1899] 'The High Sierra 



its remarkable resemblance in outline to that of 

 the southern continent. 



Eastward, above Harrison Pass, rises the jagged Stanford 

 summit of Stanford University Peak, 1 13,983 feet, u p " rsity 

 the southernmost and slightly lower of its two 

 crests having been earlier named "Gregory's Monu- 

 ment" in honor of Warren Gregory, a well-known 

 member of the Sierra Club, and since an associate 

 of Hoover in "the C. R. B." Stanford University 

 Peak is higher than any other point I have reached 

 in my travels, the top of the Matterhorn alone ex- 

 cepted. Its narrow summit, like that of the Uni- 

 versity of California Peak, gives a superb short- 

 range view of the same glorious quadrant revealed 

 from the top of Goat, besides a peep into the mighty 

 chasm bounding its eastern side. 



The general configuration of the central ridges of Breaking 

 the High Sierra is comparable to that of a breaking 

 wave, each great ridge or summit being bulwarked 

 by a long slope on the west side, though dropping 

 suddenly in awesome precipices on the east. The 

 ascent of any of them is therefore relatively easy 

 save for the long distance from supplies, and the 

 rough boulders and rotten granite over which one 

 must make his way. In the lower levels, also, the 

 rank tangle of bushes infested by lurking rattlers 

 forms a serious handicap except where trails have 

 already been cut. But with time, patience, and 

 endurance, the mountain-lover may creep to the 

 top of any peak, as no special skill or nervous strain 

 is involved. For, as I have said, it is only on 

 the east that one encounters dizzy heights. 



1 This should not be confounded with Mount Stanford in the Tahoe region, 

 named long before for Leland Stanford. 



: 653 3 



