1922] BARRETT, OVER THE ICE TO WILSON GLACIER 79 



year journey down the mountain side to the snout of the glacier about 

 seven miles below. 



A little to the west of the main gorge of the Nisqually and well up 

 toward the summit is a great cirque from which originates a glacier 

 which pours into and augments Nisqually at a point about half-way 

 up to the summit. Part of this lateral glacier cascades over a great 

 precipice 500 feet in height and forms what is termed a hanging 

 glacier. It slowly pushes out over the edge of the precipice, until it 

 breaks of its own weight and goes crashing in a great avalanche down 

 to the surface of the main glacier below. The relation of these ice 

 streams is well shown in figure 30. The roar of such an avalanche can 

 be heard miles away and a dense, white cloud of the fine ice and dust 

 hangs in the air for some time afterwards. 



The magnificence of this sight, when witnessed for the first time, is 

 most impressive, and when there is a motion picture camera in camp, 

 naturally the first thought of its operator is of a plan to put this unique 

 scene on the film. However, that is not so easily done, even with a 

 good telephoto equipment, for it is a good two miles in an air line across 

 to this precipice. Besides, the glacier is not accommodating enough to 

 cascade just when your camera is set up and trained on it and just 

 when light conditions are ideal. It means a long period of watchful 

 waiting and ten chances to one, even then the avalanche comes in one 

 of those moments when the operator's attention is arrested by some- 

 thing else. Further, the flow of the ice is very slow and several days 

 sometimes elapse between avalanches and when the next one does come, 

 it is as likely to come at night as in the day time. Hence, the chances 

 of catching such a scene are very slim indeed and it hardly pays to try 

 for it when there are so many others of equal interest to be filmed and 

 so many other branches of the work of the expedition which require 

 attention. 



Among the other items of photography, which engaged our atten- 

 tion, were making studies, in both still and motion pictures, of differ- 

 ent types of crevices, ice caves, rock formations and erosions, the 

 beautiful vegetation of the region and the great scenery which is scat- 

 tered so lavishly in every direction. 



Our photographic work was divided, Mr. Edwards operating the 

 large, still camera, and the writer handling the motion, both of which 

 occupations took us into some hazardous places and proved at times 

 pretty strenuous. Fortunately, we found, as resident ranger in charge 

 of this section of the National Park, Mr. A. S. Teller, an athletic and 



