178 Sierra Club Bulletin. 



ourselves blocked at the end by a net-work of crevasses. 

 Here, at the urgent request of a distant voice from the 

 snow-field, we sat fast for ten minutes holding the rocks 

 down until the explorer below was out of range before 

 we could retrace our way and climb up to the western 

 arm. The camp-fires were growing closer now, but there 

 was still another rock ordeal to pass through, a narrow 

 chimney leading from the Lizard to a snow-field, nearly 

 all of the upper part of which was within range of the 

 chimney. This, however, was the last of the rock bom- 

 bardment, indeed the last difficulty of the descent, for 

 the snow-field led by an easy grade to the edge of the 

 pumice slope. 



At two o'clock in the morning, nineteen hours after we 

 had left it, our stumbling feet brought us to the tem- 

 porary camp, with its great fire, its steaming cups of 

 chocolate, its bread and meat, and greatest blessing of all, 

 its sleeping bags, into which we straightway tumbled with- 

 out even the ceremony of removing the grease paint from 

 our faces. 



We were none of us the worse for the experience next 

 day. On the contrary, we awoke with a sense of exhilara- 

 tion. The sun seemed to shine with a more cordial 

 warmth and the joy of being alive on good old Mother 

 Earth was a little keener than on an every-day morning. 

 We were a little disposed to philosophize on the comforts 

 of the commonplace and the folly of seeking to attain 

 high summits, but we were exceedingly glad to have been 

 there just the same. 



The few remaining days of the outing sped pleasantly, 

 though the eve of our departure brought the rain which 

 had fortunately spared us so far. The final day and 

 night in camp passed in that jumble of discomfort and 

 hilarity which storms generally produce in camp, provided 

 the elements have been considerate enough to reserve 

 their bad behavior for the last days, when good fellowship 

 is at its height and a certain jaunty indifference to cold, 

 wet, and such extraneous matters has become the criterion 

 of one's position in the social economy of camp life. 



