The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1903-11-05
Mt. MCKINLEY.
The Highest Peak on the American
Continent.

The recent failure of the Cook party
to reach the summit of Mt. McKin-
ley, the highest peak on this CONT
nent, leaves that achievement still
open to adventurous spirits. a year
ago one OF the geological survey par
ties under the lead of Mr.. \. H.
Brooks, went as far as the snow line,
which on that mountain is Z, 800 feet
above sea-level, or about ~, 600 feet
below the summit, leaving a mountain
of snow of no small dimensions. The
airline distance from where the sur
vey party stopped to the top was COM
puted at nine miles.
The pre-eminence of Mt. Mckinley
among North American peaks was not
discovered until 1898, although the
mountain had been known for at least
one hundred and twenty years. Mr..
Brooks believes, however, that pri-
macy has now reached the point where
il will remain, and that no higher
elevation will ever be discovered on
this continent. The mountain can
readily be seen from Cook Inlet, which
was visited by the whites in 1880, and
can be seen from the YUKON country,
which has been widely visited for the
last twenty years. 1t is, to be sure,
one hundred and twenty five miles in
land from tide water, whila Mt. 81.
Elias rises directly out of the ocean.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Brooks says that
the first time he ever saw Mt. McKin-
ley, and it was from an interior point
one hundred aud twenty miles away,
it looked enormous to him. He viewed
it standing on an elevation of 4, 600
feet, and still it rose very impressive
ly above all adjacent peaks.
Mt. Mckinley was not officially as
certained to be the highest peak until
1898, under examination of Robert
Muldrow of the geological survey, who
found it 20, 200. Mt. ST. Elias, which
is Is, 024 feet high, has dropped to the
fourth place among mountains Of this
continent, after generations of school
biographies have saluted it as king.
Mt. Logan on the Canadian side Of
the boundary is 10, 800 feet high, and
Orizaba, IN Mexico, is lS, 2O5 feet
high. Then comes Mt. st. Elias.
The two peaks next in rank below it
are the volcano Popocatapetl, in Mex
leo. which has an elevation Ct II, 1913
feet and Mt. Foraker, almost twin
peak to Mt. Mckinley. which stands
| II, 900 feet above the sea-level. Mt.
| Logan has never been assembled, and
probably will not be for many years
| to come, so inaccessible is its base,
| fifty miles from the coast and over a
country full of natural obstacles. Mt.
| st. Elias has been once climbed-by
| the Duke of Abruzzi. a cousin of the
King of Italy. Many persons have
| clirbed Orizaba. To reach its top is
merely a matter of endurance.
! 1t is difficult for persons who have
| climbed lower mountains to realize
| that the ascent of some of these fam
Gus peaks can be attended with so
| much difficulty. Troubles seem to in
crease in geometrical progress with
! the elevation. The transportation of
supplies is a difficult problem after the
snow line has been reached. Depots
| must be provided at suitable camps,
and these in turn require supplies for
| their maintenance. Everywhere the
dazzling light of the snow and the
power and fury of the winds increase
| the difficulties of doing ANYTHING. 1t
| is very hard to maintain camp in
| hurricane Nor is the liability of
severe storms ever absent. Great Gre
vassses and glaciers present peculiar
perils, especially to the party finding
| its way for the first time. liz is no
wonder that mountain climbing has
become something of profession in
itself, and that the highest peaks chal-
| lenge the skill and courage of man as
do few other exploits. The Indians
| do not climb these great heights, and
| it is improbable that any human be-
| ing has ever set foot on the summit of
Mt. Mckinley The millions of Asia
| have been satisfied to glance up
| towards the sublimest peaks of the
Himalayas, instead of mounting them
| in order to look across over the "roof
| of the world