Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1884)
THE WEST SHORE. 47 Alighting from the dusty stage and refreshing our selves with one of those deliciously toothsome meala that are to be had only in these mountain retreats; we commit ourselves to the care of nnr h"?t. In a fw J,ivh Luh moon is in the right quarter, and, provided with all the necessaries for the journey, we start out in the afternoon and begin climbing the mountain side, following a well worn trail through the towering pines. After a tramp of several miles in the gradually diminishing forest we or rive at a comfortable cabin, where we eat a hearty supper, smoke our pipes, and then roll snugly up in our blankets and go to sleep. Soon after midnight we are awakened, make our simple preparations, and resume tho upward journey. As we emerge from the last belt of timber that fringes the mountain side, the great white peak rises up before us seemingly higher than from the valley. The moon, now well beyond the meridian, irradiates the scene, and its beams are reflected like sparkling diamonds from the snowy crystals we crunch beneath our feet The steady climb of an hour begins to toll upon us, yet the top seems as far above us as before, sharply outlined against the background of twinkling stars and the deep blue firma ment of night " How far have we gone now?" I ask, as we stop for a brief while to catch a breath. " Oh, we've made a good start," the guide replies, " We are about a quarter of the way up." With a sigh I thrust my alpinestock into the snow and again toil upward. Though our exertions keop us warm, almost uncomfortably so, we can feel that it is becoming colder as we ascend. The air, too, is more rarifiod, and we feel a burning sensation as we inhale great draughts of it Higher and still higher we climb. Just ahead tho sharp outline of the snow can be seen against the sky, and encouraged by the apparent nearness of the top we push on with renewed vigor and soon gain the point, only to find it but a ridge, with the apex still looming up bo yond, though sensibly nearer than before. Now the cold begins to tingle our noses and finger tips, and the frozen snow is very slippery. Great care has to be exercised, for a false step might send us gliding down the slope with but little chance of stopping. "This is about the coldest place in California," assert with the air of a man who feels the confident pride of having mode a statement admitting of no dispute. Softly the guide chuckles to himself as he remarks, It s the hottest place in California. "What!" " If you should do to-morrow noon what you are doing now you would think it the hottest place in the world. The sun's rays beat upon the snow, and though they only soften it a little for the depth of two or three inches, they are reflected back again bo bright as to dazzle you almost to blindness, the heat reminding you forcibly of a cook stove. The skin would peel off your nose and cheeks the next day like scales from a fish. That is why we always come up at night or early in the morning." Mentally resolving to hazard no more assertions, I struggle along in spite of fatigue and the difficulty of breathing. Suddenly my nose begins to blood, and little drops of blood ooze from my ears, but the anid lnn. . 1 .... . w mgiy remarks: "A little rest will fix that all right So ong as you do not bleed from the mouth you need have no fear." The top is now visibly noar. The moon sinks bolow the horizon, and, making a last crowning effort by the light of the stars, we stand on the brink of the hot springs, nearly an hour ahead of the biui'b schedule time. W e begin to realize tho intensity of the cold in tliiB high altitude, and find that to keep warm we must con tinue our physical exertions; and bo we walk forward and back along the margin of the Bprings and climb to the extreme apex, impatient for the coming of the sun. The mountain's snowy sidos stand out clear and bold in the Btarlight, while all beneath is darkness, tho sloping field of white fading into the black abyss below. In tho east the first crny tints of dawn ntmonr. nml tin thev brighten the stars gradually fade from view, though we know that to the few who are wotching them from tho valley they shine as brightly as bofore. 8xn the oast is all aglow with light, whilo to tho west the lofty peak casts a pyramidal shadow of intense gl(xm, its sides Iwing clearly defined by the increasing light As the sun steadily mounts the crimson vault tho higher peaks within tho mighty shadow pierco through tho gloom, while bolow them still reigns midnight darkness. One by one they thrust themselves up into tho light; the mountains slowly evolve thomsolvos, thou tho valleys, then the ocoan, until at last the darkness is conquered and the full beams of tho sun irradiate every object The magnificence of the scone is beyond the power of words to iortray, and we can only stand in mute admiration of the power and glory of the celestial warrior as ho marchoR from tho east to conquer the kingdom of darknosB in the west Our attention now turns to the grand panorama spread out beneath us. The great Pacific, a hundred miles to tho west, appears as calm ns a mountain tarn, So distant is it that tho billows blend into one even and apparently unruffled surface. For three hundred miles up and down tho coast we can see an unbroken shoot of blue. 'Turning to the south, tho Sacramonto Valley lies like a long hollow in tho embrace of two parallel hills. With here and there a peak thrusting itself up into promi nence, the mountains fuse into one solid mass, Vainly we try to locate well-known objects, for with the excop. tion of Monte Diablo and a spot we take to be Lake Tahoe, we fool a decided uncertainty. Lasson' Teak, noar at hand, catches the eye at tho first glance. It in the only snow-capped companion Shasta ban in Northern California, but is so inferior that companionship can hardly be presumed. Away to tho north rise sevoral more worthy associates Mount Pitt, the Three Sisters, Jefferson, the graceful Mount Hood, Adams, St Helena and the nigged Tacomo, though several of them ore to distant as to sink below the horizon or blond into it dim outlines.