The High Mountain Route. 



5 



Kanawyer's best mountain mules. The saddles were new 

 and in perfect order, with new cinches, straps, and ropes 

 throughout. Two packs were made up in heavy canvas 

 and leather kayacks, and one, the kitchen outfit, in light 

 but strong canvas-covered boxes. The packs at the start 

 weighed about 175 pounds each. No saddle animals 

 were used. 



We took the Nevada Falls trail past Clouds Rest and 

 camped the first night in a beautiful group of firs at the 

 base of Sunrise Ridge. Next day found us on the 

 familiar Sunrise trail, and by noon we were lunching 

 at the old Sierra Club camp opposite Lambert's Dome. 

 Here we remained till next morning, and then passed on 

 up the Tuolumne Meadows to the base of Mount Lyell, 

 and over the rough trail to the timber line, where noon 

 of the third day found us camped at 9,600 feet near the 

 base of Donohue Pass. We were obliged to stop over 

 during the afternoon in order to take advantage of the 

 hard snow on the summit in the early morning. The 

 trail to Donohue Pass is rough in places, but it was 

 comparatively free from snow by July 4, so we expe- 

 rienced no difficulty in reaching the top by 8:30 a. m., 

 and our first pass was crossed at 11,200 feet. Descend- 

 ing into Rush Creek Basin on the Eastern Slope was 

 bad, on account of soft snow. One of our mules broke 

 through and had to be unpacked, but once at the bottom 

 of the first steep jump-off, we got out of the snow, 

 picked up the trail, and worked southward across Rush 

 Creek. The views of Mount Ritter here were magnifi- 

 cent. I doubt if in the whole Sierra there is a more 

 noble mountain than this, standing so high and clear- 

 cut above everything around it, and so brilliantly con- 

 trasting black rock and snow. Wherever it is visible, 

 Ritter fascinates the beholder. 



The Main Crest was recrossed, and Thousand Island 

 Lake reached by noon, and amid swarms of mosquitoes 

 we searched for a refuge from their vicious attacks, but 

 finally made camp on a peninsula in the lake, where a 



