First Ascent: Mt. Humphreys. 



167 



blocked by the huge slabs and cubes of granite fallen 

 from the cliffs above. In places the blocks had fallen in 

 such a manner as to make caves, the floor of the cave 

 being the bottom of the gorge, the ceiling the under 

 portion of the boulder itself. From the ceiling of one 

 of these caves we found suspended many long icicles the 

 size of broomsticks or larger. These we found to be 

 delightfully refreshing, and quenched our thirst by nib- 

 bling on them or else by catching the tiny drops of water 

 which were trickling from their ends. Our altitude was 

 now about 13,500 feet, and I dare say that these icicles 

 in this cave form the highest source of any of the branches 

 of the San Joaquin River. The huge boulders, dropped 

 as they were in this narrow gorge, were a constant source 

 of trial and menace to us. Some of them were unstable, 

 and must be avoided on that account; others were so 

 lodged that they formed little precipices which we must 

 circumvent. 



A hundred feet more of climbing and crawling on 

 hands and knees, and the gorge opened up a little. All 

 knew that shortly our fate would be sealed and the worst 

 must be known. At this moment I happened to be ahead. 

 Suddenly, and almost unawares, I came upon the knife- 

 edge of the Sierra crest and looked over into a yawning 

 abyss, down two thousand feet, to a wide-spreading snow- 

 field held in a granite-walled amphitheater. I turned 

 toward the summit above us, but could not see the extreme 

 top, for it was hidden by the wall to our left, which arose 

 two hundred feet above us, still inclined at an angle of 

 seventy degrees. The lower part of the wall to a height 

 of perhaps fifty feet was smooth and unbroken, except 

 for a few crevices and projecting ridges caused by the 



