148 
THE CONDOR 
Vox,. XII 
especially W. W. Price, who has spent season after season in the region, and Dr. 
Sterling Bunnell * 3 who made such an extended tho fruitless search. Nor was this 
all; for I was furthermore aware of the difficulties which we were liable to 
encounter in ascending Pyramid as early as the tenth of June; for the attempt I 
made on this date in 1903 3 , when we were forced back not only by almost im- 
passable snow-drifts but by drenching rain-storms, while snow fell on the peak just 
above us, was still vivid in my memory. Chester Barlow is one of the few to 
ascend Pyramid as early as June tenth; the majority of those who climb the peak 
seldom do so until late July or August when the ascent becomes comparatively easy. 
Carriger, however, unacquainted as yet with the Leucostictes or their alpine habi- 
tat was far more sanguine and could see no reason why a careful search might not 
be rewarded. As for the hardships and danger, these were lauglit at, and the trip 
became a realty. 
At five o’clock, on the 
morning of June 9, we left 
Bijou, Mr. Wilton Young 
driving us eight miles thru 
Lake Valley to the foot of 
the summit of the Placer- 
ville - Lake Tahoe Stage 
Road and thus enabled us 
to reach the Forni Meadow 
at the base of the peak by 
nightfall. As we carried 
provisions for a week, 
blankets, and the usual 
collecting paraphernalia, 
we advanced but slowly. 
The summit of the stage 
road, altitude 7600 feet, 
was made at 8:30 a. in. , 
and from here our progress 
became still slower; for 
Carriger, meeting for the 
first time such rare species 
as the Sierra Grouse, Sierra 
Hermit Thrush and Ruby- 
crowned Kinglet, in their summer home, made wide detours from the road that 
were at times decidedly retrograde, and for a while it seemed as if the prospective 
nests of the Leucosticte would remain undisturbed until some future season. But 
now, to the northwest above the tall pines and firs that walled the summit meadow, 
rose the ever-present Pyramid, towering above all its neighbors, and, splasht with 
snow, it presented a picture of wild and rugged mountain beauty un equaled in the 
region. Pyramid, the peak of peaks, was luring us, and we continued on our way. 
Phillips’ Station, 6900 feet elevation, was past at ten o’clock, and from here the road 
is all down grade to Echo, 5700 feet elevation, where, arriving at 12:17, we halted 
for lunch. 
The usual route from Echo to the Forni Meadow is by the Georgetown Junc- 
tion Road, but insted we took a mountain trail which tho very steep is consider- 
ing. 44. DEPARTURE FROM BIJOU BY MOTOR-BOAT; 
DUTTKE IN FOREGROUND 
3 Notes by Dr. Bunnell, appended to this article. 
3 Auk, Vol. xxii, p. 364. 
