48 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



In 1897 there used to be a good trail branching off from this 

 trail just before the second crossing of the Paradise River, above 

 Narada Falls, and leading up the side and along the crest of 

 Mazama Ridge, one of the most striking scenic view-points in 

 the park, to a point just above Sluiskin Falls. This trail, ending 

 at a fine camping-spot on high ground near four or five small 

 lakes, has been allowed to get into bad condition. It should be 

 put in good repair, and this could be done with very little labor. 



A trail should early be constructed to Indian Henry's hunting- 

 grounds from the north side of the Nisqually Glacier in Paradise 

 Park. This at first might be for pedestrians only, later to be 

 perfected for saddle- and pack-horses. 



The two trails suggested — that from Paradise River to the 

 head of Mazama Ridge near Sluiskin Falls, and the one from the 

 Nisqually Glacier to Indian Henry's hunting-grounds — might be 

 the first of a system to circuit the mountain, and when con- 

 structed would render accessible the finest portions of the Mt. 

 Rainier National Park adjacent to the approach by way of 

 Ashford and the valley of the Nisqually River. 



As bearing on the development of a system of roads and trails 

 making the entire circuit of Mt. Rainier, we incorporate with our 

 report the following testimony of a member of our Committee 

 well versed in woodcraft and most competent to speak upon this 

 subject. Mr. Alden Sampson writes as follows: — 



"With another member of our party this summer I made 

 the circuit of the peak. We traveled with pack-animals and 

 made our journey in a leisurely way, stopping as the view 

 tempted us, or where feed, not a too frequent circumstance, 

 was to be found. We left Longmire's Springs after the departure 

 of the Sierra Club from that encampment, and went by the way 

 of Bear Prairie down the Skate Creek Trail, being obliged in one 

 afternoon to ford that stream, a rocky and at times (for horses) 

 somewhat disagreeable river-bed, no less than thirty-eight times. 

 At present the alleged trail is but a poor affair, shifting about 

 from bank to bank of the stream wherever foothold offers ; in 

 one section, on a steep hillside, it can hardly be called a trail at 

 all, being quite impassable for laden pack-animals coming from 

 the Cowlitz River. A trail laid out intelligently here in conform- 

 ity with the broad characteristics of the valley is much to be 

 desired. 



"Following up the Cowlitz River we forded at the mouth of 

 Muddy Fork, followed up the Carlton Trail to Fish Lake at the 

 summit, thence along the crest of the Cascades by the old Klikitat 

 Trail, which commands superb views of Mt. Rainier from the 

 east, the finest of all views to be obtained of that mountain. From 

 the mining settlement of Gold Hill we continued our course 

 through Bear Gap, down Silver Creek to the East Fork of White 

 River, and up that to Glacier Basin, thence around the lower end 

 of the Winthrop Glacier, and around the Carbon Glacier. Look- 

 ing up from the trail across the moraine here, we could see the 

 edge of Spray Park above us, only two or three miles distant, yet 



