FIRST SUCCESSFUL ASCENT, 1870 



neath which yeasty torrents burst forth and rushed 

 roaring and tumbling down the valleys. The prin- 

 cipal of these, far away on our left front, could be seen 

 plunging over two considerable falls, half hidden in 

 the forest, while the roar of waters was distinctly audible. 



At length we cautiously descended the snow-bed, 

 and, climbing at least fifteen hundred feet down a 

 steep but ancient land-slide by means of the bushes 

 growing among the loose rocks, reached the valley, 

 and encountered a beautiful, peaceful, limpid creek. 

 Van Trump could not resist the temptation of unpack- 

 ing his bundle, selecting one of his carefully preserved 

 flies, and trying the stream for trout, but without a 

 single rise. After an hour's rest and a hearty repast we 

 resumed our packs, despite Sluiskin's protests, who 

 seemed tired out with his arduous day's toil and pleaded 

 hard against traveling farther. Crossing the stream, 

 we walked through several grassy glades, or meadows, 

 alternating with open woods. We soon came to the foot 

 of one of the long ridges already described, and ascend- 

 ing it followed it for several miles through open woods, 

 until we emerged upon the enchanting emerald and 

 flowery meads which clothe these upper regions. 

 Halting upon a rising eminence in our course, and look- 

 ing back, we beheld the ridge of mountains we had 

 just descended stretching from east to west in a steep, 

 rocky wall ; a little to the left, a beautiful lake, evidently 

 the source of the stream just crossed, which we called 

 Clear Creek, and glimpses of which could be seen among 

 the trees as it flowed away to the right, down a rapidly 

 descending valley along the foot of the lofty mountain- 

 wall. Beyond the lake again, still farther to the left, 

 the land also subsided quickly. It was at once evident 

 that the lake was upon a summit, or divide, between 

 the waters of the Nisqually and Cowlitz rivers. The 

 ridge which we were ascending lay north and south, 

 and led directly up to the mountain. 



We camped, as the twilight fell upon us, in an aro- 

 i 113 



