National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-08-31
ASCENT OF MOUNT SHASTA
APPEARANCE OF CALIFORNIA 1ED
OREGON AT 4 SINGLE VIEW.
ELEVATION H,4os FEET ABOVE THE SEA-
HOW THE TROPICAL CLINE LOOKS FROM
THE REGION OF ETERNAL sNow-sCENEs
AND INCIDENTS OF THE ASCENT,

4
HOW THE TROPICAL CLINE LOOKS FROM
!, THE REGION OF ETERNAL sNow-sCENEs
> AND INCIDENTS OF THE ASCENT.
LCorrespoudsnce Of The Republican
, sIssoN's VALLEY, August IS, 1874.
A traveller overland from Omaha 70 San Fran.
cisco is delighted with the bold and majestic seen.
cry OF the Sierra NeTsdAs. As be 10 borne along
By the Iron horse he sees NOW banked In the "a.
: vines and summit stations" Some $500 feet above
the level Of the sea. He Is charmed with the
3 view, eompreherding hundreds Of miles Of terri.
tory but let him leave the main line Of the Gen.
q tral Pacific railroad at Junction California and
o travel one hundred and ninety miles over their
: California and Oregon branch to Redding and
nom thence one day By stage coach to Sisson's at
the foot Of Mount Shasta, and he viii then OBJ.
serve the monarch Of the SIerraS In all its gran.
9 deur. But let him DO more, and accompany US
thlther. Mr. Sisson the proprietor Of the hotel,
is ever ready with an efficient corps Of guides and
horssS 10 take visitors to the summit; but as It re-
quires forty-eight hours to make the ascent and
, descent with comfort, We VIII make ourselves
comfortable for the balance Of the day on our AZ
rival, stroll over TO the hesdEaters Of the Sacra-
D mento, battle In its umpId waters, and catch q
few Of its delicious mountain trout.
1t was 90 cool upon the night Of our arrival and
we had such scapItal old fashioned supper that We
arose early in the morning, thoroughly refreshed
| ASN- WA WIS JONAHSg ONoIlhu01 IOTkOE b1o BWel-
. tering heat Of the plains and mounted our horse
with renewed yiRor, for the ascent Of the
SHASTA" Starting about . g. m, we ride up
gradual ascents, through belts Of magnificent
timber, still the property Of the Government,
teeming with deer, bear, grouse, SO. Soon peak
We noticed from the tableland rearing Its head
perpendicularly 5000 feet hsaTenWard il below
US. In the ravtnes We notice snow, the timber
grows smaller, vegetation 10 less Dense and we
cOHnfEant AZ the fank M int
another zone. The Or is the only wood now VIsI-
BILE, but on, on, up, up, We go, now quite slowly,
now We pass along the edge Of o preclpIce, but
our surefooted animals do not fsIter. The ascent
has now become so abrupt that we make frequent
hRlts to rest the animals and enjoy the view
Snow is now the rule rather than tho exception;
still we notice large tracts Of land destitute Of
snow, and do not feel cold, only pleasant tenn
Perature. Now We are toIling up o rsvine, over
the hard snow, until We reach pleasant opening,
with stream Of gurgling ioe-oold water from the
melted snow, and then order Q halt for mid.
day lunch.
Again in the saddle, We push forward more
slowly; the frs are decreasing IN number and
| height, but the open tracts sheltered from the
winds are still bare Of snow, but the grasses and
/ manEsnIth bushes have now entirely disappeared
We jog along over alternate patches Of rotten
lava, sand stone and snow, and reach the latitude
Of the little scrub pine, scarcely four feet in
| height, but even here We notice the traces Of
animal life By the footprints Of the deer and Ibex
| or Mountain sheep; but the steep aseents admon-
| ish rs We can 60 no farther BY horse, and a. we
have walk Of eight miles still before Us, having
travelled twelve on horseback, we viii dismount,
60 into camp, have provender for man and beast
and reserve our strength for the morrow, As We
move around, enjoying the splendid scenery, with
no intervening object TO obstruct the view we are
made aware Of the dizzy height by the rarihed
air; every few steps We stop for breath. We
enjoy the cool, but really pleasant temperature,
sitting IN the sun, (or Its rays rather genial
now,) gather up some Of the scrub pine and snow
matter unEQll OgE blsnls. SQpa PSspaEs f. make
night Of It, but befotS we rstlfe one more glimpse
at the panorama 1t our feet.
The sun is just going down In the heavens |
spreading subdued light over all visible objects
See it as it appears to descend into yon Pacific |
ocean, two hundred miles distant, and then look |
up the Shasta valley, where Its rays still linger
over its thousand hlll-tops and along yon mean
dering, silYery stream. How diminutive the set |
Elements LOOK, but tpers they are in the pictur-
esque valley. See the snoE-clad mountaln-tops, |
stretching away hundreds Of miles, until lost in |
the distance. Observe mountains apparently
dWarfed into hills, the Intervening valleys, the |
pleasant villages and hamlets the mining camps
tssming with life. Oh, what an extensive and |
charming pictured And then glance back Of you
apd see Shasta still looming up above you thou
sands Of feet, apparently monarch Of all. How
ready you are TO acknowledge now that you are
almost repaid for time and labor. But the sun
has retired, and 50 must We, and be in readiness
for the grander vista Of the mornings Spl.
Before daylight, on the morning of the nth OF
July, we were sstIr, hastily dispatched break
fast, and started for the summit stripped Of
everything superhusus; cloth suit, nailed boots,
slOnOh felt hat tied under tho Gnin, sreen gIhsses
green vail, and mountaineer's rod, with spike. |
We move slowly but steadily up; up
the crest Of ridge, running from the
base Of the little or crater butes, (so-
caliea) Now over an incline Of . confused heap
Of broken rocks, then again over q patch of
frosen snow. Our pike was In constant requIstion.
The rarihed air and fatigue in climbing causes Us
to halt frequently for breath. We finally over
come the fear Of slipping down the ridge, or over
its side into the abyss below, and strike boldly
over the snow. We finally reach beacon rock,
that appeared but few yards from camp but
which was really mile, and We are lust one
hour in reaching it While resting here we see |
the rays Of the sun In the far distant valleys and
the mountain peaks beyond, but our mountain
peak still closures the rays Of the sun. and its
can be noted for many miles distant.
But We have another mile to the top Of the crater
summit, % up, up, up, We slowly toll, advancing
along the edge Of . line Of snow, and bare, but
broken stones, Of we'll defined gutter on the
ridge, an apparent tributary to the canon below.
Our halts are more frequent now, and as we rest
We amuss ourselves BY rolling stones down the
ascent. With what fearful velocity they 60,
starting others i9 their wake, until miles below
they are Loaf in the distance. On, on, up, up we
60 and finally reach the rim Of the crater, Just
two miles from camp; time two hours. Here We
meet the rays Of the sun and gaze Upon the mag
nlaeSnt bsnSramA thstiS the price OF our labor
only. No artist can depict its beauties or writer
describe the view we now see from
the diEIy heights amidst the Tollt1des Of ali eeT.
nal snow, eutIIsly deEtituts q ysSstEton, animal
or Insect life, bat We have four miles still to 90 to
reach the extreme pinnacle, 60 We must take .
hasty view OF ths extinct crater, on whose rim We
new stand, 1t IS about one and half miles in
and half mile in width, irregular
In shape, and one thousand feet in depth to the
snow ice and water that all the visible bottom OF
the crater. The guide starts forward, but where?
Along the summit Of q ridge Of snow about
quarter Of a mile In length, one thousand feet in
height, and only from one 10 two feet In breadth
across the summit. The snow 10 hard and frozen,
but the guide is OF. It is no time for hesItancy
We look at the appalling task before
u.s. If I'VE fall on the len, trsversing one thousand
feet, We reach the known bottom Of the crater. If
we fall on the right traYerEIng one thousand feet
sIders too dangerous 10 cToss but are In for it.
and onward We must 60. We place our pike
firmly in the snow, one foot on the crest, another
on the side, and 90 advance. Now we have
slipped but by the aid Of our pike speedily regain
eur equilibrium.
Our guide tells rs that many cross the ridge
astraddle, but II others have walked It erect why
not Wet So walking and slipping we advance.
Our guide marvels that We get along 80 we'll
He first tells Us there is no danger, and starts to
run one hundred yards on portion Of the ridge
where the top widens out to some two and 6 half
feet. We follow ct the same gait and finally
reach the other side, thankful for our safety and
receive the congratulations Of our guide, who
tells Us that while the ridge Is Frozen which Is only
at night and early morning during the summer
time there Is some danger Of slipping, but that
having once fallen, by retaining presence Of mind
our flight could be speedily checked with our
pixies.
Not wishing TO experiment. now, we plunge
down q descent OF rotten lava, destitute Of snow,
some twelve hundred feet, and stand on the ridge
connecting the SrEteT or lesser butte with the
greater butte or summit. We now stop to gaze on
. glacier Of ice and snoW slowly moving down the
eastern slope. It Is nlled with assures con
stantly changing its shape, and is constdersd by
the guide too dangerous to cross, but We cannot
tsETy long on this RIDGE with no friendly rock TO
shelter rs from the cold, bleak wind sweeping