Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1888-08-23
A GREAT CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN.
Going Up TO the Top of Shasta and
Then Down Again.
From the Overland Monthly.l


Now that we were within few miles
of Shasta, it did not look SO wholly
white. Its SHOWS were ploughed by
many n rocky ridge, not perceptible at
greater distance 1t did not, however,
lose its supernatural appearance there
by, but rather gained an effect more
startling by the sharp contrast of lava
rock and sweeps of snow. Shasta was
named by Russian travellers, the proper
derivation of the word being Toheste,
meaning chaste, pure. 1t is the culmi-
mating peak Of. the coast and Sierra ran
ges, and has gu altitude Of 14,444 feet.
Its glaciers extend for more than two
miles down its slopes. We sat for an
hour on the hotel porch trying to famil-
iarize ourselves with the strange noun
tain, but its unearthly aspect did not
change for us.
ut is terrible to be up there!' said
Hal, with almosta shudder. "One sin no
danger of forgetting the experience. As
| was following that lava ridge this side
of the Devils Thumb, l saw far off on the
snow black object about the size of my
| finger, wriggling and staggering about,
! falling flat occasionally, and then resum-
ing its fantastic gyrations. I observed
| it carefully, and discovered that the OBJ
ject was forked; and then it flashed
through me that it was man climbing
the glacier. When our party reached
the cleft peak that forms the summit,
we were met by perfect avalanche Of
clouds that tossed and tumbled about
giving ghostly indistinctness to every
thing. We appeared to be in world
of unrealities, peopled by shadowy
creatures that heightened and contract
ed, and flung about their vast, white
wings above the sickening fumes
that steamed up from the kissing,
squirting hot springs at our feet. A
momentary parting of the clouds show.
ed the sky, blue as indigo, closing down
in awful nearness. Througha revolving
glare the blood-red sun swung in the
frightful purple of the heavens. Front.
ing these unaccustomed elements SOL
emn dignity possessed the soul and gave
n conscious feeling of intinitude. The
loss of all familiar landmarks lent an in
describable terror to the scene. This
dead volcanoes throat is choked with
snow. On its icy rim one of the ladies'
slipped and fell headlong over the fear
full chasm. The guide caught her by
one of her feet. Her escape from hor-
rible death was almost miraculous. We
were nearly frozen with the cold, and
yet our mouths were parched and hot as
in desert Our hearts throbbed
painfully, and we drew our breath in
gasps.
Before we commenced our descent q
fierce blast tore the mists asunder, re-
vealing the grandest picture we shall
ever behold on earth. From the males
tic temple we could see hundreds of
miles of Kaleidoscope landscape.
Mountains, rivers and valleys, with
spurs OF rocky ridges cutting through
tawny farm fields fur away; green mea-
dows, starred with lakes, and billowy
ranges running towards the sea, while
fifty miles of dense pine forests spanned
the McCloud and Pitt to touch the snowy
heads OF the Sierras. And Oregon S rich
prairies, linked to ours by a chain of
silver-surfaced lakes; to the south be-
You'd the mighty Lassen Buttes, we
catch glimpse Of dusky plains with
isles of clustering peaks. Three times /
have seen oil this, and yet feel an ire
the labor and exhaustion attending the
ascent, the vision from the top is worth
o greater sacrifice.
We slowly descended the mountain,
gazing silently toward Mount Shasta,
until the intervening silver frs shut of
, our view.
The train was two hours late that
night, and as turned to bid Hal good
by we saw radiant mantle fall on Shas-
tas bead from the departing sun.
"And the glory Of the Lord was like
devouring fire on the top of the mount
he quoted solemnly, and within it's re-
Elected light we parted hands.