l82 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



place permitted coasting, half past eleven saw us again in 

 temporary camp. An hour later we were shouldering knap- 

 sacks for the homeward journey. The way seemed much 

 longer and rougher on the return, the steep grade from 

 the Suiattle to camp proving a heavy tax upon muscles 

 already tired with a long climb and a still longer descent. 

 Indeed the knapsacking to and from the base camp 

 formed the hardest part of the trip, as the mountain itself 

 is exceedingly easy to climb, at least on the eastern side. 

 A horse trail could easily be built along the course laid 

 out by The Mountaineers. 



The woods and meadows were wonderfully beautiful in 

 the late afternoon light. As we approached camp. Glacier 

 Peak came into view once more, looking so distant and 

 illusive through the evening mist that it seemed almost 

 incredible that we had been standing on its summit less 

 than ten hours before. 



The greatest hardship of all was the five o'clock rising 

 necessitated by our breaking camp next morning. Reluc- 

 tantly enough we struck our tents and for the last time 

 crossed the stream to feed our neighbors, the whistling 

 marmots, now grown so tame that we could approach 

 within three or four feet of them. It was another bril- 

 liantly clear day. The trail, though the same we had 

 traversed on the incoming trip, seemed new to us all, the 

 view from Glacier Pass with its wide panorama of Glacier 

 Peak and the ranges to southward proving particularly 

 fine. With only twelve miles to go and a long day ahead 

 of us we could afford to loiter in the pleasant woods, take 

 pictures, or yield to the lure of the huckleberry and straw- 

 berry patches. 



The plan had been, after crossing Suiattle Pass, to turn 

 eastward, over Cloudy Pass, and camp in North Star Park 

 near Lyman Lake. We reached the top of Cloudy Pass 

 about two o'clock, and for the rest of the afternoon wan- 

 dered about its vicinity, choosing likely camp sites, admir- 

 ing the scenery, and waiting for the pack-train. Hitherto 

 that indispensable institution had given entire satisfaction. 



