14 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



their bases lay three or four small residual glaciers, 

 which, with the large one, form the head-waters of Big 

 Pine Creek. The prospect to the west was cut off by the 

 jagged crest of the North Palisade, but far to the north 

 rose that airy pinnacle, Mt. Humphreys, and I could not 

 but recall a state of affairs similar to our present one 

 when attempting its ascent in 1898. 



The height of Mt. Sill as given by triangulation from 

 surrounding summits is 14,198 feet, and checks fairly 

 with the reading of the aneroid, 14,100 feet. It is 

 the fourth highest in the range, being overtopped by 

 Whitney, Williamson, and the North Palisade only. We 

 built a monument and deposited therein our Sierra Club 

 register-box No. 43. 



About 3 in the afternoon we started down the western 

 face of the mountain. Some difficulty was encountered In 

 getting around immense granite blocks, but finally the 

 floor of the amphitheater was reached without the neces- 

 sity of traversing any of the rough snow, made doubly 

 difficult on account of the softening effect of the afternoon 

 sun. After turning down into the cafion of Glacier Brook, 

 Hutchinson climbed out of the notch on the west side and 

 examined with the glasses the front cliff of the North 

 Palisade. We then returned to camp. 



After supper that evening we discussed the advis- 

 ability of making an attempt at the western side of the 

 mountain. It appeared a useless venture as well as a 

 rather dangerous one. But finally it was decided to give 

 one more day to the work — to at least creep around the 

 foot of the giant and get an idea of the country at the 

 head of the river. 



Next morning, with rather doubting hearts and very 



