Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
35 
gone by for preparing fuel for smelting ore. Here we camped 
for several days and it proved a splendid base from which we ex¬ 
amined the surrounding ridges and the summits of Mt. Baldy and 
Telescope Peak. 
A relatively short climb from the kilns brought us, quite abruptly, 
to a low saddle in the main ridge of the Panamints, where from 
eighty-five hundred feet elevation we could look over the wonderful 
color display of Death Valley, spread out nearly nine thousand feet 
below. The white salines and the dunes of the burning “ bottom of 
the bowl” were brush dabs of a titanic artist; the Amargosa Range 
across Death Valley showed all of its weird outline and wonderful 
color stripings, while far beyond, but as sharply defined as though 
but a dozen miles away, rose the massive bulk of the Charleston or 
Spring Mountain Range, about one hundred miles to the east. It 
was the most stupendous panorama it has been my good fortune to 
see, and the view from but few places in the world can equal it in 
sheer impressiveness and grandeur of proportions. The haze of 
Death Valley, that intangible veil which the furnace-like depression 
casts over its own impressive sterility, imparted tones of changing 
color to the chasm below, while the sinuous salt beds seemed now 
like rivers of chalky white, and again like ribbons of shining silver. 
Swinging the eyes from the abysmal depths to the east and looking 
westward, our view was almost as remarkable. Range after range—- 
the Argus, the Coso, the Inyo—succeeded one another, their inter¬ 
vening valleys showing steel-blue in the light of late afternoon, 
while the horizon itself was formed by the snow caps of the great 
Sierras, with Mt. Whitney the monarch of the ridge and the highest 
point in the United States, clearly evident. The highest and lowest 
points of our land were in sight on the turn of a heel. 
The ascent of Telescope Peak, eleven thousand three hundred 
feet in elevation, was made by Mr. Hebard and Dickinson. A few 
timber-line pines crept to the summit, but no distinctive arctic- 
alpine grasshoppers, such as occur in the Sierras, were found. This 
is quite in accord with our observations on other high desert ranges 
in California and Nevada. 
The nights at our camp by the kilns in Wild Rose Canyon were 
cold and keeping warm was the main problem. The sky at night 
was generally overcast and rain was expected daily. We were 
fortunate, however, in this respect, but a heavy storm followed us 
