i86 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



who were going to Ritter remained that night at the base 

 camp, while the others, according to previous arrange- 

 ment, continued on to the main camp in the meadows, 

 where they arrived that evening footsore, hungry, and 

 weary. 



MT. RITTER. 



The next day nine members of the Sierra Club left 

 the Lyell base camp and started on a knapsack trip over 

 the Donohue Pass to Mt. Ritter. At the eastern foot of 

 the pass we were surprised to hear voices, and soon we 

 came upon the camp of Mrs. Hoagg's party. They had 

 come up Rush Creek by way of Mono and Silver lakes, 

 and on the day before our meeting had climbed Mt. Ritter 

 from the south. 



We arrived early in the afternoon at the upper end 

 of Thousand Island Lake, where we made camp in a 

 clump of twisted tamaracks situated about two hundred 

 feet above the level of the lake. After a hearty dinner, 

 and feeling at peace with the world, we sat on the rocks 

 watching the beautiful effect of the gathering twilight on 

 the rugged side of Mt. Banner. As the devouring 

 shadow, of night gradually crept up its precipitous side, 

 it seemed as if the mountain was slowly sinking into the 

 flood of darkness ; then came a last pause for a moment, 

 as if the Titan were making a final, desperate struggle 

 to keep his head above the flood, and all was over. Yet, 

 huge and indistinct, the shadowy form with its grizzled 

 fringe of snow stood there in the night rugged, grim, and 

 defiant. In the morning Banner was the first to be wak- 

 ened by the sunlight ; and, like Le Conte Dome in Yosem- 

 ite, it is at all times the dominant figure in the landscape. 



