Last summer I gained the summit from the south side, in a day and a half from the timberline, without encountering any desperate obstacles that could not in some way be passed in good weather. I was accompanied by Keith, the artist, Professor Ingraham, and five ambitious young climbers from Seattle. We were led by the veteran mountaineer and guide Van Trump8, of Yelm, who many years before guided General Stevens in his memorable9 ascent10, and later Mr. Bailey, of Oakland. With a cumbersome11 abundance of campstools and blankets we set out from Seattle, traveling by rail as far as Yelm Prairie, on the Tacoma and Oregon road. Here we made our first camp and arranged with Mr. Longmire, a farmer in the neighborhood, for pack and saddle animals. The noble King Mountain was in full view from here, glorifying13 the bright, sunny day with his presence, rising in godlike majesty14 over the woods, with the magnificent prairie as a foreground. The distance to the mountain from Yelm in a straight line is perhaps fifty miles; but by the mule15 and yellowjacket trail we had to follow it is a hundred miles. For, notwithstanding a portion of this trail runs in the air, where the wasps17 work hardest, it is far from being an air line as commonly understood.
By night of the third day we reached the Soda18 Springs on the right bank of the Nisqually, which goes roaring by, gray with mud, gravel19, and boulders20 from the caves of the glaciers of Rainier, now close at hand. The distance from the Soda Springs to the Camp of the Clouds is about ten miles. The first part of the way lies up the Nisqually Canyon21, the bottom of which is flat in some places and the walls very high and precipitous, like those of the Yosemite Valley. The upper part of the canyon is still occupied by one of the Nisqually glaciers, from which this branch of the river draws its source, issuing from a cave in the gray, rock-strewn snout. About a mile below the glacier5 we had to ford22 the river, which caused some anxiety, for the current is very rapid and carried forward large boulders as well as lighter23 material, while its savage24 roar is bewildering.
At this point we left the canyon, climbing out of it by a steep zigzag25 up the old lateral26 moraine of the glacier, which was deposited when the present glacier flowed past at this height, and is about eight hundred feet high. It is now covered with a superb growth of Picea amabilis 30; so also is the corresponding portion of the right lateral. From the top of the moraine, still ascending27, we passed for a mile or two through a forest of mixed growth, mainly silver fir, Patton spruce, and mountain pine, and then came to the charming park region, at an elevation28 of about five thousand feet above sea level. Here the vast continuous woods at length begin to give way under the dominion29 of climate, though still at this height retaining their beauty and giving no sign of stress of storm, sweeping30 upward in belts of varying width, composed mainly of one species of fir, sharp and spiry31 in form, leaving smooth, spacious32 parks, with here and there separate groups of trees standing16 out in the midst of the openings like islands in a lake. Every one of these parks, great and small, is a garden filled knee-deep with fresh, lovely flowers of every hue33, the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly34 beautiful of all the alpine35 gardens I ever beheld36 in all my mountain-top wanderings.
We arrived at the Cloud Camp at noon, but no clouds were in sight, save a few gauzy ornamental37 wreaths adrift in the sunshine. Out of the forest at last there stood the mountain, wholly unveiled, awful in bulk and majesty, filling all the view like a separate, new-born world, yet withal so fine and so beautiful it might well fire the dullest observer to desperate enthusiasm. Long we gazed in silent admiration38, buried in tall daisies and anemones39 by the side of a snowbank. Higher we could not go with the animals and find food for them and wood for our own campfires, for just beyond this lies the region of ice, with only here and there an open spot on the ridges41 in the midst of the ice, with dwarf42 alpine plants, such as saxifrages and drabas, which reach far up between the glaciers, and low mats of the beautiful bryanthus, while back of us were the gardens and abundance of everything that heart could wish. Here we lay all the afternoon, considering the lilies and the lines of the mountains with reference to a way to the summit.
At noon next day we left camp and began our long climb. We were in light marching order, save one who pluckily43 determined44 to carry his camera to the summit. At night, after a long easy climb over wide and smooth fields of ice, we reached a narrow ridge40, at an elevation of about ten thousand feet above the sea, on the divide between the glaciers of the Nisqually and the Cowlitz. Here we lay as best we could, waiting for another day, without fire of course, as we were now many miles beyond the timberline and without much to cover us. After eating a little hardtack, each of us leveled a spot to lie on among lava-blocks and cinders45. The night was cold, and the wind coming down upon us in stormy surges drove gritty ashes and fragments of pumice about our ears while chilling to the bone. Very short and shallow was our sleep that night; but day dawned at last, early rising was easy, and there was nothing about breakfast to cause any delay. About four o'clock we were off, and climbing began in earnest. We followed up the ridge on which we had spent the night, now along its crest46, now on either side, or on the ice leaning against it, until we came to where it becomes massive and precipitous. Then we were compelled to crawl along a seam or narrow shelf, on its face, which we traced to its termination in the base of the great ice cap. From this point all the climbing was over ice, which was here desperately47 steep but fortunately was at the same time carved into innumerable spikes48 and pillars which afforded good footholds, and we crawled cautiously on, warm with ambition and exercise.
At length, after gaining the upper extreme of our guiding ridge, we found a good place to rest and prepare ourselves to scale the dangerous upper curves of the dome49. The surface almost everywhere was bare, hard, snowless ice, extremely slippery; and, though smooth in general, it was interrupted by a network of yawning crevasses, outspread like lines of defense50 against any attempt to win the summit. Here every one of the party took off his shoes and drove stout51 steel caulks52 about half an inch long into them, having brought tools along for the purpose, and not having made use of them until now so that the points might not get dulled on the rocks ere the smooth, dangerous ice was reached. Besides being well shod each carried an alpenstock, and for special difficulties we had a hundred feet of rope and an axe53.
Thus prepared, we stepped forth54 afresh, slowly groping our way through tangled55 lines of crevasses, crossing on snow bridges here and there after cautiously testing them, jumping at narrow places, or crawling around the ends of the largest, bracing56 well at every point with our alpenstocks and setting our spiked57 shoes squarely down on the dangerous slopes. It was nerve-trying work, most of it, but we made good speed nevertheless, and by noon all stood together on the utmost summit, save one who, his strength failing for a time, came up later.
We remained on the summit nearly two hours, looking about us at the vast maplike views, comprehending hundreds of miles of the Cascade58 Range, with their black interminable forests and white volcanic59 cones60 in glorious array reaching far into Oregon; the Sound region also, and the great plains of eastern Washington, hazy61 and vague in the distance. Clouds began to gather. Soon of all the land only the summits of the mountains, St. Helen's, Adams, and Hood12, were left in sight, forming islands in the sky. We found two well-formed and well-preserved craters62 on the summit, lying close together like two plates on a table with their rims63 touching64. The highest point of the mountain is located between the craters, where their edges come in contact. Sulphurous fumes65 and steam issue from several vents66, giving out a sickening smell that can be detected at a considerable distance. The unwasted condition of these craters, and, indeed, to a great extent, of the entire mountain, would tend to show that Rainier is still a comparatively young mountain. With the exception of the projecting lips of the craters and the top of a subordinate summit a short distance to the northward67, the mountains is solidly capped with ice all around; and it is this ice cap which forms the grand central fountain whence all the twenty glaciers of Rainier flow, radiating in every direction.
The descent was accomplished68 without disaster, though several of the party had narrow escapes. One slipped and fell, and as he shot past me seemed to be going to certain death. So steep was the ice slope no one could move to help him, but fortunately, keeping his presence of mind, he threw himself on his face and digging his alpenstock into the ice, gradually retarded69 his motion until he came to rest. Another broke through a slim bridge over a crevasse7, but his momentum70 at the time carried him against the lower edge and only his alpenstock was lost in the abyss. Thus crippled by the loss of his staff, we had to lower him the rest of the way down the dome by means of the rope we carried. Falling rocks from the upper precipitous part of the ridge were also a source of danger, as they came whizzing past in successive volleys; but none told on us, and when we at length gained the gentle slopes of the lower ice fields, we ran and slid at our ease, making fast, glad time, all care and danger past, and arrived at our beloved Cloud Camp before sundown.
We were rather weak from want of nourishment71, and some suffered from sunburn, notwithstanding the partial protection of glasses and veils; otherwise, all were unscathed and well. The view we enjoyed from the summit could hardly be surpassed in sublimity72 and grandeur73; but one feels far from home so high in the sky, so much so that one is inclined to guess that, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and the exhilaration of climbing, more pleasure is to be found at the foot of the mountains than on their tops. Doubly happy, however, is the man to whom lofty mountain tops are within reach, for the lights that shine there illumine all that lies below.
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1
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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crevasses
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| n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 ) | |
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crevasse
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| n. 裂缝，破口；v.使有裂缝 | |
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trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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cumbersome
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| adj.笨重的，不便携带的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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glorifying
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| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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wasps
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| 黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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19
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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23
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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24
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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26
lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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spiry
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| adj.尖端的，尖塔状的，螺旋状的 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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extravagantly
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| adv.挥霍无度地 | |
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alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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anemones
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| n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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42
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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43
pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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45
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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46
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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47
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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48
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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50
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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caulks
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| vt.堵（船的）缝（caulk的第三人称单数形式） | |
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53
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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craters
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| n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等 | |
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rims
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| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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vents
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| （气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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