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‘half way to the summit. 
ON SNOW SHOES IN ALASKA. 
JULIUS STERNBERG. 
On March 3, ’96, William York, my 
partner and I, started from Juneau on a 
hunting trip and prospecting tour into the 
mountains Northeast from there. We 
sailed from the San Point to Sunset Cove, 
about 10 miles distant, and going ashore 
tried our snow shoes to accustom ourselves 
to them. On the 6th we started across 
country, but the hills were so rough and 
rocky we could not travel on our shoes, so 
returned to our boat. On the next day we 
sailed for William Henry bay, a distance of 
28 miles, where we arrived at 7 in the even- 
ing. Taking most of our supplies ashore 
that night, we started the next morning on 
our long journey across the range. Only 
2% miles were covered the first day on ac- 
count of our being compelled to make 3 
loads of our outfit, due to the soft snow. 
An extra fall of 2 feet of new snow made 
the going still more difficult, and despite the 
fact that we worked hard only another 2% 
miles were covered on the following day. 
We then packed our stuff across the 
river, which is about % mile wide at that 
point. We had with us a sleigh, but the 
country was so rough we could not haul a 
load on it during the greater portion of our 
trip, and in such cases we packed the stuff 
on our backs. 
On the 11th it stormed all day, and we 
stayed in camp. I killed 7 ptarmigan, and 
York killed one; so we had plenty of fresh 
meat. It cleared up next morning, and 
we broke a trail in the snow, about 5 miles, 
on our snow shoes. Then we returned to 
camp in the afternoon, loaded our sleigh, 
and started on the trail next morning. We 
made 6 miles that day and camped at the 
head of a small canyon, going back to bring 
up the remainder of our stuff to the new 
camp the next day. Later we broke a trail, 
3 miles farther up, for the sleigh. On the 
15th we broke trail again 6 miles over the 
mountain, and on our way back to camp 
killed a porcupine, which we poisoned and 
left for some wolves we had seen signs of. 
We also poisoned some bits of ptarmigan 
and placed them for these varmints. On 
the 16th we hauled our stuff up the canyon, 
between 2 mountains, to a point about 500 
feet above our last camp, and about 4 miles 
distant from it. In the afternoon, we re- 
turned and brought up the rest of our stuff. 
Another porcupine was killed there, so we 
called it ““ Porcupine Camp.” 
On the 17th we each took a load of stuff 
Then the snow 
became so soft we were compelled to cache 
the packs and return to camp. The next 
day we took the remainder of our supplies 
and packed them to the summit, returning 
half way to get the stuff we had left the 
day before. We remained there for a bit, 
doing some hunting. We started a wolver- 
ine early in the morning, and followed him a 
long distance, but failed to get a shot. In 
the afternoon, we killed a porcupine. On 
the 2oth, we made another march with heavy 
packs, and returned to the summit camp, 
killing a grouse and porcupine on the way. 
The next day we managed to lug our stuff 
about a mile on the sleigh, though we 
found it difficult and dangerous traveling. 
In the morning, while the snow was hard, 
we made some lively runs dowa the moun- 
tains in open places, and took some danger- 
ous chances, but landed safe on a favorable 
camp site. This we called “ Black Canyon 
Camp.” 
On the morning of the 22d, it was snow- 
ing so hard we could not see 20 feet ahead 
of us, so we gathered a good supply of wood, 
and stayed in camp until the afternoon, 
when the storm stopped, and we set some 
traps. On the 23d, the weather was fine, and 
we put in the day breaking trail ahead. 
The 24th we pushed still farther ahead, and 
in the afternoon put out some more traps 
and brought up those we had set the night 
before at the other camp. On the follow- 
ing morning the snow began to fall again 
and for 4 consecutive days it held out, mak- 
ing our traveling next to impossible. We 
pushed on, however, and at last when the sun 
came out we pitched camp on a range 5,000 
feet above the sea level. 
There we caught the first bit of fur—a pine’ 
marten. The reason we had not succeeded 
before was that the snow fell so fast it 
buried traps and bait as fast as we could put 
them out. The snow was then about 15 feet 
deep on the level. On the 31st another bliz- 
zard set in, and before it stopped had added 
another 3% feet of new snow to that al- 
ready deposited on the range. 
On the afternoon of April Ist the sun 
came out and I made a few pictures with 
five Anes 5 camera, |, York. skinned the 
marten and stretched the skin to dry. We 
repaired our snow shoes, and got ready 
for further work the next day. We at- 
tempted to break trail again, but the weather 
was so stormy we lost our course, and were 
compelled to back track on way to camp. 
We considered ourselves lucky in being 
able to do this, for the storm filled up our 
tracks almost as fast as we made them. 
On the 2d we started again and, the 
weather having settled, on the 3d we went on 
breaking trail. On the 5th, we loaded all our 
stuff on the sleigh, and made a long run to 
the flats at the foot of the range we had been 
struggling with so long. The weather having 
cleared up again, we exposed some more 
plates on the more interesting objects in this 
region. We finally got our tent up in a 
sheltered nook, on the edge of the flats, put 
