The Ascent of the North Palisades. 13 



the mountain as a vertical walled gorge, running out into 

 nothing on the face of the cliff above the glacier. 



It was hard to give up when within almost a stone's 

 throw of the top, but it was clearly " no go." We took a 

 long rest, enlivening it somewhat by roUing huge boul- 

 ders down the precipice on to the glacier. It was really 

 a thrilling sight to watch them go thundering down the 

 cliff, leaping across the berg-schrund, and then end 

 over end through the snow till only distinguishable by 

 the snow-foam when they struck. We then turned our at- 

 tention to Mt. Sill, and after a rough scramble of an hour 

 along the ridge to the east arrived without serious diffi- 

 culty on that hitherto untrodden crest. 



The view in every direction was unparalleled in gran- 

 deur and extent, particularly along the Main Crest to 

 the north and south. Close by rose the apparently in- 

 accessible spire of the North Palisade across the profound 

 cirque containing the Palisade Glacier. This latter was of 

 the greatest interest. Its area seemed fully a square mile, 

 perhaps more, — for distances are hard to estimate in 

 such a locality. All along the base of the cHff below was 

 a berg-schrund, probably a mile in length. Against the 

 mountain-side the slope of the snow was very steep, but 

 lower down it eased off, and the glacier was crossed by 

 fifteen or twenty crevasses far more perfect and much 

 larger than any I have ever seen on Mt. Lyell. The lower 

 end swept to the right around a buttress of Mt. Sill, and 

 was lost to sight, but farther down were two beautiful 

 lakes of milky white water which contrasted in a most 

 striking manner with the clear emerald lakelets scattered 

 all about. To the south stretched aw^ay the long line of 

 Palisades, all guarded by sheer cliffs on the east. Along 



