130 I. C. Russell — Expedition to Mount St. Ellas. 



The pass we named Pinnacle pass, on account of the many tow- 

 ering pmnacles overshadowmg it. Its elevation is about four 

 thousand feet, and at the summit it has a breadth of only two or 

 three hundred feet. The snow on the divide is greatly crevassed, 

 but a convenient snow-bridge enabled us to cross without diffi- 

 culty. The crevasses increased in breadth with the advance of 

 the season, and on returning from our mountain trip in Septem- 

 ber we had to climb up on the bordering cliff in order to pass 

 the main crevasse at the summit. Some idea of the crevasses of 

 this region may be obtained from the following figure, drawn 

 from a photograph taken on the western side of Pinnacle pass, 

 not far from the summit. 



Figure 5 — Crevasses on Pinnacle Pass; from a. Photograph. 



The cliff on the north of Pinnacle pass is really a huge fault- 

 scarp of recent date, intersecting stratified shale, limestone, and 

 conglomerate, with a iew thin coal-seams. The strata di]) toward 

 the north at a high angle, and present their broken edges in the 

 great cliff rising above the pass. The cliffs extend westward 

 from the pass, and retain a nearly horizontal crest line, but in- 

 crease in height and grandeur, owing to the downward grade 

 of the glacier along their base. A mile to the westward their 

 elevation is fully two thousand feet. The cliffs throughout are 



