The Aftermath of a Club Outing. 171 



wherein one catches momentary gHmpses of far-distant 

 reaches. Avalanche Peak lay before us to the northwest, 

 and almost to the north Mt. Gardiner, wreathed in clouds ; 

 the Kaweah group one saw plainly to the south. A 

 little north of east lay the East Vidette, beyond that Uni- 

 versity Peak, Mt. Stanford, and south along the main 

 range Mt. Bradley and Mt. Keith. To the southeast from 

 us were visible Mt. Williamson, all but its top, Mt. Tyn- 

 dall and Mt. Barnard in cloud, and, glancing through the 

 mist, the edge of Mt. Whitney's well-defined plateau. We 

 were interested in tracing the usual route by which Mt. 

 Brewer is ascended, up from East Lake, with its some- 

 what hazardous final climb. The way by which we had 

 come is much simpler, and is accompanied with less risk. 

 The last rise of two or three hundred feet of the ascent 

 from East Lake has a distinct element of danger for all 

 save qualified experts, and it could hardly be claimed that 

 of the party of forty-eight who made the ascent in 1902 

 every single individual would answer that description. 

 To the northeast from us was a lakelet of pale ultra- 

 marine hue, and to the north a smaller one still. Under 

 the South Guard to the southwest lies one much larger 

 and very beautiful. It was a poor day for photography, 

 but we stored away in innumerable brain-cells views of 

 storm and mountain grandeur long to be cherished. Such 

 aspects of nature, it is to be hoped, become absorbed into 

 character, and mean mental stamina and endurance of 

 purpose. At 2 o'clock we started down. A minute 

 yellow flower grew not fifty feet below the summit, an 

 eriogonum, its blossoms lying close in the midst of firm 

 woody vegetation, a little tuft which altogether would 

 fit comfortably within a half eggshell, frail, but with 

 strong vitality, blossoming most cheerfully here, among 

 the snow and storms, at an elevation close to fourteen 

 thousand feet, in a climate not dissimilar to that of the 

 Arctic Circle. 



On top we had climbed to the summit of the bold and 

 picturesque boulder which dominates that scene, a feat 



