The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-11

seemingly sharing honors in their vigil
 over winding pass beyond. Far in the hay distance views of other giant
 mountains, whose bleak and solemn
 heights were never touched by the foot
 of man. seem to form concrete struc-
 ture for the building of the continent
 Some of these provide monster gorges
 for the receptacle of glaciers. Others
 offer rock-ribbed studies for plodding
 scientist and venturesome explorer
 Still others for ages have defied man
 in his search for the semi infinite.
 ROCKED BY WINDS
 That night the winds of creation.
 out for lark. rocked us to sleep. Bill
 Burns, a former government ranger.
 who sometimes packs strenuous tour
 ists over the steeps and passes, blew
 in from the Sperry Glacier region. He
 had amused himself skipping the trails that coil around the north wall of Mount Jackson, more than lO,O00 feet
 sliding down snowdrifts and other wise pulling stunts" that would ter rify any well-regulated tenderfoot. His stories of catches of "big boys weighing thirty pounds in Red Eagle and St Mary, and comments on the habits, tastes and temperament of oruin set us in serious frame.
 Seen any get?@ he asked.
 Told that only two black bears were glimpsed crossing the trail he added: Thought so; they got their belly full of berries now Later on with empty tubs they come around and dig. Nav! They won't poster you lessen you crowds their cubs. Last week l
 picked blueberries one side bush with a silver tip on the other. Course when he wanted my side. I took his there wannt no dispute twist us. That wouldn't be good sense for any bloke. But there ain't no danger if you knows 1 the game. Get on Burns horse. meet 1 a silver tip, he Hops off to let you pass If you got the other guys horse it's all up; they are bear meat
 Incidentally, it may be Remarked that "the other guy" is Burns competitor | in guiding venturesome tourists ovef the passes hereabouts FIGHTING THE WINDS Hot breakfast over, Arnold and Sher man announced readiness for the pack to Gunsight, ten miles distant.
 Got to duck close, boys" enjoined | the lead guide; she's a hummer" And she was. Rifts of clouds chased each other around the mountainsides. Winds shrieked through dark ravnes far be- low. Sheets of fine rain swept names into faces of riders, stinging the skin 1 to streaks of color. Horses, with heads
 
 fought invisible forces, as we eau tiously wound around the massive south shoulder of Going-to -the-Sun | mountain and fixed keen eyes on the gorge dropping into the lake a thou sand feet below in ticklish perpendic- ular route. The situation was squally. 1 Eyes skint for sliding shale!" shouted the rear guide, as he watched the north slope of an overhanging peak ! a mile above.
 l Half an hour of this battle with tho
 elements seemingly out for an orgy. and l the trail slipped down into deep forest of sombre purple and cedar green fol- lowing the course of Barring Creek. Then l the fury of winds subsided.
 | Skirting the base of Citadel Mountain, ] it's splendid dome glistening in mantle of snow the trail leads to a long climb
 around the south side of Fuslade, rising lS,747 feet, and calls for lusty effort from ! both rider and horse. My mild-eyed
 mount, White Hope, chosen for his seem- iingly tratable disposition, made his first i false step while humping up this stone :, strewn steep. Only twenty inches of
 margin was available for maneuvers. But these trail horses know dangers of these precipices far better than their tender I foot riders from city centers. Not even
 strap was broken. White Hope recovered
 his equilibrium with devout Christian | fortitude. From the south declivity of
 Fuslade glimpses of Blackfeet Glacier to be seen on the morrow, Pompelly Glacier, Mount Jackson. Gunsight Lake, with revery of forest and stream, snow field and mountain dome, the views are Iravishing in grandeur and beauty l PLENT MORE AHEAD
 Move on; there's plenty more like it ahead" from Sherman the rear guide, broke our reverie. and soon the party dis mounted at Gunsight Lake to camp a l day. For years chalet group housed many tourists on the lake shore, but a
 monster snowslde a year or so back
 roaring ,laqo laqoYgu feaBins MAenrhougf6 ~asa they were strawberries.
 | Beautiful Gunsght Lake lies in a pocket formed by the bases of Fusila le
 and Gunsight Mountains and Mount Jackson whose north wall for several miles opens a trail to the Continental Divide. It is one of the most pictures que of all the places in the park. Mount
 Jackson's hage sides drop oq southward to provide a bed for Harrison Glacier. Guides again warned to tuck close for the trudge afoot three miles over boulder and ledge that tested bone,
 snew and will power in turn, for Black feet Glacier. It was an heroic climb with wind and snow, in addition to steeps, with which to contend. Frequently cau-s tion was enjoned from lead and rear guides. But the splendid view of the marvellous sea of ice glistening under the sun, as it peered from behind banks of clouds, was well worth the work. It is the finest glacier in the park. and one of the most beautiful examples in America. In five miles of area it extends over the north slopes of Mount Jackson and Blackfoot Mountain, with the south west exposure of Citadel on the upper side, and spreads oval-shaped toward the smaller glacier. Pompelly. Not far to the southwest and separated by sharp ridge, lies Harrison Glacier. The three, now cut off by the summit of the Con- tinental Divide, were in ages of the past a solid sheet of ice with depths unknown They range in elevation from 5000 to 1 9,GcO feet Like others in this region, Blackfeet Glacier is supposed to move an. inch a year down tie mountain side, some day in the vague future to tumble with mighty crash through the space sur rounding Gunsight Lake
 COUNCIL IS HELD , | After dark by camp fire at Gunsight | an advisory council was held amid a varied assortment of shoes and socks soaked from the climb of the afternoon and drying with no delicate odor over a | spit near the camp coals. Before twilight we had watched snow whirling over the pass two thousand feet up. The trail was covered: mountai- sides were re- ceiving their mantle of white. Winds clouds hovered over the height, and Lud- had pufsed in wet, chilled and weary l ctp 0ul to e