian national freediving record (85 metres). The fourth man on the team, @brianhockenstein, is a filmmaker and multi-talented snowboarder always ready to jump into the fray and capture the magic. - words Jimmy Martinello. #Linkinbio to learn more!
We came in search of the connection of the human spirit to both art and adventure, whether climbing from the depths of moulins and ice caves, breaking through ice while paddleboarding fjords, climbing icebergs, freediving between tectonic plates or surfing cold waves.
A thousand and one things could have gone wrong, but she made it to the top:  @mariepier.desharnais is the first Quebecois woman to climb K2.
Mountain Life is a proud member of the @printreleaf_ community. So far we've offset our print by having 1,737 trees reforested since joining in 2019! 🌲
GUESS WHAT! It's FRIDAY! Here's a flick to kick off the weekend for all you warriors.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.