Wrangell Mountains, Alaska 



4°5 



fectlysafe, and the rope which was al- 

 ways carried on such trips was not in 

 use. Suddenly the crust gave way be- 

 neath the feet of the man in advance 

 and he sank, but throwing out his arms 

 was sustained by them until dragged 

 out of danger by his companion. For- 

 tunately for him, the concealed crevasse 

 was narrow at the top. The rope was 

 used for the rest of that day. 



After Mount Wrangell, the peak 

 which will no doubt prove most inter- 

 esting from the point of view of the 

 mountain climber is Mount Sanford, 

 the highest one in the group, 16,200 

 feet above sea-level. This magnificent 

 summit, when viewed from the south 

 between Mounts Drum and Wrangell, 

 presents an outline so totally different 

 from that exhibited by its northern 

 slopes that Allen in 1885, from the 

 mouth of the Chetaslina, named it 

 Mount Tillman, and then from the 

 upper Copper, failing to recognize it, 

 rechristened it Mount Sanford. His 

 supposition that there were five peaks 

 where there are in reality but four, 

 together with the changing aspect of 

 the mountains as one encircles them in 

 following Copper River, led to further 

 confusion. Therefore, in his sketch 

 from 6 miles above the mouth of the 

 Gakona, Mount Drum is called Mount 

 Tillman and Mount Sanford is called 

 Mount Drum. The fact that Allen's 

 Mount Tillman is a myth has been a 

 matter of common knowledge for some 

 years. Mahlo'smapof i8ij8 shows three 

 peaks where Allen had four, and Mr 

 R. S. Dunn, who is now en route to 

 Mount McKinley, has called attention 

 to the error in a recent magazine article. 



The southern face of Mount Sanford 

 is a 12,000 foot slope of 60 or 70 

 degrees — practically a cliff, too steep 

 even for much glacial ice to accumulate. 

 This precipice faces the southwest, and 

 in early summer must be scored by 

 splendid and constantly recurring ava- 

 lanches. The ice accumulations at the 

 foot of the declivity form Sanford 



glacier, the source of Sanford river. 

 In remarkable contrast to this precip- 

 itous southwest slope, the cirque of 

 Sanford glacier, is the northern face of 

 the mountain. ' Viewed from any point 

 on the upper Copper River or the foot- 

 hills beyond it, Mount Sanford appears 

 a smooth, rounded dome of snow, so 

 even, except as glacial erosion has eaten 

 into it around the base, that it appears 

 to be possible to travel over it in almost 

 any direction. Really, however, there 

 are probably few feasible approaches, 

 because the smooth upper reaches of 

 the mountain break off just above the 

 base into cliffs. 



A glacier, which is one of the sources 

 of Boulder Creek, appears from below 

 to form an easy way through these en- 

 circling cliffs to the even snow-fields 

 above. When these are gained, reach- 

 ing the summit will depend upon 

 weather and preparedness. It is not 

 possible to make the climb from below 

 snowline in one day, and a well organ- 

 ized party, equipped to stay on the 

 mountain a week with an upper camp 

 at 10,000 feet, will stand the best chance 

 of success. 



The writer has not been nearer to 

 Mount Blackburn than the head of Kot- 

 sini River, a dozen miles from the peak, 

 and he has not seen it except from the 

 west. Viewed from this direction, its 

 aspect is most forbidding. Near the top 

 the slopes are gentle enough, but up to 

 12,000 or 13,000 feet its western face is 

 a series of crags and cliffs, scarred by 

 ice falls or covered by steep, deeply 

 crevassed glaciers. Its southern side is 

 reported but little better, so that the 

 most hopeful direction from which to 

 approach it seems to be the north or 

 northeast, from one of the tributaries of 

 the Kennicott or of the Nabesna glacier. 

 Both of these are long glaciers which 

 have not been traversed, or at least we 

 have no record of their exploration, so 

 that in addition to the possibility of find- 

 ing the mountain inaccessible after 

 reaching its northern or eastern base, 



