158 O, King— Glaciers m Mountains of the Pacific Slope. 



the fields of perpetual neve snow. Very remarkable in deptt 

 and area as these are, they are not sufficiently extended, nor is 

 there enough winter accumulation of snow, to start a glacier 

 movement. Singularly too, the heights of Colorado prove to 

 be even less snowy than the Sierras. The neve masses are less, 

 and they waste much more during the dry season. The Wind 

 Eiver, Wahsatch and Uintah ranges have been examined by the 

 writer, and although the extent of lofty peaks is very great, they 

 are even less snowy than the heights of the Laramie range 

 in Colorado. A comparison of the average annual tempera- 

 tures of the Cordillera north of latitude 36° clearly shows that 

 the climate is not too warm for the existence of glacier masses, 

 and that the small precipitation of snow is due chiefly to the 

 lack of moisture in the air. This entire region is swept by an 

 almost invariable west wind, whose lower strata have been 

 deprived of their moisture by the warm ascending currents of 

 the valleys, and, although the peaks of the mountains are lifted 

 into this wind, the actual amount of moisture is too small to 

 create a great piling up of neve. Accordingly the summit re- 

 gion is characterized by the absence of glaciers and a tendency 

 of the entire flora to ascend into higher altitudes than at corres- 

 ponding Alpine stations. A single point lifted k) a great height' 

 is not sufficient to form a great condenser. A widely elevated 

 region is necessary for the creation of great local storm systems ; 

 the two parts of the Cordillera, therefore, where we should most 

 naturally look for glaciers are the Mount Whitney region m 

 the Sierras of California, and the high group west of Denver. 

 Professor Whitney, in his description of the former, calls partic- 

 ular attention to their absence. The writer was one of those 

 who made the exploration of this region, and was as much im- 

 pressed as any one with this remarkable lack. ^ „ . 



In early September, 1870, with a small detachment of 'tDe 

 U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel,'' acting 

 under the orders of Maj. Gen. Humphreys, I visited Monni 

 Shasta in northern California, for the purpose of maf^g ' 

 detailed survey of the lava svstems which flow eastward trom 

 that peak, and connect themselves with the basalt regions « 

 the Nevada Desert. On Ser^tember 11th. we climbed to t" 



the Nevada Desert. On September 11th, we climbed to t 

 top of the lesser Shasta, a conical secondary crater j^t^/ Pf. 

 from the main mass of the mountain on its northwest side. 

 The party consisted of Mr. S. F. Emmons, Mr. F. A. OJ^r^; 

 Mr A. B. Clark, and Mr. Sisson, the well-known mountamee 

 and guide of the region, and the writer. We carried our po. ; 

 ical and topographical instruments, our fur beds, and pro^'^:/ 

 for four days. In the afternoon at about half past one o cIock _ 

 reached the rim of the cone, and looked down into a ae^r^ 

 gorge lying between the secondary crater and the mam ma- 



