St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-02-25

what strange SlSht: AlIlost
frightful in its grandeur and extent.
The verdant valleys, bordered by
barren alkili plains, the desert tracks,
the plateaux, scanned and SCARED
with ravines or the bed of some
mountain torrent, the foothills, the
extinct lava flows and the volcanic
rocks, the mountain ranges thou
sands of feet high but above them
all, with nothing to obstruct the
vision. we looked from north to
south, from east to west, from the
snow-capped peaks of Colorado to
the Sierra Madre range in Old Next
co, from the mists that rise in the
lowlands along the Gulf, to the pur-
pie haze on the Pacific. Amazingl
Wonderful ! In the midst of such sur
roundings, man getsa shadowy hint
of the mighty possibilities of his own
mind, for if a scene like this rouses
the soul to it's utmost, what must
our feelings be, when with perfect
body, soul and spirit, and with fully
developed powers, we gaze upon the
universal
For two hours the air was clear,
and we toasted our eyes and our
minds on the sights spread all
around. In the middle of the after
noon it began to get cloudy, and
shower, so common in seni-trOpical
regions, commenced to gather. The
heavy clouds drifted about us and
shut off the view of the plains; soon
it began to thunder and there was
hard down-pour of rain in the valley.
We were in the sunshine above the
clouds, while below were the black
mists; and away below we heard the
rolling thunder. 1t seemed as if we
were above sort of cloud floor, or
on an island in a cloud sea. To the
extending out of the fogs, so there
were several islands in this sea of
mist. Soon the clouds rose and we
were nveloped in them, and then it
| began to snow;1t showed for an
hour and an inch of snow and hail
fell l never felt SO strangely; the
thunder below us, the snow about
us, and a driving winter wlnd-all on
August 27, and in southern land,
too. We wrapped up in our blank
cts and stood around the fire that
the Indians had built, so that in
spite of the inclement weather we
managed to keep fairly comfortable.
The snow and sleet stung our iaces
and we were soon completely encas
ed in ice. Just before sunset the
clouds scattered and the sun freed
us from our decorating; the snow
melted rapidly and between the
rocks the water was running fast.
Our party made an attempt to ex
plOre a deep chasm near the summit
of the mountain. We tied ourselves
to rope, after the Alpine fashion,
and in this way began to descend the
most perpendicular walls of rock. A
very unfortunate and at the same
time frightful adventure drove us
back Senorita g., the Spanish lady,
slipped, and had it not been for the
rope that bound US all together, she
would have been In great danger OF
going over the preclplce. One OF the
party helped her up and we were
glad to find that she was not hurt.
However, our ardor for exploring
chasms had vanished Into thin air"
We FASTENED back to the summit,
where Pedro had prepared luncheon
| for us. 1t is an unusual honor,
think, to be able to say that we had
eaten supper 10000 feet high, up
under the heavens.
There is a pile of rocks on the
Sierra Blanca in the crevices of which
are two or three tin cans, that con-
tain papers having on them the
names of exploring parties. We add
| ed our names to the list for those to
see who may come to this mountain
| from time to time. But few white
men and very few women have ven
tured on to this peak, so we belong
| to small and select company. Col
Letting our things, we took farewell
| look before we started down the
mountain. Just then the rays of the
setting sun broke through the cloud
banks on the horizon, and the rocks
and crags were lighted up with
quiet splendor. The shadowy mists,
| that are so famed in the Rio Grande
Valley, chased each other along the
evening sky; there was kind of
restful stiffness in all nature-and
with this last view of 1.-The shadow
land of the setting sum-" we said
goodbye to the Sierra Blanca peak.
Lighted by a remark BILE display of
zodiacal light, such as is never seen in
the heavier atmosphere of the East,
we reached camp at 10 O'Clock.
The next day we returned to Mes
calero, tired and footsore, but to at
least four of that party the 9th of
August will be the anniversary of
-~-oo+ +Lo,. I,1ae