~2 
Ot 
The Mountaineer 
The view from Sawtooth was superb, a wonderful pan- 
orama of the High Sierras. To the north we caught glimpses 
of the peaks guarding the Kings River Canyon, which cuts 
westerly through the Sierra range. Just below the King we 
could trace the Kern on its journey south dividing the Sierras 
into two great ranges, the Kaweahs rising on the western range 
and Whitney, Williamson, and Langley on the east, each over 
14,000 feet, but such close rivals that no one peak was con- 
spicuous above its neighbors and yet all lifted above the desert 
to the east as to give one an overwhelming sensation of height 
and grandeur as we gazed from the summit of one or the other 
later in the outing. To the southwest lay the San Joaquin val- 
ley with the hazy blue coast range beyond and at the head of 
a valley just below, we could recognize the mining camp of 
Mineral King. 
A thunder storm driving toward us across the Kern made 
the scene more impressive and us more uneasy, as on these 
peaks of exposed rock the air becomes so surcharged with elec- 
tricity during a storm that often electric sparks will flash from 
finger tips as the climber reaches for some handhold. 
We made the descent by a different route taking us down 
to a saddle above the lake and then down a steep snow slope, 
the latter more of a novelty to the Californians than to the 
representatives from the north. 
Returning to camp we crossed the western ridge and de- 
scended into the Five Lake basin, selecting camp among the 
pines on the shore of the Middle Lake, where sunset and sun- 
rise, mountains and clouds were so clearly reflected as to puzzle 
one to trace the dividing line. 
The next morning we were up as “rosy fingered dawn” 
bathed the high peaks with silver hght long before the sun 
could pour its golden rays down where we were hidden. It was 
a morning of surprises. We explored the basin and the basins 
further west. We fancied each a gallery, the lakes paintings, 
the supreme effort of world renowned artists, and we the com- 
mittee to award the prize. Some lakes had bands of green, 
dotted with flowers of brilliant hues; some had talus of granite 
or sloping sides polished by ancient glaciers. Others were 
encircled with tall tamrac or again with fantastic foxtail pine. 
Banks of snow formed the edge, or perpendicular walls rose 
