A Midwinter Trip. 



^S7 



rapidly into a precipitous gorge. An impromptu race 

 between the botanist and the enthusiast on the ski and 

 the sled was too much for the sled. The noble old frame 

 that had weathered a winter journey up Mt. Whitney and 

 tv/o winters on Mt. Rose, collapsed under the strain, and 

 left its burden as a penance for the enthusiast to drag 

 down the canon and round water holes yawning through 

 the snow. 



The snovv^ surface did not fail until the lake had almost 

 been reached. Then packs were transferred to shoulders^ 

 and the party pitched down the sodden slope to where the 

 waves from the recent storm were still churning against 

 the rockbound shore. 



From out the scud appeared the moon once more. We 

 were close to the eastern base of the point, but still five 

 miles from Brockway, and the hour of midnight was upon 

 us. We were too wet to sleep where we were, and the 

 bushes were wet with rain and melting snow. It would 

 not be much worse to proceed. The botanist devised the 

 lunch — three inches of bologna and one small orange. 

 The remnant of rice in the provision bag was uncooked. 

 But the lunch was ample. We had grown accustomed to> 

 small rations. 



The trip to Brockway, like the storm on the lake, can 

 scarcely be described. We did not feel it — indeed, we 

 were too tired to sense it. The botanist was seeking a bed 

 and we were following the botanist. Snowshoes had been 

 cached with the other outfit, for the snow along the point 

 seemed shallow. The trail could rarely be found. Slip- 

 pery snowbrush alternated with rotten snow, knee deep^ 

 and the slope pitched sharply toward the lake. Of the 

 botanist's leggins only the safety pins remained, while 

 each of us was soaked upward to the waist. Words were 

 few. From each fall the victim rose more slowly than 

 before, and the words on his lips grew inaudible. He 

 could have fallen asleep where he fell by merely closing 

 his eyes. Not so the Californian, however. His eyes 

 were growing wider open. He was feeling responsible 



