The daily Alaskan., 1913-10-15

ed and the truck ran into snow slides at four different points. For tunately none was of great prOpor- ton and the crew escaped with noth ug worse than the extra work of digging themselves out. The descent from the summit was found to be much sharper than the ascent and the truck rapidly descended into an other delta region and forded half a dozen glacier streams before they Z reached a camp at Beaver dam.
 The next three days were spent un trails that have been opened in the last years by the Alaska Road Commission in the deltas of the Cop per and Gulkana rivers. Corduroy trails, built of scrub timber, extreme ly rough and narrow at best, pre- vented making rapid headway. For many miles the trail passed through l dense scrub and beds of Alaksa mos into which heavy objects would sink 1t. or more.
 Much time was lost on the banks of treacherous streams, fed by melt ing glaciers and churned by huge bouIders whose exact location could be determined only by wading out into the stream before attempting to cross with the truck. The Cop per River valley, though walled in by mountains and glaciers, was found to be rich in vegetation and the natives, chiefly Indians, were abundantIy supplied with many veg etables. Floral growth equally sur prised the members of the party. The whole side of one mountain was covered with a crimson growth which the Indians call fire flowers.
 From Beaver dam north, the en- gineers experienced the greatest difficulties of their trip. Follow ing the Copper River valley to the fork of the Gulkana, they traver- sed a vast area of delta land where tractive conditions were worse than the region they had just left. The military trail, passing through low and marshy country, was alternately covered with ice and glacier mud. | In the worst places the wheels were wrapped with stout rope and the truck had no difficulty in pulling through but. it was operated on low gear during the entire afternoon. To pass through several timber tracts it was necessary to cut down scores of trees and blast out stumps, rocks and ice. l On reaching Gulkana the party got their first glimpse of Mt. Wran- geIl and Mt. Blackburn, 17,0OO and I16,O0O 1t. respectively. Further away they saw the smoke of an ac- tive volcano, Mt. Sanford, whose el- eyattlu is 14,O0O feet.
 Three days of constant trail-bla2- ing and pathfinding brought the truck to Paxon on the Gu'kana riv- CT in the foothills oi the Alaska range. Following tho military trail straight north they began a gradual ascent into the ice-claG mountains of Alaska's principal range. The trail carried them high on the sides of the mountains, giving magnificent views of a number Of large lakes. According to the engineers, the grades averaged only 6 per cent, but there were many places where tt was necessary to climb a 16 percent grade on a solid rough surface of ice.
 To guard against skidding and the possibility of sliding off the ln- numerable cliffs, the crew made use of a coil of steel cable and wound the wheels the same as they had previously done with rope. This eX- pedieut proved highly successful in giving traction for the climb but did not eliminate skidding.
 Near the summit they passed a massive peak which had been won into the shape of a perfect dome. The higher the altitude the sleeper they found the grades It was a common occurrence to be halted on the side of a mountain by small washOuts due to melting glaciers. At several points the grades were so steep and the turns so sharp that it was necessary to maneuver with the reverse gear to make turns. No trouble was experienced in keeping the engine cool. In fact the cool ing water did not boil at any time on the entire trip, despite long pulls on low gear.
 The descent from the summit presented no difficulties other than the necessity for frequent inspection of the trail for considerable distah- ces before driving ahead. After a long spell of cautious and skillful driving, they dropped down into the