3i6 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



Merced; we then left the trail and followed up the cafion, which at this 

 section is not too rough to prevent a burro from going through, although 

 requiring a good deal of maneuvering to escape windfalls, etc. In less than 

 a mile the canon loses its ruggedness and opens into a fine level meadow, at 

 the same time assuming a general easterly direction. The accompanying photo- 

 graph (Plate LXXV) may give an idea of the extraordinary beauty of the scene 

 that presents itself when these meadows are reached. The great rock-tower bears 

 no name, and is undoubtedly inaccessible. The two peaks to the left of the 

 tower are also unnamed. Electra Peak is not visible from this point, being 

 farther up the canon. The meadovv^s are about nine thousand feet elevation. 

 The fishing is fair, but the fish were quite thin. Above the meadows the canon 

 becomes very rugged and turns sharply to the north, terminating at the south- 

 ern base of Mount Lyell. Rodgers Peak and Electra Peak are the two prin- 

 cipal summits of the east rim of the canon, the former being the most impos- 

 ing. We attempted the ascent of Rodgers Peak, but were turned back when 

 only two hundred feet from the summit by the perpendicular cliffs which 

 guard this approach of the mountain's crest. The views we secured from this 

 point, however, were truly grand and well repaid all our efforts. 



Ansel E. Adams 



Popocatepetl, Mexico — Record of First Ascent 

 Hernando Cortez in a letter from Mexico City to Emperor Charles V, dated 

 October 30, 1520, and printed in Seville in 1522, gives this account: 



"Eight leagues from the city of Cholula are two very lofty and remarkable 

 mountains, their tops covered with snow, and from the highest, by night as 

 well as by day, a volume of smoke arises into the clouds as straight as an 

 arrow. 



"As I wished to ascertain the cause of this phenomenon, I despatched ten 

 of my companions with several natives as guides. They went and struggled 

 with all their might to reach the summit, but failed to do so by reason of the 

 great quantity of snow and the whirlwind of ashes." 



In a later letter, written May 15, 1522, and printed in 1523, Cortez tells of 

 the successful ascent as follows: 



"In my former letter I informed your Majesty of a conical mountain of 

 great height, from which smoke issued continually. As the Indians told us it 

 was dangerous to ascend this mountain, and fatal to those who made the 

 attempt, I caused several Spaniards to undertake the ascent and examine the 

 character of the summit. At the time they went up, so much smoke proceeded 

 from it, accompanied by loud noises, that they were either unable or afraid to 

 reach the mouth or crater. 



"Afterward I sent up a third party of Spaniards, who made two attempts, 

 and finally reached the aperture of the mountain whence the smoke issued, 

 which was two bow-shots wide, and about three-fourths of a league in cir- 

 cumference; they also discovered some sulphur around it, which the smoke 

 deposited. The Indians considered it a most remarkable undertaking." 



M. Hall McAllister 



