Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-21

going up the steep ascent. The newly
fallen snow so impeded our progress that
we were from s o'clock in the morning to
2 o'clock in the afternoon reaching the
timber line, a distance of seven miles
from Jefferson. BY this time the storm
had so increased in fury that we dlscov-
cred as we climbed the reef of perpetual
snow above timber line that we We're
facing a blizzard.
From that point we had -four miles to
go up a snowslide activity to reach the
top of Georgia Pass, at an altitude of
about $4,000 feet. From 2 o'clock until 5
we fought the binding snow like ship
wrecked seamen in our efforts to reach
the top. Our clothing wet from the
damp snow of the morning, caught the
fine cutting frost and snow of the biz
card, which froze to us, so that long be-
fore we reached the summit of the pass
we were encased in an icy armor from
head to foot. Finally, almost exhausted
with our continuous labors in the teeth
of the storm, we reached the top of the
mountain, and here our troubles really
commenced.
"Our route lay along the top of the
mountain for about a mile and a half
and then down over Missouri Hill into
Swandyke. Here, on the very highest
point of the range the blizzard of wind
and snow cut our faces like a sand storm.
When Mr.. Stridiron got 80 feet ahead OF
me | could not see him through the m
penetrable frost. The storm continued
to increase savagely; night was upon US,
and we were between two terrible reefs
of snow, towering far above US and
above timber line, with nothing to break
the force of the wind. Mr.. Strldlron said
that we had a little more than two miles
to go if we did not miss our way n go
down the hill at the wrong point. By
this time, about $50 in the evening, l was
CO n Quad tho{ 7 o@,,1 1nf on N cYnnc
without resting. Mr.. Stridiron, a hardy
mountaineer and used to climbing i'll
high attitudes, Jared much better, though
he was also tired.
"At s o'clock we found hat we had
missed our way n We're lost. Then be-
gan the terrible wanderings and suffer-
ing as we went up and down the pre-
ciptous snow reefs hunting for a point
from which we could make a safe descent
to timber line on the west side of the
mountain. AS it grew colder and darker
l grew weaker and began to chill, and
then realized that We had but one chance
in so for our lives. From 8 o'clock until
II O'Clock at night we wandered hope
lessly, above timber line, with the horrors
of a death beneath the frozen snow drifts
constantly before us. To stop five min
utes would have been death, for the
drifting snow you'd nave covered us in
five minutes. We dared not stop so long
as we had the strength to move.
About II o'clock the clouds seemed to
lift a little and for the first time since 5
o'clock in the afternoon I saw the timber
about 500 feet below us. Fortunately we
managed to scramble down to the timber,
though it was one of the hardest tasks of
the trip. Here on the snow 200 feet deep
We tried to build a fire. The only fuel
that we had was the small dry sticks
broken from the trunks Of green pines,
the dead under limbs of the trees. This
effort was a failure. We had no heavy
wood to back the fire, and the wind was
blowing so fierce a gale that we would no
sooner get a fire of small sticks started
by sheltering it with our bodies and coats
than the wind would catch it and send
the sticks whirling in the blast, the fire
being ~extinguished in an instant. After
several attempts of this kline we were
forced to abandon,t the effort and try to
get further down the mountin.
.In our exhausted condition this was
hard work. We slid along the steep
slope, staggering blindly, humping
against the trees and bruising our limbs
and faces by coming in contact with pro-
jecting limbs for nearly two hours. Sew
eral times We fell down and were hardly
able to arise. We kept wandering along
the side of the mountain, hoping almost
against hope, to find u way to the camp,
making caroms from one tree to another
UltlI q pool l. " SioNh IL INV iIlcIl ILLS -
that time we were so thoroughly eX-
hausted and so bruised and battered that
we decided we could not possibly go any
farther.
I'VE had commenced to become numb,
Notwithstanding our constant efforts and
realizing that we were slowly but surely
freezing, we concluded that our only
hope was to make another effort to build
a fire and give up further search until
daylight. With numbed fingers and drag
ging limbs we attempted to gather the
necessary fuel and had collected a little
pile of sticks, to which we We're about to
apply a match, when at the last eXtre-
nifty relief came.
THE wind suddenly shifted, the clouds
separated and lifted, and acros the gulch
we saw Sheep Mountain. Mr.. Stridiron
Immediately recognized the locality and
announced that our camp lay only half
a mile below us. We were in imminent
danger of perishing within half a mile
from home.
I'm a few minute we reached the cabin.
A good fire and a few cups of coffee soon
restored us, and in a short time we were
sleeping soundly, after having spent IS
hours, from s o'clock in the morning to 2
O'Clock the next morning, wandering al
most blindly over the crest of the contin-
ent."