Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-08-17
Three Times on Mt. Blue.
Byron wrote
"Mont Blanc is the monarch of Mountains;
They cr0wn'd him long ago
On throne Of rocks, In robe OF clouds,

byron WIOto'
"Mont Blanc is the monarch of Mountains;
They croWn'd him long ago
On throne of rocks, In robe OF CLOUDS,
With diadem of snow"
The alps have many friends and they
90 BY thousands to climb those lofty aud
sublime heights. 1t has been the JOY Of
the writer to ascend to the glacier, Mer
de Glace," from Chamounix, and to
climb from Interlaken to look upon the
famous Jungfrau and Lauterbrunnen.
Yet We do we'll to tell of beauty and
of grandeur OF home scenes, and 30 We
sing or shout the praises OF Mt. Blue.
It Is good to have love OF mountains
and desire to stand on top among the
clouds; for such scenery makes life
richer.
We might write of the moods Of the
mountain, but 1t may be better to say
the changing moods of the air and
clouds. Grand. old Mt. Blue Is too sta
BILE and dignified to have any spirit OF
vacillatioD; It abides forever the same 80
far as we can easily notice. Our first
happy ascent was last summer and the
day was warm. The four of Us bad va
rious ages and all thought the climb not
too severe, only calling for energetic
qualities. The mosquitoes were hungry
and decided to eat the boy in our party,
but we made a fight for bis life. The
sight on the summit was s0ul-stirring
and we agreed that it pays to climb. On
clear day Portland harbJr can be seen,
but we had TO be content with view OF
about forty miles Of hills, forests, lakes
and towns.
Two of us made the sec md ascent In
autumn among falling leaves. 1t was
difficult to get good footing, but we
made the height slowly and were well
repaid. The divine Artist had painted
pillows of glory visible to us for thirty
miles in all directions. The forests had
on their richest clothing and bright col
ors mingled with the evergreens. Weld
and Wilton ponds were helps to vary the
scene. One hour was altogether too
brief to look on such beauty and we
brought away memories to cheer US for
lifetime.
Our third ascension was on Thursday,
August 9Th, with a club Of boys. The
Knights of King Arthur of Strong, and
two dentists, DIR. Gerald Clifford OF
Houlton and DIR. Harry Church Of Gar.
diner. We had plenty of food and bed
ding to stay all night, so our progress
was slow after leaving our horses at the
last farm occupied. We ate dinner in
. the woods and then by mistake we fol
lowed wood road of last winter. The
old path up Mt. Blue is very blind and
: needs some signs at critical points. All
our six boys were brave and often asked
Where is the springT We found the
, spring too low to yield much water, but
we had brought a supply OF water ano
coffee. The stops to rest were frequent
but the last quarter m lie there was race
? TO the summit.
We were just in time to see wide
range of country and to say, How
. grand" when a cloud came drifting by
; and covered the entire landscape. We
repaired an old brush camp, started q
, fire In safe place among the rocks and
= completed our plans to pass the night
Soon the clouds lifted and we had a won
: ! derful sight. Fleecy bits of cloud by
the score drifted through the valleys anG
dotted the landscape visible for radius
: of about twenty miles. 1t was interest
. ing when the clouds swept about US, anC
we had a strange sense of isolation from
: noisy and busy world. Men in thu
whir of Wall tSreet ought to try such 1
tonic for their nerves.
Our delight was too brief. We at
supper by the fire and the boys spread
their blankets in the camp, but the rail-
kept coming. We wanted to stay owe
night to see the sun rise, but at 81,
o'clock we concluded that we might &c
l. cold and wet camp before morning
Reluctantly we packed our baggage ant
went down among the wet bushes to thu
farm house. We can never forget tb
cheerful fire of our cordial host, tn,
sweet milk, the two beds on the floor fo
eight persons and sofa for the ninth o
our party.
At four next morning we began t,
watch the sky and at six started to driv
home. The morning view over Phillip
and Madrid was worthy Of comparison
with that from the summit of the mount
ain. We vote to 60 again.
HOWARD A. CLIFFORD.