Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-09-10
ASCENT OF H0Uur RAINIER.
Continued

!
eastward Of Bear Prairie, and separating it
from the valley At the base Of Rainier, was
| agreed to. Soon after r. u. on the I4th, Mr..
Longmire started on his journey hOmewari,
and ;hc four pedestrians, with forty pound
packs strapped to their backs, commenced the
ascent of the first mountain. Three pedes-
TRANS with forty pound packs strapped to their
backs;' would be more correct, for Sluiskin,
in true Flathead style, sustained his some what
heavier burden by means of n band passing
ronnd the forehead, and as though that were
not sufficient strain on one poor Uranium, q
| heavy rifle was balanced across his head, and
both hands clasped over the gun were placed
| on top of all. All the afternoon the course of
the party was steadily upward, the Indians
intention evidently being to reach the very
summit Of the mountain. Mr.. Coleman seem.
ed to find it difficult to keep pace with the In
dian, and several times halt was called that
he might " bring up from the rear. Before
! the summit Of the mountain was reached, and
| when about mift beyond rocky bluff that
| had been scaled, it was discovered that Mr..
Coleman was no longer Of the party. Another
halt was made and Sluiskin sent back in search
Of him. After quite delay the Indian return
ed alone, with the intelligence that he had
gone back rs far as the bluff already mentioned,
aud saw Mr.. Coleman some distance below,
without his pack and retracng his steps. II
bluff he was compelled, in order to save him
self from falling, to loosen and throw off his
| pack, which he thought would lodge where it
fell. But the pack rolled down the mountain
out Of sight and could not be found again. As
it contained all his blankets and the appliau.
ces absolutely essential in the proposed ascent
of Rainier, Mr.. Coleman concluded it would be
useless, for the present, for him to continue
the journey, and decided to return to the camp
Inr noar Dru ;rsO v1aro h. h,,ll. ~
| ions had baen lett and some extra blanketing
This accident not only deprived the party Of
Mr.. Coleman company, but occasioned them
| the loss of part of the stock of provisions,
and left them without a barometer, (Mr. G.
| having the only one in his possession, J an i'm
| strument which they regarded as one of the
most important items of their outfit, as by
careful observations with it they had hoped to
| settle long mooted question, the real alti-
| tude of Rainier above the sea-levcl. The now
| reduced party continued their ascent of the
mountain, the summit of which they reached
near dark, establishing their camp for the
night in a grassy glade where Sluiskin said he
had g. mitlited' in n hunting excursion the
previous year, and where there was then
small stream Of water. Not vcstigc of mois-
| turc, however, was now visible, and IN hour
was spent fruitlessly and laboriously in pros.
pecting the gulchcs Of the mountain Tide tor a
stream or spring. Finally Gen. Stevens sOlv-
ed the water problem by arming himself with
a canteen and the coffee pot and going q mile
back on the tnail to spring where they had
last qucnched their thirst. and procured .
supply that lasted till bedtime. At 4 o clock
| the next morning the pedestrians, their lips
parched with thirst were on their way again.
Pursuing long backbone of the mountain for
some distance, they reached a high rocky
peak of it, and making partial dc cent of the
opposite side of il reached q sort of plateau on
the mountain side, in the centre Of which they
made the pleasant discovery of little circu-
| lar lake, fed by an adjacent snow bank
Breakfast was here cnjoyed--enjoycd as tar rs
their old tOrmentOrs, the mosquitoes likewise
breakfasting) would permit it to be F.; the mos-
quitos managing to enjoy their repast, not
outstanding thick coverings on the sufferers
| hands and faces, and a dense cloud Of smoke,
| created in the vain hope Of driving tho tor
mentors away. At half past six the journey
was resumed, end from that time to one p. n.
it was exceedingly difficult and tiresome, the
| course adopted by the Indian with whom it
seemed cardinal principle in mountaineering
| to climb to the summit Of every peak at all in
the line of n'arch) leading them over numer
| Gus mountains, some of them rising almost
| perpendicularly hundreds of feet above the
general range. Now they were labOrionsly
creeping up lofty mountain by grasping the
| bushes thckly covering it, anon cautiously
| descending the steep mountain side over loose
| sharp stones, miniature avalanches Of which
| their footsteps would often start sliding down
| the mountain; again travcrsing snow fields
and intervening valleys. At noon they reach
ed the summit of the last mountain ridge to be
| crossed. From this high point, apparently on
| a level with the solid snow on Rainier, they
obtained a magnificent view of that great
mountain solitaire. They were on "saddle"
| Of the mountain about to be assembled, between
two peaks rising high on tho right and left,
aud were standing on the upper end Of snow
bank filling deep gulch beneath. Directly
in front, and seemingly less than mile dis
tant, (thongh really six,) was the long. sought
mountain, its rugged yet symmetrical outlines
distinctly visible, the whole mass towering
| up grandly and filling the fine vista formed by
the aforementioned lofty peaks in the fore
ground. Beneath the snow-line and in the
belt Of timber encircling the mountain near its
base, could be seen a cascade of the Nisqually,
! its white foaming water in beautiful contrast
| with the dark green of the frs. Climbing
| down the steep snow-bank below them, and
| a rocky bluff at its lower end, the tourists
| reached the valley after slow and tedious
descent, which was only rendered practicable
by clnging to the bushes thickly covering the
| almost perpendicular mountain side. At one
O'Clock they reached and camped for lunch on
a clear beautiful stream flowing into the MIS-
qually and heading in lake on the summit Of
the sloping valley. This lake they afterwards
named Summit Lake, its waters flowing into
| the Nisqually on one side and towards the
Cowlitz on the other. At this camp the two
mountaineers, for the first land 1t proved the
last) time during the whole expedition, "took
! tea," the pack containing small parcel Of
| that gossip-stimulant having been opened by
mistake But il didn't g 20 down" well, and
one small tin cup apiece supplied the place Of
the usual quart Of coffee. 1t vas then and
there declared by one of the party that should
they ever prepare similar omt6t, this article
should be tea.totally ignored. It doubtless
constituted consoling draught to "unpro-
tee ted females VIII n arrived at an "unccr-
tain age" was even conceded TO be good bev
erage for invalids, Ceiestiais who have gotten
the cue, and tea-enamored Russians, but your
toiling mountaineer, or weary "pilgrim" of
the plains must have his coffee and was ever
| ready, in emulation of the grateful Sancho