12 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Next morning we followed the sheep trail down into 

 the canon of Bear Creek, and followed that large stream 

 up to the confluence of Hilgard Creek. Here we aban- 

 doned the trail and struck out eastward up Hilgard 

 Creek into the wilderness of mountains in the upper 

 Bear Creek Basin. Slowly we worked our way up the 

 stream past several large meadows, and over several 

 very rough places. At one point the creek flowed in a 

 box canon, and a way had to be found over the high 

 mountain to the right. At another the animals had to 

 be driven up the bed of the creek itself. At the timber 

 line we camped just at the base of Mount Hilgard, and 

 made preparations for another try at Mount Abbott, this 

 time on the west side. 



On the morning of July 13, we made our way up the 

 last tributary of Hilgard Creek, carrying only lunch, 

 camera, and rope. For the first hour the way was up a 

 rocky stairway in the creek bed to the entrance of a 

 huge amphitheatre at the base of the Main Crest. A 

 large lake nearly two miles long lay before us. To the 

 left towered the pyramidal mass of Mount Gabb, with 

 Hilgard just behind. In front was the serrated crest of 

 Mount Abbott, guarded along the whole front by a pre- 

 cipitous wall ; to the right, a wilderness of peaks, includ- 

 ing among hosts of others, Bear Creek Spire. At once 

 we made our way around the south side of the lake, 

 climbing for the most part over huge talus fragments. 

 This consumed much time, and we were an hour reach- 

 ing the head of the lake. Here we stopped to examine 

 the front of the mountain, and could see but little chance 

 of climbing the side facing us except by a chimney 

 which led to the crest of the ridge about a quarter of a 

 mile south of the summit. A patch of snow in the notch 

 on top seemed to give promise of fairly good climbing 

 along the knife-edge, so we hesitated no longer but set 

 out for the chimney. The climbing was easy all the 

 way up, and there was no danger whatever except per- 

 haps from loose rocks. In about two hours we stood 



