First Ascent of the Middle Palisade 265 



keeping close to the base of Mount Winchell and the North Palisade, 

 made camp at the head of Glacier Creek just at dark. 



Next morning we toiled upward again with our packs and crossed 

 the ridge east of the little lake at the head of Glacier Creek, dis- 

 covering a pass that we do not recommend for general use. Pack- 

 animals will not go that way without a donkey-engine and a steel 

 cable. A scramble down a chimney for five hundred feet brought us 

 close to the base of the Middle Palisade, and although it was still 

 early in the day we concluded to search for a camp-site and then ex- 

 amine the mountain. We found an ideal spot at an elevation of about 

 11,500 feet. It was on a narrow step of the granite terrace, where a 

 wind-swept thicket of white-bark pine {Pinus alhicauUs) afforded 

 shelter and assurance of a soft bed. A few dead branches and roots 

 close at hand made a plentiful supply of fuel, and a dashing stream 

 a hundred yards away completed the requirements of a most luxuri- 

 ous mountain camp. In spite of its apparent bleakness, it proved to 

 be one of the most comfortable and delightful camps that either of 

 us had ever enjoyed. 



At seven o'clock on the morning of August 26, 192 1, we left our 

 little clump of albicaulis and started for the mountain. We traveled 

 light, carrying only a little lunch and our cameras. The climb over 

 the solid granite was quickly made, and we soon came to the pile of 

 talus below the chute we had selected as the most promising route 

 to the summit. Our examination of the mountain the previous eve- 

 ning had led us to the conclusion that one of the sharper peaks near 

 the extreme right of the ridge was the highest point. 



The climb up the chute proved easier than we expected. Our prin- 

 cipal concern was to avoid injuring each other by dislodging loose 

 rocks. We made good progress and were beginning to exult in what 

 seemed the certainty of a successful climb when we received a blow 

 to our expectations. A little pile of rocks on a ledge, and another 

 above, and beyond still others, meant that someone had preceded 

 us. We wondered who were our forerunners and envied them the ex- 

 perience of a first ascent. 



By quarter-past nine we had reached the top of the ridge at a 

 point only a few hundred feet below the summit. Here several slabs 

 of granite leaning against one another formed a triangular window 

 through which we thrust our heads and beheld a large glacier far 

 below us. This view revived our enthusiasm and we eagerly resumed 



