*- 
mountains. 'The course chosen would lead us first town the Pacific 
i slope into a deep and rugged canon which we would be compelled to 
; descend for some 20 miles or more, thence by means of one of the 
great creek Talleys that com© down from the range to the west* we 
hoped to be able to ascend to the base of the peak*. 
For two days we pushed forward, sometimes in the river bed, some* 
times high up on the walls where our trembling animals had to be led 
along the narrow ledges and treacherous rock-slid os* In places we 
■would appear to be completely shut 'in by walls so steep and high that 
the nimble deer could hardly escape, where the river, cam© seething 
i and boiling from some dark chasm utterly blocked up by massive rock, 
: and -disappeared again Id a canon which no living being could penet-rati 
sand from which came constantly up the smothered roar of pent-up torrents* 
On the evening of the second day we reached the mouth of a large 
creek which it was agreed must drain the high regions about the Holy 
Gross* As yet no one had caught sight of the object of our . search 
since the first discovery some sixty miles away, for since entering 
the canon no mountains had been in sight, only the rocky walls, the 
densely timber ed si op e s a n d t h e s ky . 
In vain we searched for a trail or passHfeie route up this creek 
valley* It was pronounced impossible and we essayed to climb the 
ridge to the right, but night was upon us and camp must be made* 
By noon the next day we were on the high ridge north of the creek, 
free from the prison-like valley, but not free* A broad freshly-beat- 
en game-trail led us on charmingly for a while, but presently entered 
the timber and we were plunged into such a slough of despond as strong 
hearts only could encounter and pass safely through.-' To the right, 
to the left, and in front, the mountain face bristled ' like a porcupine* 
Countless multitudes of giant pine-trunks, uprooted by some fierce 
hurricane, were piled up and crisscrossed and tangled in such a way 
that an army must have stopped as before the walls of an impregnable 
fortress. Up and down, advancing and retreating, struggling through 
the most aggravating masses, to find ourselves returning again to the 
starting point, we worked on until horses and men were thoroughly tired 
out and disgusted* At night, after nine hours of unremitted exertion, 
w© pitched camp in a 'little swampy gulch among the logs and rank weeds, 
only two and one half miles in advance of the camp of the preceding 
night* 
On the following morning we moved in another direction and with 
much better success"* By noon we emerged from the timber and stood 
upon a high promontory that overlooked the grand valley* What a re- 
markable sight l broad and deep and regular, it looked like a great 
pasture, dotted with a million white-backed sheep* In ages past a 
mighty glacier, rivalling the modern ice rivers of th© Alps, had 
swept down this valley smoothing down its rugged sides and rounding 
