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Sierra Club Bulletin 



or very difficult at best. While some of the chimneys seem promising, 

 they are probably of that numerous variety typified by the northeast 

 chimney on Mount Humphreys, just to the south of its summit. This 

 chute appears to be a gradual incline ending on the surface of the 

 glacier, but in reality it is terminated by a precipice almost double 

 its own height. The low cliffs of the wall to the west, on the other 

 hand, are penetrated by a number of good chimneys, and even were 

 these to fail, by continuing well to the south and then returning, all 

 obstacles would probably be avoided. The Thumb, therefore, is ac- 

 cessible both from the east and the west sides of the crest and is not 

 to be classed with the more difficult and dangerous peaks of the 

 Sierra. 



I reached my goal on the northeast mountain when the sun was 

 just over the top of the Thumb. By shading my eyes, the familiar 

 profile was revealed in astonishing boldness — a gigantic thumb, 

 placed horizontally, with the tip held aloft ! Glorify this very homely 

 figure with imagination. I should never use it but that this peak 

 baffles adequate description. As I gazed, with the view mellowed 

 and fused by the uniform shading, I remembered the wondrous con- 

 trasts following snow-storms, when the rich black of the east face 

 and wall was edged by the silvery white of the snow above. Again 

 and again I shaded my eyes and gazed, but finally plans for moving j 

 camp triumphed and I rushed down the mountainside. 



Hastily gathering together my pack at camp, I coasted rapidly 

 down the trail. From time to time I rested, at first to admire the 

 great familiar band of soft purple shading into pink in the east, 

 and later, in the moonlight, to let memories of a wonderfully worth- 

 while day crowd in upon me. I camped that night at the base of the 

 escarpment, where my blankets had been cached. The next morning 

 a few hours' hike brought me to Big Pine. In retrospect, the trip 

 and the climb seem far less eventful than many undertaken with far 

 less risk. Yet there is a unique thrill in standing, the first, on a crag 

 near fourteen thousand feet, in midwinter and alone. 



