312 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



After much zigzagging we found ourselves close against the huge 

 bulk of Grizzly facing a difficult situation — no way down but a calamit- 

 ous one, no way up except through a small tunnel, a crevice or rift in 

 the granite. The perilously steep angle of this aperture was further 

 aggravated by the fact that it was in smooth rock, the floor of which 

 was covered with a thin deposit of dry shifting sand. At the lower 

 end was a narrow shelf whereon we stood, and below a sheer preci- 

 pice. 



Mr. Eells, with characteristic promptitude, got into this crevice and 

 worked himself upward by a series of movements which represented 

 approximately two slides backward for three movements forward. In 

 due time I got in also, losing in the operation most of the contents 

 of my shoulder bag. Mr. Eell's frantic squirmings stirred up the 

 sand so that it got in my eyes, nose, mouth and hair. It was very 

 exhausting work and at times our strength would leave us. Our 

 only way to rest was to cling desperately to the encompassing walls 

 of our tunnel by any and every friction hold, toes, heels, knees, el- 

 bows, back of the head, flat of the hands and clothing. To relax 

 was to slide, and the end of the sHde was the precipice. Finally Mr. 

 Eells reached daylight and safety and I had the hole to myself. I got 

 my head out and yelled in pure joy in my relief. But alas ! My clothes 

 had pulled up under my arms in such wise that I stuck. Dropping 

 back I managed to straighten them, to find on a second trial that I 

 was still too bulky, and to remove my Jersey sweater in the cramped 

 quarters proved to be about the most bothersome job in my experi- 

 ence. But with the help of my crawl-mate I succeeded in reaching 

 safety. 



So far as I can remember, that crevice through which we crawled 

 was about twenty, possibly thirty feet in length. We were over an 

 hour in clearing it. Both of us were of slender build, a circumstance 

 to be thankful for. 



When Mr. Eells and I faced each other in the '-^en air once more, 

 he said, "You are one of the Eells family, too." 



"Thank you kindly," I replied. "We are brothers' M right." 



The rest of our experience was about the same as >.nat of Le Conte 

 and Hutchinson, including the look over the 3,500-foot precipice. Like 

 them also we found it a difficult matter to find a place to descend 

 The point we had aimed for to get into the Tenaya had been cut into 

 a fearful toboggan slide by avalanches. 



It is a fascinating region, this, near the Half Dome. I should like 

 to go up there again some time — but not by way of that worm- 

 hole on the side of Grizzly. 



ThOS. J. PiLKINGTON 



