The ip20 Outing 



143 



that most democratical man who, like Moses, had led them out of the 

 wilderness when they were lost on the mountain, a ship without a 

 rudder ! That speech proclaimed the Colonel a real Sierran. 



Near midnight, when the last survivor was counted, there were 

 found still missing seventy-two dunnage-bags, twenty-four mules, 

 five packers, and two members of the party, presumably sharing 

 vigil with the packers. By drafting into active service all extra 

 blankets, tents, and sweaters, the destitute were covered at least, if 

 not conventionally equipped, for the night, and all went to bed in a 

 fair amount of comfort around two great camp-fires. 



With only two days left, we were still nearly forty miles from the 

 railroad. There was nothing for it but to push on. No real appre- 

 hension for the missing men was felt until the following evening, 

 when, with the arrival of the packers, only one of the men proved to 

 be with them. We were only a short distance from ranger telephones, 

 however. The District Forester, Mr. Paul Redington, and Ranger 

 Price were with our party, and by their kind help within a few 

 hours we were assured that the lost man was safe and on his way to 

 Cascada, where he joined the party again. 



And so, in spite of all threatened mishaps, of chicken dinners lost 

 and Fresno feasts deferred, of mislaid cooks and flutes, and tardy 

 dunnage-bags, the trip came to a gloriously successful close. Con- 

 sidered for its scenery alone, this outing of 1920 stands supreme, 

 but in other ways, too, it was a notable one. Never before has so 

 large a party been taken over so difficult a mountain route, and one 

 moreover unfamiliar alike to the Outing Committee and to the pack- 

 ers. Never before, either, has our progress been so dependent on the 

 active co-operation of the crowd itself. To name those to whom the 

 outing is indebted for willing, constant service, would be to name the 

 whole party. But thanks are due particularly to those members 

 without whose help the pack-train, the most important factor in our 

 success, would have utterly failed. While perhaps a melancholy 

 reflection on the times we live in, when men will not, for money 

 received, adequately perform work which they have agreed to do, yet 

 the experience showed a gratifying balance on the other side of the 

 scale — a record of the most generous sacrifice of personal conve- 

 nience and pleasure for the sake of the common good. 



