The Saint Paul globe., 1899-02-12

ually reCeded along the nOOr or the
amphitheater till now, as above stated,
1T is nearly mile back from the preci-
pice, and the area thus abandoned by
the glacier is thickly strewn with re-
markable exhibitions of glacial erosion
and deposits. Here one may study, to
his hearts content, striking lessons in
both ancient and recent glacial ac-
tion.
GLACIAL ART WORKS.
The processes called planning, polish
ing, scratching, growing, transport
ing, dumping, ETC., have been going on
here for centuries. Scattered over the
glaciated field one may see groups Of
roche moutonnes so recently finished
and SO finely formed that they almost
seem to be alive and about to spring
to their feet and run with the noun
tain goats, which one may actually see
scampering away. Here are numerous
'moraines," both lateral and terminal,
of all shades and of varying thick
nesses. some already completed and
covered with trees, while others are
still growing. Countless mudtinted
rivulets are flowing from the lips of
the glacier, eager to augment the half
dozen or more glacial torrents, which,
Fastening to the brink of the amphi-
theater, plunge roaring and kissing
down the head walls Of Avalanche ba-
sin, to glide quickly on into the gleam-
| ing waters of Avalanche lake. beau
tiful sheet of turquoise water, which
occupies large part of the floor Of
that deep mountain pocket. Turning
to the glacier itself we find surprising
evidence of each individual winters
contribution. In many places the
lines of cleavage between the yearly
deposits for half a century or more
are as distinct as the annual rings eX-
hibited by forest trees. Gaping Gre
vases, both longitudinal and trans
verse, bid one move very cautiously.
In their depths beyond the limits Of
vision the gurgle and plunge of many
waters tell Of the shifting Of the suns
rays from above and the eroding pow
er of rushing water below. The geolo-
gist will find, in examining this one
| unique body of ice and snow, nearly
every glacial phenomenon described in
the books. In short, the Sperry glacier,
all things considered, is a remarkably
instructive object lesson for students of
glacial geology. It Is typical conti-
| mental ice sheet on a comprehensive
scale.
OTHER BRANCH TRIPS.
From Glacial Camp in Beulah Basin
one may readily make other trips al
most as interesting as that to the
| glacier itself, for the immediate vicin-
lty is rich in gorges, valleys, lakes,
| fish. game, flowers, MOSES, mineral
springs, glacieroid snow fields, pictur-
| esque passes, defiant peaks and COM
manding outlOoks.
About ten miles northeast of Lake
| Mcdonald and having less than 1000
feet of increased altitude is Avalanche
basin, which may be easily reached
| by following a, comfortable horse trail
from Hotel Glacier, Or from the head
of the lakes. AS a grand, Isolated,
| high-walled, picturesque, pocket-like
valley or gorge Avalanche basin IS
| eNcelled in beauty and interest only by
| the Yosemite valley. The general shape
| of the basin horizontally, is that Of
| a horseshoe. Near the center Of it's
| floor, embosomed in balsam fir, lies
Avalanche lake. beautiful sheet of
| water slightly less than a mile in length
| by more than a half-mile in width.
Down the head walls Of the basin into
| the lake a half-score of tumultuous
mountain streams pour their icy
| waters, most of which come directly
| from the Sperry glacier, whose front
| is less than two miles away, but from
| 1000 to 1000 feet perpendicularly above
| the floor of the basin. Some of the
| glacial streams. in pouring over the
crest of the basin walls. drop a thou
| sand feet or more clear of the rocks,
and go then sliding, leaping, tumbling,
| plunging on down the ragged walls
into the valley. The view of the head
| of the basin from it's foot is not only
surprising but inspiriting and enchant-
ing. Trout abound in the lake, and a
| moss carpeted grove of balsam frs at
| the eastern extremity between the
| two chief inlets, furnished ideal camp
iyCr 11,,I ic,
| longs to spend an entire season that
he may take in the surroundings at
| his leisure. From this camp excur-
sions having all degrees Of difficulty
and interest may be made to such at
fractions as Cathedral gorge, Moss
Rcck springs, Jasper gorge, Terrace
pools, Floral park Monument falls, the
Matterhorn Jr. the Castle, Mount
| Brown, Mount Helen, Goat mountain,
Mary Baker lake, Mary Potter lake,
| Sperry glacier, Crest of the Continent,
| etc. Within five miles of Avalanche
basin camp are many peaks, hooks and
recesses as vet unvisited by men.
AS YET UNvISITED.
Just behind the north walls of the
basin, probably about 1000 feet above
the crow flies, and sloping downward,
is large glacier, which as yet has
! only been seen from a distance Of ten
or fifteen miles. Some hardy climber
| should find a way to this almost hid
| den mountain scraoer and give it a
| name. A few miles further north one
may visit Granite park and camp in
a beautiful. grove by the side of a large
spring whose clear, pure waters, even
in August, have a temperature of only
| 36 degrees F. An hours climb
from this spring brings one to the
| Crown of the Continent, and to the up
per edge Of Grinnell glacier From
| this elevation one looks eastward
! across miles Of tumbled foothills and
over a chain Of glistening lakes, well
out on to the vast plains, which stretch
so forestless and monotonous from
the eastern slope Of the Rockies across
| the greater part Of Montana, all Of
North Dakota and into Minnesota
A few miles northwest of Grinnell
| glacier, over an old Indian trail,
Ahern's pass is reached and its snugly
| sheltered glacier. From this pass, as
from two or three others in the vicin-
| ity, one may see cleaning in the sun
light whole mountain sides Of red
jasper quartzite protruding through
| the larger area of forest green
1T SHEDS ICEBERGs.
A little west of Ahern's pass is
| CLANCY glacier. the second largest ice
sheet in this region. It is about one
and a half by two miles in area, with
| it's foot tightly wedged into a narrow
and deep gorge, where it melts during
only few months in the year, but
yields when melting a glacial torrent
whose turbid waters are seen pushing.
like smoke from a cannon's mouth, far
out into the clear waters of a lake.
which lies full half mile perpendicu-