70 The Mountaineer 
KNAPSACKING IN THE HIGH SIERRAS 
R. L. Guisan* 
The most attractive feature of the Sierra Club outings in 
California is the knapsack trips. ; 
On the 27th of June, 1912, about 185 Sierra Club members 
left Springville in Tulare county, California, on their annual 
outing. Tramping easterly up the Tule river across to the 
Kern and northerly up the wonderful canyon of the Kern al- 
most its entire length, swinging eastward again we crossed the 
Sierras, ending a month of scenic eestacy by dropping over 7000 
feet in one day from the high mountains to the desert on the 
shore of Owens lake, where we caught our special homeward 
bound. 
To deseribe the entire outing would take too much space, 
but it may be possible, with some regard for brevity, to de- 
seribe one of the knapsack trips. 
On July 11th a knapsack party left the main camp at 
Moraine Lake on Chagoopa plateau above the Kern. The party 
consisted of a member of the Outing Committee and his wife, 
five other club members, a Mountaineer, and a Mazama, four 
ladies and five men, all having had knapsacking experience. 
The previous evening the provisions were weighed, put in 
small bags, labelled, and apportioned. Canned goods and bulky 
articles were discarded as far as possible, preference being 
civen to powdered milk, soup tablets, and hard-tack, while eider- 
down sleeping bags were taken instead of blankets. The al- 
lotted packages were placed in respective sleeping bags, rolled 
and strapped in special harness designed by a club member. 
Personally I preferred a specially arranged sleeveless hunting 
coat, carrying my sleeping bag in a small compact roll. The 
total individual equipment weighed from twenty to thirty-five 
pounds, cameras, fishing rods and tackle helping to make the 
greater weight. Each morning the provisions were reappor- 
tioned, making due allowance for amount already consumed. 
*Mr. Glisan is one of the foremost mountaineers of the Pacific Coast. 
He is a member of the Sierra Club of California, the Alpine Club of Canada, 
and ex-president of the Mazamas of Portland. 
