A Knapsack Trip to Mt. Ritter. 



305 



below could realize except, as we saw it reflected on their 

 faces when they at length reached us. A single slip 

 might easily have been fatal, as one falling would almost 

 inevitably have been dashed into one of the numerous 

 rock-piles that were scattered over the snowfield. 



A scout now beckoned to us from a point of rocks far 

 to the right. By energetically kicking steps in the snow 

 we worked across its steep face almost on a level to the 

 lower end of the point. An hour's climbing over rocks, 

 sometimes firm, but oftener loose and ready at a touch 

 to become dislodged, brought us to the saddle overlook- 

 ing the upper portion of the glacier lying between Ritter 

 and Banner. Thenceforward the way was plain, — across 

 the snowfield and up the rocky pinnacle to the summit. 



The ascent of this peak of dread reputation, which, 

 taken from the north, involves one of the most diflicult 

 climbs in the Sierra, had from this southwestern approach 

 proved almost disappointingly simple ; but the outlook 

 from the summit brought ample compensation for any 

 thrills the climb might lack. For an hour we rested 

 there in the noon sunshine, turning our gaze now north- 

 ward past the dark mass of Banner Peak along the 

 dazzling white crest of the range, or down the wooded 

 stream bottoms to the desert's brown heat, where lay 

 the shimmering Mono Lake ; now eastward or south- 

 ward, where countless chains of snowy peaks, countless 

 wrinkles of green, hazy canons stretched farther and 

 farther away to meet the dim horizon line; but oftenest, 

 perhaps, westward, tracing the toilsome way our feet 

 had followed across the range from the hidden Merced 

 Basin, or farther yet to the gray Half Dome, in whose 

 shadow our summer wanderings had begun. 



A mysterious atmosphere, not quite of the everyday 

 world, surrounds the loftiest mountain tops. The high, 

 clear air that blows across them is as a breath from the 

 inner sanctuary, the holy of holies, of the great temple 

 of out-of-doors. It is peaceful, restful, serene ; and yet 



