AN EXPLOKATION TO MOUNT McKINLEY. 411 



had to be .souglit for curefulh' in the long grass which covered the 

 upper part of the beach; the natives, meanwhile, viewing our discom- 

 fiture with delight, as if it were an exhibition prepared for their special 

 benefit. 



Beyond the town, where the route followed the beach between the 

 water on the one side and the steep gravel bluff's on the other, the 

 narrow space gave opportunity to control the fractious horses. (See 

 plate III.) 



The pack train was not without a certain picturesqueness. First 

 came Fred mounted on the lead horse, and behind him, in single file, 

 followed the other horses, their new white pack covers glistening in 

 the sun. The other men were on foot scattered along at intervals, 

 with George at the close of the procession, leading his small bay mare 

 with the cook stove on top of her pack. This stove was in George's 

 eyes the most precious possession of the party, and for three months 

 he never allowed it to be out of his sight. It finally came to grief 

 700 miles inland, when both horse and stove rolled into the river. 



At the mouth of the Beluga River, 20 miles from TA'onok, the boat 

 met the party, and a da}^ was spent in crossing. The horses were made 

 to swim over at full tide, little relishing the plunge into the cold waters; 

 and thev probably would have liked it still less had they known of the 

 score or more of icy rivers that would be traversed during the suc- 

 ceeding joiirne}^ Camp was pitched on the north l)ank while the boat 

 was utilized for a two da3's' excursion up the Sushitna River. 



Leaving the boat at an Indian town at the head of the delta, four of 

 us made our way to Mount Sushitna. A steep climb brought us to the 

 summit, and the broad lowland of the Sushitna Vallej" lay spread 

 before us, the dark greens of its spruce forests contrasting with the 

 lighter greens of the open marshes and the bright gleam of small lakes 

 or winding water courses. Be3'ond rose a range of highlands, imd 

 then, forming the sky-line, snow-covered Alaskan mountains. From 

 our vantage point the rugged crest line seemed unbroken, and had we 

 not known that it was in fact cleft by passes we might have despaired 

 of finding a route through such a forbidding mountain mass. 



As we gazed a mass of clouds hanging over what appeared to be the 

 center of the range broke and re\ealed two majestic peaks, Mount 

 McKinlc}' and Mount Foraker, glistening in the slanting rays of the 

 afternoon sun. Far above the crest line they towered, enormous 

 mountains, even at a distance of 120 miles. Four years before, while 

 making an exploration down the Tanana with canoes, I had seen the 

 same peaks and at about the same distance, but from the opposite 

 direction. 



The task before us was to find a route across the swampy lowland, 

 traverse the mountains, and, following their northern front, ap})roa('h 

 from the inland slope as near tlu; base of this culminating peak of the 



