Fog Blog Maritime Christmas Stories Log:

THE CHRISTMAS MOUNTAINS , YES....THE CHRISTMAS MOUNTAINS.....NAMED BY THE NB GOVERNMENT AROUND 40 YEARS AGO AND INSPIRED BY 'RUDOLPH...THE RED NOSED REINDEER ' PLAYING ON THE RADIO AT THE TIME!!.......

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen, but did you know that they really exist, in the form of mountains, deep within the New Brunswick interior? Along with North Pole Mountain and Mount Saint Nicholas they form what has collectively become known as the Christmas Mountains.

Although they've likely had Mi'kmaq and Maliseet names for hundreds of years, the 10 peaks were officially nameless until nearly 40 years ago. That changed in 1964, when the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names gave New Brunswick committee member Arthur F. Wightman the task of finding suitable names for the mountains, located approximately 70 kilometres west of Newcastle and just southeast of Mount Carleton.

The Christmas season was approaching when the assignment landed on Mr. Wightman's desk. Poring over a map in his Fredericton office, the provincial surveyor noted that North Pole Stream, so named by loggers a century earlier for its perpetually icy waters, meandered through the cluster of peaks. As Mr. Wightman searched his mind for inspiration, the festive "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" began playing on the office radio. Immediately Mr. Wightman picked up his pencil and wrote "North Pole Mountain" on the 685 metre-high peak at the head of North Pole Stream. To the remaining mountains, ranging from 530 to 730 metres in height, he gave the names Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen.