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Sierra Club Bulletin. 



cracks in the snow above us. This meant avalanches. 

 We immediately became more circumspect. Heel-thrust 

 after heel-thrust, slowly repeated, as we faced out- 

 ward and maintained a precarious balance on the 

 slope, became exhausting, though we exchanged places 

 every few rods. Often my pack overbalanced me, and a 

 sudden fall inevitably resulted. But on every occasion 

 the alpenstock, clutched rigidly by the head, was driven 

 by the impact of my body its entire length into the snow 

 and anchored me firmly. I sat upon it until Marsh 

 stepped round my shoulders and beat a trail into which 

 I could crawl to regain my footing. The slide of two 

 thousand feet into the depression would have meant bitter 

 exertion to return over such snow to our present level, 

 and there was no wood nor had we more than a tiny 

 lunch. 



The next slope was quite safe. Here we found Lake 

 View Camp, the old high camp of the trail-makers, with 

 abandoned camp stove and logs of wood. I suggested 

 that we build a fire and spend the night. But Marsh 

 declared that staying here over night would become per- 

 manent. 



So we hastened on, only to be almost immediately ar- 

 rested by an ejaculation from him as he pointed to the 

 next dangerous place — the ledge along the precipice. I 

 offered to break the first part of the trail if he would 

 break the second. But we soon realized that the condition 

 of the ledge was dangerous far beyond expectation. The 

 drifting snow had filled the ledge full and was even then 

 sifting over the edge. For us to venture upon it would 

 be to chance death in the abyss beneath, one to five. This 

 was not a bad risk, however, but from a pinnacle that 

 overhung the trail we saw that the ledge for fully a mile 

 until it passed from sight around the shoulder of the 

 mountain was in similar condition, and to continue would 

 be to repeat the chance of going over every few rods. 

 We had brought no shovel, and if we had the snow would 

 have filled up the pathway behind us as rapidly as we 



