i84 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



the rest of us followed in single file, each one helping 

 thus to make a better trail for the persons following ; but 

 even then, owing to the imperfect vision through unaccus- 

 tomed snow-glasses, and from many other causes, we 

 were constantly slipping from our insecure footholds and 

 tumbling into the intervening furrows. 



As we ascended our course became constantly steeper 

 and more difficult, until the climax was reached in follow- 

 ing the last tongue of snow around a ridge of large loose 

 rocks. Here we used a hatchet to cut footholds in the 

 ice, and, after the leaders had safely passed over and 

 occupied comparatively secure positions for bracing them- 

 selves among the rocks, a rope was brought into requisi- 

 tion and held taut. Grasping this with our left hands, 

 we crawled one by one around the end of the rock ridge, 

 over the steep edge of the insecure and slippery ice, and 

 on to the loose rocks above. 



Great care had to be exercised in clambering over 

 these rocks, as a careless step would start great masses 

 in headlong flight and imperil the lives of those below. 

 It was a great relief to escape the tension of the last 

 half-hour of work and arrive at last upon the summit; 

 and when, at lo o'clock, the roll was called on Lyell's 

 crest, and it was found that the entire party of fifty-three 

 had reached the top without casualty of any kind, it was 

 a matter of general felicitation. 



That the climb was so successful was due to the per- 

 fect organization of the party, the precaution of the 

 leaders, and the good sense, endurance, and hardihood of 

 the members. If any of these elements had been elimi- 

 nated, a large percentage of the party would have seen 

 Lyell's summit only from a long distance off; for the 



