34 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



canon of the Big Arroyo. After a mile or two of this 

 lofty rock-work, our further progress was cut off by 

 the buttress-like flanks of the next Kaweah peak, which 

 left us a choice of climbing or skirting it to the west- 

 ward. We chose to follow the latter course, and descend- 

 ed the long slopes that stretched down towards the Big 

 Arroyo. If there is anything in the mountains which 

 could make the city streets seem agreeable luxuries, it is 

 this kind of climbing — or, rather, descending. The stones 

 were too small to be trusted and too large to be ignored, 

 so that one could neither leap boldly from rock to rock, 

 nor simply slide at random. No, it was a case of per- 

 petual watchfulness, of balancing and preparation for 

 action when the trusted foothold turned traitor and 

 threatened to deposit the unwary one upon neighbors, 

 which doubtless had their share of interest for the geolo- 

 gist, but utterly lacked attraction as reclining places. 

 Add to these pleasures the additional complications of 

 knapsacks which insisted upon deserting their proper 

 positions and climbing upon the back of one's head, with 

 a resulting disturbance of the center of gravity. Yet in 

 spite of it all, the west slope of the Kaweahs seems a 

 remarkably delightful place — from this distance. 



As the afternoon wore on, we made further progress 

 towards the Big Arroyo, always skirting around towards 

 the north as much as was possible, keeping well above 

 the timber line, and crossing numerous snow-fed streams 

 which flowed down from the mountain flanks towards the 

 arroyo. Not long after the sun had disappeared behind 

 the ramparts of the Great Western Divide, we reached 

 a cluster of tamaracks — a distantly spied objective point. 

 These trees seemed a group of outposts, bolder than 

 their kinsmen below on the floor of the arroyo, who 

 had established themselves far in the land of rock and 

 snow. At all events, they were most welcome, and gladly 

 we went to work upon our supper fire, whose building 

 required no little ingenuity, for a recent rain had drenched 

 all available fire-wood. 



