250 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



The party was untried. Professor Kennedy was offering 

 himself a resolute sacrifice on the altar of science. The 

 Californian, as we finally dubbed Mr. Carssow, was an 

 unknown but enthusiastic quantity, to judge from his 

 letters and his determination to have a February trip — 

 a trip at least worth the trouble of coming so far. His 

 enthusiasm had rather increased than diminished during 

 a prolonged wait for sudden orders, and when the orders 

 were sent, the Californian was quick to reach the ren- 

 dezvous. He arrived at Reno late one evening on the 

 Overland Limited, and at five o'clock next morning the 

 party was plodding over roads made sloppy by the driving 

 rain toward the ranch on Jones' Creek, where the active 

 ascent was to begin. When this destination was reached 

 the clouds still trailed their veils of vapor far down the 

 flanks of the mountains. The day, also, was nearly half 

 done, but the ascent to the observatory would occupy 

 scarcely more than six hpurs of continuous climbing. 



The air was cool and the snow compact at the begin- 

 ning. The clouds seemed to open up avenues before us 

 as we proceeded, and to close them behind us as we 

 advanced, until we rose into a storm of snow, which 

 gradually hemmed in our vision. 



It had been a sudden transition for the Californian to 

 rise from sea level to this wintry altitude of 8,000 feet 

 so quickly. His heart began to labor and our progress 

 to slacken on account of numerous halts for breath. But 

 the advance was maintained with much grit and many a 

 joke on mountain and tobacco hearts, until Refuge Camp 

 at timber line was reached. 



Refuge Camp, however, proved more a name than a 

 fact, for a cold wind drove athwart the slope where it 

 stood, and made tarrying there anything but comfortable. 

 We, therefore, hastened upward to seek refuge from the 

 wind under the lee of the summit. 



We were now an hour and a half behind time. The day 

 was rapidly waning and at least two hours of steady 

 climbing remained before we could hope to reach the 



