An Easterner's Impressions. 255 



AN EASTERNER'S IMPRESSIONS OF A SIERRA 

 CLUB OUTING. 



By Francis M. Fultz. 



As a newcomer I had great curiosity to know what 

 manner of folk the Outing Party would be composed 

 of. Would they be a sociable lot? Would they welcome 

 a stranger who had come a couple of thousand miles to 

 thrust himself among them? Would they be mostly 

 pedagogues (I am one myself, although you might never 

 know it) who were going out to catalogue the flowers 

 and trees, to chase butterflies, and to stalk glaciers to 

 their lairs? Or would they be business people who were 

 running off to the mountains where telegrams and de- 

 mands for overdue orders could not reach them? Would 

 they all be fishermen? (I work at the business some 

 myself, and I did n't like to think of there being one hun- 

 dred and forty-nine others intensely interested in the 

 same line of sport. I thought perhaps there might not 

 be enough trout to go 'round.) Would there be many 

 women in the crowd (there zvere) , and how independent 

 of help would they be? These and a thousand other 

 questions thrust themselves tipon me, and left me in a 

 state of great expectancy. A month with the Outing 

 Party answered all the questions, quieted my curiosity, 

 and left me immensely satisfied. 



I found the party made up of sociable people who fell 

 naturally into the unconventionalities of camp life, and 

 who met one with that frank and hearty manner that 

 makes getting acquainted easy, and that causes one to 

 feel that one's friendship is considered a favor. Every- 

 body was ready to get acquainted with everybody else, 

 and eager to add in every possible way to the pleasure 

 of the Outing. This was especially true of those who 

 were older members of the Club, and who had been on 



