AN ASCENT OF MOUNT RAINIER 



surface almost everywhere was bare, hard, 

 snowless ice, extremely slippery; and, though 

 smooth in general, it was interrupted by a 

 network of yawning crevasses, outspread like 

 lines of defense against any attempt to win 

 the summit. Here every one of the party took 

 off his shoes and drove stout steel caulks about 

 half an inch long into them, having brought 

 tools along for the purpose, and not having 

 made use of them until now so that the points 

 might not get dulled on the rocks ere the 

 smooth, dangerous ice was reached. Besides 

 being well shod each carried an alpenstock, 

 and for special difficulties we had a hundred 

 feet of rope and an axe. 



Thus prepared, we stepped forth afresh, 

 slowly groping our way through tangled lines 

 of crevasses, crossing on snow bridges here and 

 there after cautiously testing them, jumping 

 at narrow places, or crawling around the ends 

 of the largest, bracing well at every point with 

 our alpenstocks and setting our spiked shoes 

 squarely down on the dangerous slopes. It was 

 nerve-trying work, most of it, but we made 

 good speed nevertheless, and by noon all stood 

 together on the utmost summit, save one who, 

 his strength failing for a time, came up later. 



We remained on the summit nearly two 

 hours, looking about us at the vast maplike 



267 



