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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1903)
-X. r PART FOUR PftGES 29 TO 40 .... ajf VOL. XXII. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 6, 1903. NO. 36. fiSL'' This arrangement i SR? ' ..MS ' HERE are two -well-known moun tain clubs on the Pacific Coast our Mazama Club, with headquar- 3rs at Portland, and the Sierra Club, cen tring in San Francisco. The clubs wero Irganized "to explore, eniov Iccesslble the mountainous regions of the Pacific Coast; to publish authentic in- armatlon conecrnitig them, to enlist the lpport and co-operation of the people iq tne Government in preserving the irests and other natural features of our jast mountains." I The Mazamas have thus far confined leir efforts to the mountains of Oregon, o -"..aa.Lu x xie aierras to - le Sierra Nevada Mountains. While the Sierra Club is a larcer nnfl' older club than the Mazama Club thev ive only begun, the last three years, inane tne "general outing" a feature the club, and this year held their thJr iting in the High Sierra. It is a tremendous thing for any club iaKe sucn a largo party to a cat dt. lted four days' travel from a railroad - provide pack trains for all lmr,' toks and a good commlssnrv fni. ' seks outing. This work war anna , - ij. vuiuy. cnai rmnn- T xt Conte. and E. T. Parsons, all 'of Sail e mountaineers irhf Camp Olney. the ekked in two divlsons. th flt "' ring 110 and the second about 90 people here was an advance nnrtv nr ?n ' .i Iter we reached camp there were 'small l 'rau 11110 some every few days that the largest numbir in I La tlrv, y, " V-IV U.L served at Temon Cove and Three Rivera rhe first division left San TVnnio "was a surprise and a delight. Inning T - .W.K.W Qrtmn rf Un nnr. V.nrn ,v.ifa ui June 20. A hannlnr nnrK. puld be hard to find. No one who has er enjoyed a mountain trip could look ! the beaming faces and wnniW -h,r ley were so happy. This division was pen oy a special train of Pullman sleep- Some of the stages began to arrive at Kane's Flat soon after 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and by S o'clock all stages had arrived and all baggage was in. It was our first night out of doors, and it was not a laborious task to make ready via Southern Pacific to vionii-. for 1L Each Sot his sleeping bag out of met the friends from LosiAnireiW nn Ws aunnase bag. selected a place for it, was required to be 18 inches in diameter and 36 inches long. Those who attended the outing were required to pack all the belongings they wished to take in such a bag and the weight could not exceed 50 pounds. No baggage except in this form was taken by the Sierra Club. A large carry-all made of .some stout material and containing numberless pockets was packed with, everything necessary for the trip and rolled up In the sleeping bag. thus making one roll, and then put into lego and other points south nf Trin. hn h-irl .t! . . . i jum mis aivision. Here ujo rauroaa ana after a hearty akfast were ready by C A. m liges for the mountains. It Was a llvelv srann fnr- uia. ah now anneared In tVioi n togs. The clothes worn on the train re left at the hotel to be donned oS In San .Joaquin's Valley. jac ui. uio men wore khaki or cordurov Its, high boots, large hats and red ban- the dunnage bag. sounds very simple, but at 4 o'clock In the morning, with stiff, cold fingers, the roll is very apt to be 20 or 30 Inches in diam eter instead of 18. Then comes the mathe matical problem of putting the 30-lnch roll into the 18-inch bag. The ladles solved the problem by asking riearanee mn nt , " tne men 10 piease ue up our uunnage tatolrirlniIJS??!-1?' 6 o'clock the next morning i n, n 7- . v-uipaui, we were off again. As we got higher ur into the mountains the roads became steeper, the horses had to take mere frequent rests, and so only 13 miles were made that day. "We, however; reached Mineral King early in the afternoon. This was the end of our stage route. The next two days wo went on iiorseback 05 walked. t Mineral King is a deserted mining town( ras around their necks. The ladles Nsed much like the men, only they wore .iicb siurcs maae or. khaki, cordu f or some stout material. fhcre were 12 staces. soria hnuio and others by four horses, ami n,, wero mo rypicai stage drivers in , , - - 6;iiu company, led not a little to the pleasure of the fur drive of 45 miles thn ... lough the great San Joaquin Valley, a uuuuuim oy irrigaUon. We psed wheat and barlv fioirio v,n ..n. Ihards of peach, apricot, pear and prune cj. -lax tiiu unDor nnrr nr va. ed orange, lemon, lis and - . . . , 0 t v... nuciiii xwJLikr is n. np;prrpfi m nine Tirtrn , oc aay. ana th IppV? imnr.no. i , .. 1 J -. r x".h ouuwu uuh ppssag.guita a Humnasc report. We had reached an elevation of 7060 feet, while the mountains which surrounded us were from 10,000 to 13.000 feet high. It seemed strange to us who live in Oregon to see so little snow on these mountains some having snow only on the north aide. Snow line with us Ih between 6000 and. 7000 feet, while our glaciers extend much below that. Here there are no glaciers and there seems to be no snow line. By 5 o'clock the next morning we wero ready to begin our first day's tramp. We had. to go over Farewell Gap, a mountain pass 10.676 feet high. There was a good trail and little snow. By the middle of the afternoon we reached Bullion Fiat, which Jb situated between Farewell Gap and Coyote Pas. It ia a very dreary place, with high winds and eold nights. A good part of the afternoon was spent in making windbreaks and preparing for the night. The- cry, "Everybody get up, get up, get up." rang out on the frosty" air at 3:45 the next morning. One of the party, who is not fond of early rising, was for a few minutes sorry she had come. We were soon on the trail, for we had 11 miles to make, and over Coyote Pasa (11.0CO feek). We reached the top of the pass about noon and were still many miles from camp. By 10 o'clock that night all were in permanent camp, though they had begun to arrive about noon. The trip had not been a hard one. Wo had. passed through magnificent forests and grand mountain scenery, and were now at Camp Olney. - On our arrival we were served hot soup by the ladies of the advance party. Noth ing could have been more refreshing, and all who came in tired and. dusty were grateful to those ladies. The advance party had been in camp two weeks, and as tent and provisions had. been sent On ahead, camp was well established. Before dinner time many of us had chosen our camping places, had our tents pltoned, our pine needles gathered to sleep on: and were at home in Camp Olney. It was an Ideal spot for a camp, situated, at the mouth of Coyote Creek, where it emp ties, into the Kern River, just at the base of Kern Dome, a magnificent cliff which rises above the other cliffs along tho Kern. Wo were near one of those beautiful meadows for which this part of the coun r is so remarkable. Tho. bench about the meadow was heavily timbered with large yellow and sugar pines, and num berless flowers dotted its surface. Perfect weather, excellent fishing, soda springs near by, a lake not too far away, with water just the right temperature for a swim; a good commissary, congenial com panywhat more could be desired? Camp life now was a continued round of pleasure. Fishing parties went every day to Volcano Creek, Coyote Creek. Kern River ami Kern Lakes. The largest trout caught measured 24 inches in length. There were many caught that measured 30 inches and more, though the average was about 12 inches. Trout were served every meal in camp. There were card parties, picnics, boating on tho lake, after noon teas and receptions, campfires and suppers after campfires. Breakfast was served every morning from 5 to 3, lunch from 12 to 2 and dinner from 8 till tho last fisherman was. in. A'nried, Amusements. Once a day the entire party gathered around the enmpfire In the evening. Many and varied were the entertainments. We had Instructive and interesting lectures on the glacial period, the formation of our mountains, our canyons, rock composi tion, the flora and the fauna of the range and on other kindred subjects. Mr. Wedemeyer, with his glorious bari tone voice, charmed us every evening. No matter what other entertainment was fur nished no one was satisfied without a song from him. Other talent also fur nished us songs and recitations, theatri cals, original poems and a circus. It would take a volume to describe that circus. Mr. Gibson (L.os Angeles) made a ringmaster that Barnum would have en ified while it would be impossible to find a match for Mr. Miller, whose spieling kept all in roars of laughter. The Sherwood quartet, consisting of Mrs. Sherwood, a son and two daughtors, gave us sweet music. Tfhere was an enthusiastic Fourth of July celebration. The camp was hung with Chinese lanterns and American Hags. In the evening patriotic speeches were made and patriotic songs sunff and the celebration closed with fireworks. Early the next morning the first detach- -. ; : (Concluded on Page SO.Jj r.