Don Munday (1890-1950) and his remarkable mountaining wife Phyllis Munday made attempts to scale the 'Mystery Mountain' now known as Mt. Waddington after first seeing it in 1925. They made 11 trips in 12 years exploring the area. In 1948 Don Munday published The Unknown Mountain to chronicle their adventures. This text was reprinted by Coyote Books in 1993 in an expanded version that included Beyond the Unknown Mountain by Angus M. Gunn. Don Munday was born in Manitoba on March 16, 1890 as Walter Alfred Donald Munday. He grew up in Portage La Prairie and came to Vancouver in 1909. He was active in the B.C. Mountaineeing Club before serving in World War One. He was severely wounded at Passchendaele and recuperated at New Westminster's Military Hospital. In 1918 he was introduced to the Mountaineering Club's librarian Phyllis Beatrice James who also worked as a clerk at the hospital where he was receiving treatment. They married on February 4, 1920. She had been born on September 24, 1894 in Ceylon where her father managed tea estates for Lipton's, then Ridgeway's. Following their marriage, the couple lived on Grouse Mountain, initially in a tent. Their climbing exploits were extensive and extraordinary. Phyllis Munday is the subject of a brief 2002 biography by Kathryn Bridge from XYZ Publishing.

BOOKS

The Unknown Mountain (London: Hodder & Stouton, 1948)
The Unknown Mountain (Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1975)
The Unknown Mountain (Lake Louise: Coyote Books, 1993)

[photo at right of Phyllis Munday]