In 1953 five climbers, Dale Cole, Bob Grant, Mike Hane, Erick Karlsson and Tom Miller, calling themselves the 'What is South of Cascade Pass Anyway?' Expedition, set aside two weeks in September to explore this 'mysterious, legendary maze.' They traversed from Cascade Pass to Dome Peak, reversing the direction taken by the Ptarmigans, and recorded their journey in The Mountaineer in 1953. More significantly, Tom Miller returned with dozens of fine black and white photographs of the glaciers, lakes, and crags along the route. Ten years later, as conservationists fought for a North Cascades National Park, Miller lent his pictures from the Ptarmigan Traverse and several other trips to The Mountaineers. A book of his photographs, The North Cascades, was published in 1964.

The book was a success. Not only did it help establish the National Park in 1968, it inspired a generation of Northwest climbers. It was the first picture book to showcase the peaks and glaciers of the North Cascades from a climber's perspective. While the Ptarmigans in 1938 made their traverse a campfire legend, the 1953 party and The North Cascades made it a classic. Printed only once, the book soon became hard to find. Young climbers who started exploring the North Cascades in the 1970s, before modern guidebooks were available, jealously thumbed through the book in their friends' collections or on library shelves.