45 



THE MOUNTAINP]ER 



The Mountaineers' Annual Outing^, 1907 



Announcement of Final Plans for the Olympic Expedition 



N tlie heart of the Olyinpics ! 



Such will be the ^MoimtMineer's camp in 

 Elwha basin at the head of Elwha river. 

 Four strea7iis unite here and start the main 

 stream that tfows sixty miles to the sti-aits. 

 Its valley thus affords a mao-nificent hijih- 

 way into the center of the range. 



The mountains at the head of the valley 

 nearly encircle the basin, leaving only a 

 break to the east, where the river circles 

 around ]Mt. Dana. 



Second only to ^It. Olympus, among the 

 Olympics, these mountains stand 4,000 feet 

 above the camp, itself 3,300 feet, and their 

 peaks are clad in snow and ice. From the 

 mountains directly above camp the pan-orama 

 of mountains stretches away on all sides in 

 countless hundreds of peaks. 



In the distance, to the northward, is the 

 summit of Mt. Angeles, which is the first of 

 the range to be seen to the east of the Elwha 

 as one leaves Port Angeles. Nearer and to 

 the left are tlie snow clad ridges that divide 

 Boulder, Cat, Long and (ioldie rivers, while winding away to the southwest 

 and south is the long, dark valley of the Elwha. To the eastward is the 

 great Avail of the coast range which from the Sound hides all the rest of 

 the range and creates the idea that the Olympics is a long, narrow ridge. 

 Due east is the summit of Constance, seemingly low, compared to the sea 

 of peaks which rise south of the Elwha and at the head of the Queets and 

 Quinault. Directly south is the crag of ]\It. Meany with ^It. Seattle at its 

 left. To the right of IMt. ^leany the Queets valley cuts a dark channel 

 southeast toward the Pacific. Beyond the Queets and a little north is the 

 massive bulk of Olympus itself. The remnant of a once great plateau, it 

 is separated from the main range by the valleys of the Queets and Iloh 

 rivers, the first in a valley 5,000 feet deep and the second one 7,000 feet. 

 Its only connection with the other peaks is the ridge that leads to the north- 

 east which forms the divide for the Elwha, Queets and Hoh rivers. The 

 Elwha does not reach Olympus, being cut off by the range forming Mt. 

 Queets and Mt. INIeany. 



From the main plateau a number of pinnacles rise above the field of 

 ice and snow, but one near the center appears considerably higher than 

 the others and this will probably prove to be the summit when we reach 

 the main mountain. The temporary camp for the clindi will be at some 

 point along this ridge and the ascent made on either the Queets or Hoh 

 side of the ridge. 



The committee did not find it practicable to attempt the ascent of jNIt. 

 Olympus on the preliminary trip, because it was impossible to be away 



