Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1882-08-18

After dinner the ram nad ceased, i
and it was almost dark, but there in |
front of US, a faint rosy tinge illumln- |
ating its glaciers, its snow covered |
comrades and itself was Mont Blanc, |
the monarch of European moun-
tains. The sensation this huge |
mountain first makes on one is in
describable. 1t seems so near and
vet we know it is so far. The next
day we had occasion to think of its
dangers, as young Englishman with
his guide were lost in attempting to
make the ascent. Their bodies were
found before we left Chamonny at
the bottom of an ice crevice two
thousand feet deep. He had gone
from our hotel, and we therefore felt
the more interest in him. Still
Mont Blanc is not considered diff
cult mountain to ascend About
fifty people make the ascent each
year amongst them sometimes
ladies. Mrs. Capt. Burnaby, who
sat near US at table, had made the
ascent few days before we reached
Chamonnv, and the, being worthy
wife of an adventurous husband,
seemed to think nothing of it. Her
face bore traces of the struggle, for
the sun shining on the snow literally,
as young lriShman expressed il
scarities one. The ascent occupies,
from two to three days and costs
about $50. Through the telescope
one morning we watched party OF
nine making the ascent to the
Grands Mulets, the first station.
They were ali roped together and
! had the greatest difficulty in getting
along On first looking at Mont
Blanc one would wager that 4 person
could be distinguished on it with the
naked eye, but with a field glass 4
man looks like 4 tiny black speck,
and even powerful telescope does
hardly more than TO enable one to
distinguish the movements of Il party
making an ascent.
| Our mountain climbing which was
not very extensive was still quite
formidable enough to satisfy us.
+, Our first trip was to ascend the
! Montanvert. our party OF four taking
four mules, two guides, boy, and Il
supply of Alpenstock. From there
we crossed the celebrated Mere Gle
| Glaze, and descended by the Maui
vais Pass, a dangerous path along
the face of an almost precipitous cliff,
where one has to hold on by ones
hands and feel with the feet to find
where next to step. The alternative
is to fall several hundreds of feet
into the murrain of the glacier be-
low. This climb was rather more ia
| tiguing by reason of the mules than
/ otherwise The mule is sure-tootcd
but he likes to Craze on the edge of
Il precipice, and this is not always
pleasing to the rider. The day Le-
.,re we left Chamonny, we made our
grand mountaineering expedition to
/ the top of the Brevent, about two
thousand feet higher than Montan-
vert. 1t was a fine morning when
we started and the view of Mont
Blanc was magnificent. AS we
climbed higher and higher the view
became finer, giving us Il Just idea
of the proportions of the mountain
and its height above the surround
ING mountains.
At the chalet where we lunched
the girls left their mules, and with
the guides we began the most diff
cult part of the ascent. The path was
very bad and there was great deal
of snow. We had not left the chalet
many minutes before it began to rain
a little. For an hour we kept on,
the rain becoming harder, and with
it coming snow and hail. BY the
time the top was reached the thund-
er and lightning were on all sides of
us and seemingly below US, the rain
and snow were binding and the
wind was enough to blow us off the
mountain into the valley of the
Chamonny below. Umbrellas blew
inside out, waterproofs were far
from waterproof. and it was with
the greatest difficulty that we got
back to the chalet, where wet and
cold we dosed ourselves with brandy
before starting again down the
mountain. Eight miles Of zig-zag
paths in and out amongst the clouds,
always in the rain, we hobbled
down, finally reaching our hotel, the
soIriest specimens of amateur noun
taineers that ever were seen.
The next morning we babe adieu
Ito Chamonny, and although suffer
ing somewhat in feelings and ward
robe from the experiences ofthe day
before, still we were most loath to
leave the place. Long may it be
before railway comes to rob the
valley of its charms. | must not
forget to mention that there was a
party of forty Americans one day
in Chamonny. They were con-
Quoted by one of Cooks guides, who
marshalled them about in the most
disagreeable fashion. One likes
to have plenty of liberty in Switzer-
land.
| can only mention our few days
mention our few day in Geneva, our
ride over Lake Leman to the castle
of Chillon, immortalized by Byron,
our brief stay in Lausanne, and our
briefer stay at Fribourg, where we
felt compelled to attend the organ
concert. At Berne with its bears and
its peculiar streets and fountains we
made a longer stay. Words cannot
paint the beauty Of the scene in early
morning, when the first rays of the
sun tinge the long range of snow-clad
mountains in the Bernese Overland.
From my window at four O'Clock in
the morning | thus made acquaint-
ance with the Jungfrau and its COM
panions. At Interlaken we have
them close at hand, and yesterday
when in the valley of the Lauter-
Drummer, the majestic Jungfrau was
revealed to us in all her magnifi-
cence. The Staubbach Falls, which /
we saw yesterday-a cloud of spray
dashing down a precipice two thous-
and feet Highland the valley Of the |
Lauterbrunner combine to make an |
ideal Swiss scene than which moth
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