The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1921-07-28

mattresses placed on the stone floor
: but we were plentifully supplied will
nice warm blankets and were quit,
comfortable, but oh, so tired Tn,
writer does not know whether it wa.
the high altitude or the extreme ex-
haustiOn. for none of the party wa.
able to sleep with the exception OF
our guide. whose snores gave indica.
ton that he. at least, was perfectly
lat home in these unusual surround
ings. When we were awakened al
800 a. m. on the morning of the 21st
the weary Adventures welcomed the
sound and were glad to get up after
that sleepless night. Five of our par
ty arose feeling the effects of noun
tain sickness, which is simply an
other term for sea sickness. and they
had no desire to partake of solid food
but they thought a cup of strong hot
coffee prepared by Hans would re-
lieve the nausea, and it did-not
A Perlous Passage.
AT $3.50 a. m. we started the hard
est and more perilous part of our trip
.
ward for about an hour the unlucly
five were compelled to bow to the big
mountain and give up their break
fasts. Continuing our climb for an
other two hours we finally reached
the base Of Gibraltar Rock, where we
rested for 10 minutes at a spot truly
named Camp Misery, before under
t,I
climb. The first portion of the jour
ney around Gibraltar Rock is made
over a narrow ledge of soft crumb-
ling rock two feet wide, which is
overhung by immense rock masses
and huge icicles on one side while on
the other side the climber is faced
with practically a shear drop of 1900
feet We all breathed a sigh of re-
lief when we passed over this stage
of our journey, but little did we know
that we had several other obstacles
just as perilous. Coming around a
huge rock we were confronted with a
climb of about 600 feet up a very
steep incline of snow and ice to the
top of Gibraltar. This incline is at an
angle of rs degrees, or in other words
Is degrees less than perpendicular.
The guide was forced to cut steps in
the ice to secure a foothold for him
self and his followers. and extreme
exhaustion forced us to rest four
times during this portion of our as
cent. When we reached the top of
Gibraltar latitude 12400 feeD we all
dropped down on a narrow ledge of
rock, which had been appropriately
named Camp Comfort. 1t is remark
able how quickly the human body can
recover from extreme exhaustion, for
within Is minutes after we arrived we
were all once more ready for the last
stage of our weary journey to the
summit. And this in spite of the
fact that the unlucky five, who were
affected by mountain sickness caused
by the high altitude. were too sick to
eat anything. This, however. did not
I other the seasoned Hans Fuhrer,
who ate several sandwiches and hard
boiled eggs as if he were on a road
side picnic in Bergen county, New
Jersey.
OFF for the Summit.
1T was then 500 O'Clock and Hans
gave the command Now for the sum-
nit The last mile of the climb is |
entirely over snow covered ice at an /
average incline of about 40 degrees |
md takes about three hours. It is |
eng, slow climb and in our semi-ex-
lausted condition was exceedingly
'atiguing, and most of us were really
90 tired to notice the huge gaping
glacial crevasses which we had to
ross. We of course, made crossings
1t the narrowest places, which aver
lged about two feet in width where
We crossed. but looking down into a
hear drop of 500 feet between two
ce walls as blue as the sky, furnished
hrills enough for everybody. During
his last stage of our journey stops
or rest were more frequent than be-
ore. but when we were within 500
eet of the summit, two of our party
aved-in and refused to continue.
hey recl1oned however, without
Ians, who knew the perils of permit
ing an exhausted person to lie for
ny length of time in that freezing
and he admonished ,
hem as follows: You can not lie here
nd wait for our return. because in /
ess than an hour you will be numbed ,
o a point where you will slide down
he mountain and into one of the Gre I
asses below. Hang onto the rope
nd will drag you the rest of the
7ay. Get up
There. of course, were several
theirs in the party, including myself
hose muscles refused to carry them
iuch further but shear willpower
nd love of life forced us onward and
pward During this last 500 feet,
hitch are indelibly impressed on my
hind. we had to rest about every so
eet to avoid total collapse.
On the Summit.
AT HOO a. m. after II hours of ac-
nal climbing. we finally reached the
ummit latitude 14,4OS feet) and
ropped on our backs like logs. We