128 



Sierra Club Bulletin, 



a saddle for about a quarter of a mile, then follows an- 

 other ridge for a short distance, dipping below its edge. 

 It would be well-nigh impossible to keep to the backbone 

 of the ridge at this place, as the wind sweeps across it 

 with enormous velocity. Except a few small pines, there 

 is no vegetation. The footing is composed of small, loose 

 stones, so hard and so moved about by the wind that in 

 places there is not even a trace of the trail. But there 

 is no danger of straying, as the summit is in sight. For 

 the last half-mile the climb is exceedingly laborious. The 

 ascent is gradual, and the footing sure, but the force of 

 the wind necessitates a constant struggle, sometimes a 

 full stop. Often small quartz pebbles were blown into 

 our faces with great velocity, having the imagined force 

 of a charge of bird-shot. The wind seemed to increase as 

 the summit was approached. 



Reaching the top, the writer found Messrs. Parker 

 and Tappan crouched shivering behind the monument of 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and was glad to crawl 

 under their friendly gray blanket. It was only under 

 shelter that one could breathe in comfort. The velocity 

 of the wind we estimated at forty miles an hour. 



The view from the summit is grand. It is entirely 

 different from the prospects from the peaks of the Sierra 

 Nevada. There is no circle of snow-capped granite peaks 

 such as makes the view from Brewer or Williamson so 

 wonderful. The eye is not charmed by an apparently 

 endless succession of sierras and peaks, nor by the courses 

 of great cafions. But the view may well be called mag- 

 nificent, and would repay exertion however violent or 

 hardship however great. San Bernardino (Grayback) 

 and San Gorgonio loom above us. To the south lies the 



