The North Palisade Glacier 



THE NORTH PALISADE GLACIER 



By W. L. Ruber 



The Sierra has a particular fascination in the late autumn 

 when signs of approaching winter are already evident. Then 

 there is a certain indescribable stillness, perhaps lonely, but 

 never oppressive, while the gray skies and the sighing of the 

 wind in the trees seem ever to bear a warning of the storms 

 soon to come. 



In all of the high altitudes the nights are chill and frosty, 

 so much so that sleeping out under the open skies is not a 

 pleasure to some, particularly if this mode of living is not self- 

 imposed. These conditions, together with the short days, make 

 extensive travels infrequent. Return trips of one day from 

 permanent settlements involve less risk and discomfort. Thus 

 limited to a one-day trip, we started on the morning of an 

 autumn day of 1910 from the hotel of the little town of Big 

 Pine, westward and upward along the creek of the same name. 

 The start of the trip was made with double team and buck- 

 board. My companion, an officer of the Inyo National Forest, 

 did the driving, a responsibility of which I am always glad to 

 be reHeved. 



For nine miles a passable road follows close to Big Pine 

 Creek, the lower course of which is marked only by a thin line 

 of cottonwoods and aspens through the sage brush of the 

 desert. This portion of the trip was very different from the 

 general impression of desert travel. Neither heat nor glare gave 

 discomfort. Instead we experienced only those features of 

 desert travel which always remain with me as memories after 

 the more disagreeable ones have been forgotten, — the beautiful 

 coloring, the nearness of distant objects, the clear air of early 

 morning and the pungent odor of sage brush. On this par- 

 ticular morning the view across Owens Valley was unob- 

 structed and the coloring was at its best just before the sun 

 appeared over the White Mountains. 



The wagon road ends where the two forks of the creek unite, 

 so here we left the team and proceeded on foot with camera 



