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Sierra Club Bulletin 



When passing the mountain made famous by Clarence King in 

 his fascinating description of "The Ascent of Mount Tyndall," a 

 strong desire seized us to discover, if possible, the precipices and ice- 

 tongues which were the occasion of his thrills. The mountain has 

 been ascended many times, and, from our position along the trail, no 

 serious obstacles were apparent, yet from the summit of Mount 

 Brewer, a few days later, we could easily imagine the difficulties he 

 encountered in descending the ridge extending southeast from 

 Mount Brewer and in crossing the Kern-Kings Divide. 



From the Vidette Meadows to the South Fork we found the trail 

 in good condition, greatly improved through the efforts of Mr. G. O. 

 Knapp, of Santa Barbara, who has a private camp at the mouth of 

 East Creek. We were informed that Mr. Knapp had about com- 

 pleted the construction of a good trail from Lake Charlotte to Rae 

 Lake. His work should be highly commended by the members of the 

 Sierra Club. The South Fork Canon and the trail up to Tent 

 Meadow were found hot and dusty, and at Simpson Meadow the 

 beauty of the flora had greatly diminished, but the colors, lights, 

 and shadows in the Middle Fork, and especially in Le Conte Canon, 

 were unrivaled. We camped in Grouse Meadow, and the following 

 day moved up the canon to a little lake near the timber-line several 

 miles above Little Pete Meadow and about three miles below Muir 

 Pass. It was bitter cold that night with a strong down-canon wind. 

 A heavy frost covered the ground and the water in our bucket was 

 frozen. The ascent to Muir Pass presented no difficulties, and upon 

 reaching Evolution Lake we were monarchs of all we surveyed. At 

 the lake we camped near the northwestern arm on high ground 

 about one hundred yards from the shore, where some huge blocks 

 of talus with a few ''tamaracks" and albicaulis afforded a little 

 shelter. 



On Saturday, August 20th, we were on the summit of Mount 

 Spencer for a well- worth-while view over Evolution Basin. The 

 whole southerly wall of Mount Darwin was exposed to us, and an 

 irresistible desire seized us to attempt the climb and ascertain if the 

 mountain had been or could be climbed, and, while basking in the 

 warm sunlight on the rocks at the summit of Mount Spencer, we 

 searchingly scanned every chimney as a possible means of ascent. 

 The eastern end of the mountain we knew was inaccessible, and we 

 could easily see that to traverse the ridge from the summit of Mount 



