of crimson flowers, while 
a semi - circular shore, 
with a yellow ribbon of 
sand, was backed by a 
green fringe of spruce, 
and on either side tow- 
ered snow-capped moun- 
tains, extending half way 
down the lake, where 
rounded and rolling hills 
sank into a great flat, 
extending to Cook Inlet 
on the west and Turn- 
again x\rm on the north. 
A wide valley on the 
left, with a muddy floor, 
resembling a for m e r 
river-course, and through 
which there trickled sev- 
eral small streams, Tom 
said was the outwash 
plain of a great glacier, 
beginning a few miles 
back and extending, he 
thought, 65 miles to the 
southwest, b u t about 
which little was known 
or at least recorded. 
His statement imme- 
diately aroused my in- 
terest, and during the 
succeeding days I learned 
much about the great ice 
field from which the 
Skilak glacier flowed ; 
so that on my return to 
Seward, and later to 
Washington, I was able 
by dint of much inquiry 
to learn something fur- 
ther of its history, with 
a view of suggesting in 
a general way the possi- 
bilities of its origin and 
its probable status among 
the great ice fields of the northern conti- 
nent. 
Contmuing" down the lake, Tom pointed 
out what he called a "low divide" in the 
southern range, saying it was the gate- 
way to the sheep country, 10 miles or so 
in the interior. In the setting" sun the 
distant patches of alders and matted for- 
ests looked like smooth greenswards on 
gently sloping sides and the climb ap- 
peared easy — an impression, however, 
which changed considerably when we 
Photu liy Ccurgc Miira^, .ivd 
rilK WORST PART OF TRACKING: RKOUIRIXG THE MEN TO 
WADE IN SWIFT WATER OF UNCERTAIN DEPTH TO 
A\'OID I.OG-TAMS AND OVERHANGING TREES 
AN 
Photo by George Shiras, 3rd 
EASY PIAI.F MILE, WHERE THE ORIGINAL FORESTS O'-'i 
THE BANK WERE CUT DOWN BY RLISSIANS IN 1857 
came to struggle for 3,000 feet up the 
])recipitous sides, where the feet became 
imprisoned in gnarled limbs and the 
packs were continually catching in t/.e 
stifle and unbreakable branches of the 
dwarf hemlock. 
GULLS AND CORMORANTS 
On reaching- the lake we had studied 
its general contour, and estimated the 
distance to our first permanent camping 
site to be some 10 miles to the south- 
437 
