, 1885-11-29
CLIMBING UP MOUNT TACOMA.
A Hazardous Ascent-Three orAters n
the summit-A Farmer's Trim.


tho summit-A Farmer's Trip
Washington Territory Cor. New York Timesi
Beyond an elevation of II, 900 feet on
Mount Tacoma few persons have ever
been. The summit has been reached, but
only by some eight or nine persons, If
as many and these during n period of
thirty years. The ascent is extremely
hazardous and dangerous. and to ac-
complish it a person practically takes
his life in his hand II is a struggle up
ropes and ice steps must DO used, across
yawning icy chasms and over slippery
incllnes. Those who have reached the
top say that each OF the three knobs
seen 80 distinctly from Ellensburg has
within 1t a good size crater. ZONE
smoke and considerable steam issue con
stantly from these c%raters, and the air,
even at that height, is warmed sntiic-
iently to induce a comfortable nights
rest, If atmospheric changes do not sud
denly carry the mercury too low.
| have often heard it said by people
in this vicinity that they have seen
smoke coming from the top Of Mount
Tacoma. | do not doubt the story, but
| have never been able to see it, The
ascent two days, and the night
must be passed on the top of the noun
tain. II is important, therefore, that it
be made in midsummer, when the at
mosphere is least likely to produce low
temperatures. Should it be very cold
on the summit, the steam from the
crater would cover the explorer from
head to foot, and his body would be-
come benumbed and stiff with cold.
Clear weather is also an important CON
sideration, for not only do clouds daze
the explorer. but they likewise turn to
frost and chill the system.
| met here the other day a farmer who
had made the trip to the summit. He
lives in the interior of the territory, and
a year or SC ago had working for him a
Frenchman who constantly talked of
how he one time had climbed Mount
Tacoma. He mentioned this fact so often
that no one had any confidence in what
he said. Getting thoroughly tired of
hearing the man talk, the farmer, n hale
and hearty man of some 50-odd years,
thought of putting a stop to it by offer.
ing to make the ascent with him. Much
to his surprise the Frenchman accepted
the challenge, and remarked in the
same Dragging tone that he was ready
to start at any time. Indeed, he seemed
DESTROYS of going again. Having put
his foot in it by making q direct propo-
sition the farmer had too much pluck to
back out. besides he was an old woods
man, and had long had adesire to climb
the mountain, though he never expected
to do it.
The Frenchman became more thor
oughly interested, talked daily of the
projected trip, and told how they would
find a broken rope hanging over the
precipice at n certain point, and a rag
securely tied to a stick inside one Of the
craters on the summit. He ex~patiated
on the heat and steam coming from the
crater, and how comfortably they would
rest in its interior. After harvesting
was over they started. They were gone
several weeks, reached the summit, and
returned without accident. The farmer
says he found the broken piece of rope.
the rag in the crater, and that all the
representations made by the French
man were true. He had then no doubt
that the man had made the ascent be-
fore.
The climb up the cliffs of ice by ropes
ropes and ice cutting he described as
most dangerous, but the ascent was not
a circumstance to the descent. The
crossing of the glaciers and crevices was
difficult and full of danger. On delicate
bridges of snow and ice they passed over
great CULTS, and a single misstep or the
breaking away of the ice beneath them
would have hurled them hundreds of
feet below. The crater on the summit
was warm and steaming and of consid-
cradle size. The day they assembled was
clear and delightful in temperature.
Rolled in blankets they passed the
first portion of the night in sound sleep,
but toward morning the temperature
changed, clouds settled upon the top of
the mountain, and they awoke stiff and
cold. The particles of moisture froze
to their clothing and it was all they
could do to keep themselves in a condi-
ton to travel at all. In addition to this,
tho rarifed atmosphere had affected the
farmer particularly, and he began al
most to despair of his ability to make
the descent. The downward journey
was so difficult for him, and of such a
desperate nature that evon now it makes
him shudder TO think Of it. He is
proud of his trip to the summit, and is
glad to be able to say he has made II,
but he does not care to go again.