240 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



June, 1909. In late February of the present year another 

 attempt was made by two residents of Lone Pine to cUmb 

 to the summit of Mt. Whitney, but the snow was so soft 

 that they turned back after reaching an elevation of 

 10,000 feet. An easier trip, and one that affords almost 

 as magnificent scenery, is that up the canon of Inde- 

 pendence Creek to the summit of the range at Kearsarge 

 Pass. The writer, with two companions, reached an 

 elevation here of 12,000 feet in early April of this year 

 with very little difficulty. 



The start was made from a camp at the 6,000-foot 

 level in a little meadow at the m.outh of the canon. The 

 distance to the summit from this camp is about equal to 

 that from the mouth of Lone Pine Canon to the Pass, and 

 the difference in elevation is 1,000 feet less. As it was 

 planned to make the whole trip in a day there were no 

 burdens to carry, and all our attention and energy were 

 given to the climb. 



Below the 8,500-foot level, snow lay in small patches 

 and in the early morning was frozen so that an easy 

 climb of two hours and a half found us in Onion Valley, 

 still fresh and hopeful. The Pass is not visible from here, 

 but the summit of Independence Peak to the south of the 

 Valley is at about the same elevation, and as we looked 

 up and up its steep north face for 3,500 feet, the work 

 ahead of us was apparent. The three glaciated canons 

 which meet here, with the bold, dark cliffs and pure 

 white floors spotted with pine and tamarack trees, were 

 magnificent, and formed beautiful approaches to the 

 sanctuary where dwelt the etherial, ghost-like summit 

 peaks which were our goal. 



From Onion Valley the snow was practically continu- 

 ous, and by 10 o'clock the crust was so weak that every 

 few steps it would break, letting us down sometimes 

 waist deep. We were provided with snowshoes, however, 

 and found them very necessary during the remainder of 

 the day. They were impractical on the steep slopes, but 

 luckily the snow was hard here and progress was possible 

 without them. 



