MOUNT RAINIER PLACED UNDERFOOT
The summit of Mount Rainier has only been gained by way of its southern
slope, the much steeper and more dangerous northern face having never
been scaled. Even over the comparatively easy slope of the south side
but one practicable trail has been discovered, and it leads by way of
the Cleaver. This gigantic ridge of rock, like the backbone of some
colossal monster, forms a divide between the upper Nisqually and Cowlitz
glaciers. Its sides are overlaid with confused masses of bowlders and
treacherous gravel, through which appear at intervals sheer cliffs and
bare ledges of solid rock. The Cleaver leads to a mighty mass of
granite, a mountain in itself, that is fittingly called the Gibraltar of
Mount Rainier. It bars a further passage to all save the strongest
climbers, and to these it affords the only means of access to the lofty
realms beyond. Here is the most perilous part of the ascent, and, with
Gibraltar once passed, the summit is almost certain of attainment.
It seemed to our weary lads that they had barely fallen asleep when they
were wakened by a rude shaking and the voice of their Siwash guide,
exclaiming:
"Come, come, lazy boy! Wake up! wake up! Mos' _sitkum sun_ (noon).
Breakfus! breakfus!"
"'Most noon!" growled Bonny, crawling reluctantly from his sleeping-bag,
rubbing his eyes, and shivering in the bitter cold. "'Most midnight,
more likely."
"Alle same, _sitkum sun_ some place; don't he?" queried the Indian;
laughing at his own joke.
By the time they had swallowed a cup of tepid tea, and lightened their
packs by making a hearty meal of cold meat and hard bread, dawn was
breaking, and there was light enough to pick their way up the
treacherous slope of the Cleaver. As they cautiously advanced, many a
bowlder slipped from beneath their feet and bounded with mighty leapings
into the depths behind them. Dodging these, sliding in the loose
gravels, lifting and pulling each other up rocky faces from one narrow
ledge to another, and ever looking upward, they finally gained the
summit of the mighty ridge.
From here they could gaze down the opposite slope nearly a thousand feet
to the gleaming surface of the great Cowlitz glacier, with so much of
its ruggedness smoothed away by distance that it looked a river of milk
with a line of black drift in its centre, flowing swiftly through a
rock-walled canyon and pouring into a sea of cloud. On the far southward
horizon could be seen the glistening cone of Mount Hood, kissed by
earliest sunbeams, and in the middle distance the volcanic peaks of St.
Helens and Adams. Near at hand, pinnacles of the Tatoosh range were
breaking through the clouds like rocky islets in a billowy sea. Before
them the rugged backbone of the Cleaver, stripped of every particle of
its earthy flesh, stretched away in quick ascent to the frowning mass of
Gibraltar.
The Cleaver carried them half-way up the sombre face of this mighty
rock, and from that point a narrow ledge creeping diagonally up the
precipice at a steep angle was the trail they must follow. Not only was
this rocky pathway steep and narrow, but it shelved away from the wall,
and in many places afforded only a treacherous foothold. At any point
along its length a slip, a misstep, or an attack of dizziness would mean
almost certain destruction.
Foot by foot and yard by yard M. Filbert's little party ascended this
perilous way, here walking, and trusting to their alpenstocks for
support; there crawling on hands and knees. Sometimes one would go
cautiously ahead over a place of peculiar danger, with an end of the
rope firmly knotted beneath his arms, while his companions, with firm
bracings, retained the other part, ready to haul him up if by chance he
should plunge over the verge and dangle above the abyss at the end of
his slender tether.
At the terminus of the ledge they were confronted by a sloping wall of
solid ice, in which they must cut steps and grip-holes for feet and
hands. As they slowly and painfully worked their way up this precarious
ladder, they were continually pelted by pebbles and good-sized stones
loosened by the sun from an upper cliff of frozen gravel.
At length the toilsome ascent was safely accomplished, and, with a
panting shout from Alaric and a hurrah from Bonny, the whole party stood
on the summit of that mountain Gibraltar. Here they rested and lunched;
then, full of eager impatience, pushed on over the narrow causeway
connecting the mighty rock with the vastly mightier snow-cap beyond.
This snow, that had looked so faultlessly smooth from below, was found
to be drifted and packed into high ridges, over which they slowly
toiled, frequently pausing for breath and inhaling the rarefied air with
quick gaspings. At length a bottomless crevasse yawned before them,
spanned only by a narrow ledge of snow. With an end of the rope knotted
beneath his arms, Bonny, being the lightest, essayed to cross it.
Before he reached the farther side the treacherous support broke beneath
him, and, with a frightened cry, Alaric saw his comrade plunge out of
sight in the yawning chasm. He brought up with a heavy jerk at the end
of the rope, and they cautiously drew him back to where they stood.
As he reappeared above the edge of the opening his face was very pale,
but he called out, cheerfully: "It's all right, Rick! Don't fret!"
After a long search they discovered another bridge, and it bore them
across in safety, one at a time, but all securely roped together.
Finally, late in the afternoon, the longed-for summit was attained, and,
though nearly toppled over by a furious wind, they stood triumphant on
the rocky rim of its ancient crater. This was half a mile in diameter,
and filled with snow, but its opposite or northern side was the highest.
So to it they made their weary way, following the rocky path afforded by
the rim, and barely able to hold their footing against the wind.
When they at last attained the point of their ambition, a reading of the
barometer showed them to be standing at a height of 14,444 feet above
sea-level, and with exulting hearts they realized that, as Bonny
expressed it, they had put the highest peak of the Cascade range beneath
their feet.
The view that greeted them from that lofty outlook was so wonderful and
far-reaching that for a while they gazed in awed silence. Mount Baker,
two hundred miles away, close to the British line, was clearly visible,
as were the notable peaks to the southward, even beyond the distant
Columbia and over the Oregon border.
"_C'est grand! c'est magnifique! c'est terrible!_" exclaimed M. Filbert,
at length breaking the silence.
As for Alaric! To have achieved that summit was the greatest triumph of
his life; but his heart was too full for utterance, and he could only
gaze in speechless delight.
The Indian too gazed in silence as, leaning on his ice-axe, he
contemplated the outspread empire that but a few years before had
belonged solely to the people of his race.
Bonny was as deeply impressed as either of his companions, but found it
necessary to express his feelings in words. "This must be the top of the
world!" he cried; "and I do believe we can see it all. I tell you what
it is, Rick Dale, I've learned something about mountains this day, and
now I know that they are the grandest things in all creation."
At their feet the rock wall dropped so sheer and smooth that no man
might climb it, and then came the snow, sweeping steeply downward for
miles apparently without a break. Far beyond lay the vast sea of forest,
seeming to cover the whole earth with its green mantle. The gleaming
glaciers, looking like foaming cascades frozen into rigidity, were
swallowed by it and hidden. It rolled in billows over the mighty
mountain flanks that radiated from where they stood like the spokes of a
colossal wheel, and dipped into the intervening valleys. Nowhere was it
broken, save by the few bald peaks that struggled above it and by the
thread-like waters of Puget Sound. Even on the west there was no ocean,
for the volcanic, snow-crowned Olympics, one of which was smoking, as
though in eruption, hid it from view.
Our lads could have gazed entranced for hours on the crowding marvels
outspread before them had they been warmed and fed and rested and
sheltered from the fierce blasts of icy wind that threatened to hurl
them from the parapet on which they stood. As it was, night was at hand,
they were faint and trembling from weariness, and wellnigh perished with
the stinging cold. It was high time to turn from gazing and seek
shelter.
Inside the crater's rim numerous steam jets issued from fissures in the
rocky wall, and these had carved out caverns from the adjacent ice. Here
there were roomy chambers, steam-heated and storm-proof, awaiting
occupancy, and to one of these M. Filbert led the way.
In this place of welcome shelter numbed fingers were thawed to further
usefulness by the grateful steam, a small fire was lighted, packs were
opened, and in less than an hour a bountiful supper of hot tea, venison
frizzled over the coals, toasted hard-bread, and prunes was being
enjoyed by as hungry and jubilant a party as ever bivouacked on the
summit of Mount Rainier.
After supper the Frenchman lighted a cigarette, the Indian puffed, with
an air of intense satisfaction, at an ancient pipe, our lads toasted
their stockinged feet before the few remaining embers of the fire, and,
in various languages, all four discussed the adventures of the day.
Although they had much to say, their conversation hour was soon ended by
their weariness and by the ever-increasing cold, which even a jet of
volcanic steam could not exclude from that chamber of ice. So they
speedily slipped into their sleeping-bags, and, lying close together for
greater warmth, prepared to spend a night under the very strangest
conditions that Alaric and Bonny, at least, had ever encountered.
Some hours later the occupants of the ice-cave became conscious of the
howlings of a storm that shrieked and roared above their heads with the
fury of ten thousand demons; but, knowing that it could not penetrate
their retreat, they gave it but slight heed, and quickly dropped again
into the sleep of weariness.