412 AN" EXPLOEATIOlSr TO MOUNT McKINLEY. 



continent as conditions and means would permit; we must map the 

 country and incidentally explore a route which some time could l)e 

 used by that mountaineer to whom should fall the honor of first set- 

 ting foot on the summit of Mount McKinley. 



At the Beluga River the course lay inland, and by good fortune an 

 Indian trail lightened the labor of the axmen to a great extent; ))ut 

 it was designed for use in the fall and winter when the ground was 

 frozen, and its many bogs, which then only served to facilitate travel- 

 ing, now caused our horses one long struggle to wallow through it 

 with their heavy burdens. Almost continuously one or more of the 

 animals became mired, and often the entire strength of the seven 

 members of the party was required to drag them out. 



A week after leaving tide water, we emerged from the lowlands into 

 a belt of foothills covered for the most part with tall grass, inter- 

 spersed with symmetrical spruces and open groves of poplar. The 

 landscape had a park-like appearance not unlike some of the farming 

 regions of the East. (See plate iv.) The man}^ familiar wild flowers 

 added to the delusion, and it was hard to realize that we were in one 

 of the unexplored parts of the world, for it seemed as if every rise of 

 ground must bring us to the sight of a farmhouse, with its fields and 

 orchards. '^ 



As we climbed higher we left all timber behind us except the omni- 

 present willow and alder thickets. The horses reveled in an abun- 

 dance of grass, while the camp larder was improved by the ptarmigan 

 which were shot along our line of march. Another glimpse of Mount 

 McKinley enabled Reaburn, our topographer, to determine our loca- 

 tion accurately. 



The dail}^ routine was now well established. All hands were called 

 at 5 in the morning, and while the packers drove in the horses the 

 others took down the tents. When the horses had been saddled and 

 breakfast had been eaten, we all took a hand in the packing. It was 

 no easy task to lift the 200-pound packs to the backs of the horses 

 and adjust them. Nearlj^ all of the men were now fairly expert at 

 lashing them in place — " throwing the diamond hitch," as it is called. 

 (See plate iv.) After two hours of hard work spent in this operation, 

 the march began. In a timbered region two or three axmen pre- 

 ceded the train, but in the open country this was not necess9.ry. 

 Camp was made between 3 and 4, and after an early supper the geolo- 

 gist and topographer usually made an excursion to some neighboring 

 peak or valley. 



In this foothill region we came in contact with our first bear. Fred, 

 while forging ahead of the party in search of a trail, came upon a 

 she bear and cub. The old one at once charged. Hemmed in by 

 alder thickets, with an ax as his only w^eapon, he faced his assailant 

 with what seemed, even to an old hunter like himself, hardl}' a fighting 



