Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Vol. VI. San Francisco, January, 1906. No. i. 



THE SIERRA CLUB'S ASCENT OF MT. RAINIER * 



By Evelyn Marianne Ratcliff. 



Every year the Sierra Club gives the lover of natural 

 scenery an opportunity to gratify his taste. From the 

 Club's camp in Paradise Valley I had my first experience 

 of a formidable mountain cHmb. Pitched on the slope of 

 Mt. Rainier at an altitude of about 5,500 feet, — almost at 

 timber-line, — it was within a few moments' reach of the 

 Nisqually Glacier, which at that point is a mass of be- 

 grimed ice and neve, furrowed crosswise with crevasses 

 and lengthwise with moraines as far as eye can see. Be- 

 yond Paradise Valley looms the Tatoosh Range, a beauti- 

 ful little series of summits, half-covered with a resplendent 

 mantle of snow when we saw it. Indeed, its attractions 

 were found so irresistible that we decided to climb its 

 highest peak soon after estabhshing our main camp. A 

 most perfect day's outing it proved to be ; enough snow to 

 make us realize its height and enough rock-work to add 

 the spice of danger to the climb.f The summit of Pinnacle 

 Peak afforded a magnificent view of Mt. Rainier, whose 

 lofty white cone flung a challenge to us across the valley. 

 From our cloud perch we scanned the great mountain 

 narrowly, for its conquest was to be our main effort, and 

 our respect for its height grew as we looked. 



The start was made on July 24th, a day when the 

 peak was wearing not a vestige of the cloud-cap that is 



* For a narrative of the entire outing see the Report of the Outing Committee, 

 page 50, infra. 



t See the article, "Sky-Line of the Tatoosh Range," in this number. 



