Ascent of Mount Rainier [pp. 393-403]

A SCENT OF MOUNT RAINAIER.
ble one to estimate distance. When I
caught a glimpse of the top of Rainier
through the clouds, I felt certain that
we could reach it in three hours. The
only living things to be seen were some
animals, with regard to which we still
labor under an error. These little creatures would make their appearance on
the side of the mountain in sight of
our camp, and feed upon herbage that
grew on the soil where the snow left
it bare. The moment anyone stirred
from camp, a sound between a whistle
and scream would break unexpectedly
and from some unknown quarter, and
immediately all the animals that were in
sight would vanish in the earth. Upon visiting the spot where they disappeared, we would find a burrow which
was evidently the creatures' home. Everywhere round the entrance we found
great numbers of tracks, such as a lamb
or -kid would make. The animals that
we saw were about the size of kids, and
grazed and moved about so much like
them, that, taken in connection with the
tracks we saw, we jumped at once to
the conclusion that they were mountain
sheep, of which we all had heard a great
deal, but none of our party had ever
seen any. My report of these animals,
which was published in the Washington Refiublican on our return, was severely ridiculed by some of the naturalists who were hunting for undescribed
insects and animals in that country at
the time. We are still at a loss to understand the habits of the creatures, and
to reconcile the split hoofs which the
tracks indicated with their burrow in the
earth.
Or) the following morning-the seventh day from our camp on the Mishawl
-the sky showed signs of clear weather,
and we began the ascent of the main
peak. Until about noon we were enveloped in clouds, and only occasionally
did we get a glimpse of the peak. Soon
after midday we reached suddenly a cold
er atmosphere, and found ourselves all
at once above the clouds, which were
spread out smooth and even as a sea,
above which appeared the snowy peaks
of St. Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount
Hood, looking like pyramidal icebergs
above an ocean. At first we could not
see down through the clouds into the
valleys. Above, the atmosphere was singularly clear, and the reflection of the
sun upon the snow very powerful. The
summit of Rainier seemed very close at
hand.
About two o'clock in the afternoon
the clouds rolled away like a scroll; in
a very short time they had disappeared,
and the Cascade Range lay before us in
all its greatness. The view was too
grand and extensive to be taken in at
once, or in the short time we had to observe. The entire scene, with few exceptions, was covered with forests, with
here and there barren rocky peaks that
rose up out of the ridges; now and then
a mountain lake, much more blue than
the sky, and the Nesqually, winding like
a thread of silver through the dark forests. From the foot of the glacier for
several miles the bed of the river was
very white, from the granite bowlders
that covered the bed of the stream.
The water, too, was of a decidedly
chalkier color near its source.
We had no time, however, to study
the beauties that lay before us. We
had already discovered that there was
no telling from appearances how far we
had to go. The travel was very difficult; the surface of the snow was porous in some places, and at each step
we sunk to our knees. Carroll and the
Indian gave out early in the afternoon,
and returned to camp. The doctor began to lag behind. Dogue stuck close
to me. Between four and five o'clock
we reached a very difficult point. It
proved to be the crest of the mountain,
where the comparatively smooth surface
was much broken up, and inaccessible
1875.]
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