THE WEST SHOEE.
46
tho Coast Range, and called it Tchastal. The enrly
trnpjK'M adopted this nnrno mid hnnded it down to us as
Chasla, tlio carelessness of tho present generation having
Htill further modified it to Shasta. The same name was
applied by the trappers to the vnlley lying nt its bnse,
tlin river that boars its cold, snow waters to the Klamath,
mid the Indians occupying the valleys and mountains to
the northwest Tho various tribes designate the peuk by
different names. The Shastas call it 1-e-ka, tlie wliite,
mid this name still remains to us, though terribly dis
torts, in Yreka, tho chief town of Siskiyou County,
within wIioho limits the mountain stands.
Nothing gives us so good an idea of its magnitude as
M II 111 1 1 I
a comparison wiin mo surrounding inns, uwaneci into
insignificance by On overshadowing presence. Professor
Whitney gives its altitude as 14,410 feet, and this esti
mate is tho ono generally accepted, though observations
of tho Coast Survey add throe foot to those figures. But
two js-aks in California exceed this altitude-Mount
Whitney, l.r,(XK) feet, and Mount Williamson, 14,500 feet.
They, however, fall far short of Shasta in grandeur and
inngniiii'onoo, lor Uieir bases rest upon high mountain
ridges, above which they riso but n few thousand feet;
whilo tho base of Shasta, in Strawberry Valley, is but
,!" loct aliove the level of tho sea, and the mountain
towers up in a Hingle peak, 11,000 foot, not with the
gracefully sweeping lines of Mount Hood, but nigged
and majestic Towards the top it divides into two peaks,
ono rising omi feet almvo tho other. The craters of sev
eral extinct volcanoes can lo distinctly seen from the
1hx, the largest ono on tho lower peak, nnd having a
diameter fully n mile in length. Between those lies a
deep gorge choked with snow and ice, while several livinc
Hi .. uin canyons on tlio northern slope. In winter
tho mountain wears a buoUohh lllimtlA nf U.l.itn f ....... II..
timber lino to tho very summit; but as the summer
... mm. come on ,iark ridges appear, and in September
Wow tho storms again set in, their blackness forms n
rtri.K entrant with tho snow lying in the gorges and
uocp canyons that seam tho
. vim n niiirn.
. scauemi tho almost endless
I X"ftrj w v"m
3 ., 'T' . T '. t more
' tho material nothing which wLll??- 18
with the air or moisture w 1 ght w CoIltact
oUon; vet at ZSl" b? dnfad
littl flal f half n aoro ; ull nf Ul6re
ry .mall,
,r.w. im rfePsl Uot more than tl.ran
is a
tliAm
-r They ,mve . t;, , ; r ;f 1(illT threVpet
y greatly at timL for it L- T" fbk
other, to bo aa 1,4 in, 1 , ng bwu fd by
with t r.ZrT water i
v.uvl lumerais. In
some the
water bubbles up violently, and there are openings in the
earth from which hot steam rushes out with great force
nnd eonsiderable noise. One of these vents thrmi ,u .
. .MUT( uut (t
jot of steam two feet in diameter. ' These Bprings and
I ii- j iu . i: ii. i a ii . . . ..
PHI Ml MIIMIIMl nir.ni ihkiiii unrn ISrOUgi Wiuier
as well as summer, notwithstanding the Bevere cold flint
must prevail there."
Until recent years the ascent of Shasta was nn mirim.
taking of considerable magnitude; but now, by means of
the experience oi years ana tne services of guides, it is
nossible to all who can endure the fatieue of
climb. There are but three months in the year when
such a journey is considered safe July, August and
September. Long before the winter rains set in tempests
rage about its lofty brow, and woe to him who has to
contend with their fury. In the spring storms bent nrvm
its face when all is calm below, and the frozen snow is so
hard and slippery that danger attends every footstep. It
is only when the weather is faireBt, and after the warm
rays of the sun have somewhat softened the Bnow, that
the pleasure-seeker attempts to reach the ton. though fnr
, , - 1 ' O
scientific reasons ascents have been made in April and
November. April 29, 1875, Professor John Muir and
Jerome Fay went up to select a location for a monument
and were caught in a storm that prevented them from
returning. All night they lay in .the mud by the hot
springs, the wind blowing a perfect hurricane and the
thermometer many degrees below zero. Lying first in
one position and then in another, thev chanced as often
as the heat of the mud became unendurable, and, as they
rolled over, the raw wind swept across the blisters raised
by the heat and intensified their agony. As soon as
morning dawned they started to descend, weak and almost
crazed from suffering, and were met bv friends who had
gone to their relief, but not until their blistered feet had
become frost-bitten, and their clothing had frozen and
mercilessly chafed their parboiled flesh. Their exneri-
ence was a terrible one, and will serve as a warning to any
looniaray man who may think April a safe month in
which to test the fitful temper of Old Boreas on Mount
Shasta. . " '
It was four years after thn minor nanntrnorl this
region before any one attempted to climb this peak, in
mum. vry snaaow they were washing out the yellow
grains of gold. Earlv
lierce, a merchant of Yreka, made the ascent alone, and
so incredible did it appear that but few would believe it
He therefore guided a party of thirteen to the top, and
prove his claim of being the first mortal to place his foot
upon the crown of Shasta; for the reverent fear of the
Indians has kept them from thus profaning what they
believe to be the abode of the Great Spirit
Let us also make a journey to the top, but let us go
by moonlight, and not in the glare and heat of the sun.
w btrawberry Vallev tWa ia l
1 - r v ad a , AXiiao ouuiiuui "
wown as Berryvale, consisting of two hotels, a little store
and a post office. Thi i ,a n wlio
aesire to become intimately acquainted with the mountain
-mvtlt