The Walla Walla Statesman, Walla Walla, WA., August 23, 1867, page 2

ASCENT OF MOUNT ADAMS

     EDITOR STATESMAN: -- In this season of dull times, when business drags, and the hot sun is pouring down its melting rays without mercy, it is refreshing to seek the mountain tops, and breathe the invigorating air of these sequestered shades.  During the last few years, while the cares and distractions of successful business operations have consumed the entire attention of our people, but little or no attention has been paid to exploring their rare curiosities of nature which are found in our territory.  Having spent a short time in the Cascade mountains, allow me to give you a brief description of our excursion.
     Our party consisted of half a dozen ladies, seven gentlemen, one boy, and an Indian, who had charge of the baggage train, consisting of two pack animals.  We were well mounted, and left the place of our rendezvous, which was near the mouth of the White Salmon river, on the last day of July, 1867.  The White Salmon river rises directly from the western side of Mount Adams, a distance of some fifty miles, runs south and empties into the Columbia river about twenty miles west of the Dalles.  After a ride of ten miles over a mountainous trail, which we were continually reminded was a wagon road, we came to

WHITE SALMON FALLS

     Where we bivouacked under the shade of a tall pine tree.  The weather was severely hot; mercury in the shade rose to 102° Fahrenheit.  At this place, the water, as it comes rushing and foaming down an abrupt declivity of fifteen or twenty feet, presents a beautiful sight.  This stream, which is somewhat larger than the Walla Walla river, is very swift, and abounds in cataracts, and as the water comes tearing and surging over the rocks, one is inspired with feelings of admiration such as the works of art fail to produce.  At noon on the third day, after traveling a circuitous route over rugged mountains, through grassy prairies and shady valleys, we arrived at the

ICE CAVE

     Which is saturated seven or eight miles west of the White Salmon river, and at a distance of thirty-five miles from the Columbia by the most direct trail.  The first appearance of this cave is that of a round hole or aperture in the ground fifteen or twenty feet across, into which we entered and descended about fifteen feet down a ladder, and found a floor, with the exception of a small amount of rock and earth directly under the opening, composed of solid ice.  The temperature, as might reasonably be supposed, was decidedly cool.  The cave, which is a kind of tunnel cut in solid rock, runs east and west.  The arched roof is ten or twelve feet high, and is about 20 feet in width.  The eastern end of the cave, in which there is the most ice, extends one or two hundred feet, when the ice closes the cave, filling it entirely to the roof.  Parties were engaged in forwarding ice to Portland and the Dalles, which they saw out in large blocks and pack to the Columbia river.  They had cut down about five feet but found no signs of the bottom.  For three seasons ice has been shipped from here, but the cavities fill up every winter.  The slush ice which is made in getting out the blocks, very gradually melts and runs off to the western end where it remains on the ice.  Here were some most beautiful pillars, columns, pyramids, and icicles formed by the water leaking through the roof and congealing as it dropped into the cave.  This end of the cave extends two or three hundred yards west, when there is another aperture similar to the first, but not so large or deep.  This tunnel, so far as it has been explored, seems to commence somewhere in the vicinity of the ice cave, and runs nearly east for seven or eight miles.  There are openings formed by the caving in of the roof at various distances from each other all through the vicinity.  Possibly there are several tunnels running through the country, but as it has not been thoroughly explored, this is of course only a matter of conjecture.  There is no ice in most of the caves, and none in any considerable quantity except here.  The country is open, i.e., free from underbrush, but covered with trees and abundance of grass. There is a gentle slope all the way east to the White Salmon.  Our thermometer at sunrise on the third of August, stood at 36°.  We found strawberries enough for a mess, though it was a week or two early for most of them.  About four miles, a little north of east from here, is another one known as the

BIG CAVE

     Which is one third of a mile in length.  Having provided ourselves with pine torches we entered it at the western extremity through an opening similar to the first one described, with the exception that the floor of this opening was thickly set with brush; the roof was often forty or fifty feet high, while it varied from twenty to forty feet in width.  The floor of the cave was mostly covered with large rugged boulders, having very sharp edges.  Here were specimens of lava and burnt rock, also other indications that the tunnel has been burnt out by a flow of lava from some irruption in the vicinity as yet unknown.  While in the cave, the effort of traveling in the heat of our torches caused us to feel quite warm.  We were about an hour going through.  Our shoes were badly cut with the sharp rocks, and we all experienced a feeling of relief as we once more beheld the clear light of day.  The final terminus of this tunnel affords an interesting topic for future investigation.  Our next point of destination, after trouting, hunting and enjoying ourselves generally for a few days, was towards

MOUNT ADAMS

     After recrossing to the east side of the White Salmon, we commenced the ascent by climbing a spur on the south side of the mountain, leaving the White Salmon canyon on our left.  As we neared the mountain the timber and general vegetation changed materially, diminishing in size as we ascended.  We saw many rare and beautiful flowers; among others the flowers of the soap root plant were abundant; this root makes a very good substitute for soap.  When within five miles of the summit we struck camp on a ridge surrounded with snow, having come about twenty miles from the Ice Cave, and crossing the snow line four or five miles below us.  The varieties of timber here were spruce and mountain pine, being very much dwarfed.  From camp we had a view of the distant ocean to the west, with Mount St. Helens on the right; Mount Hood with Mount Jefferson almost behind it; with the Three Sisters slyly peeping over the east side of that to the south; and the valley of the Columbia with its numerous tributaries to the east; while at the north, directly back of us, the majestic summit of Mount Adams loomed up to the skies.  On the morning of the sixth of August, being duly prepared with gunny overshoes, black faces, and pine canes, at about 8 o'clock, we mounted our horses and commenced

THE ASCENT

     The party was composed of Mrs. Winston, Misses C. Aubert, P. A. Johnson, and E.A. Tanner, and Hon. W. C. Johnson, Messrs., E.S. Joslyn, S. L. Brooks, A.C. Booth, CC Coe, and E. Eelis, with Mr. Moody and Indian Charley; Mrs. Phelps and Miss Scales remaining in camp with Mr. Henry Coe.  The ascent here was comparatively gradual, but we were often obliged to stop and let our horses rest. In two miles we had left all the timber and all signs of vegetation, except a few flowers, which we found growing in the rocks as far up as they were bare.  Half a mile farther, as the snow was getting soft, we left most of the horses with the boy and the Indian.  Mr.  Joslyn having previously become separated from the party had returned.  At half past eleven all the horses were left and we proceeded on foot; soon seeing a mountain sheep on the rocks half a mile above us, some of the party undertook to capture him but he kept at a respectful distance, eluding the pursuit.  We were three miles from camp, on a point of rocks were the view was beautiful and extensive.  The Willamette Valley was under a blanket of clouds, we could not complain.  The smoke from the fires in the Blue mountains obstructed the view in that direction to considerable extent; but to be able to take into one view, the long range of the Cascade mountains, as far south as the Oregon line; the Canyon City country; the Columbia river up to White Bluffs, and on till it was lost in the Colville country; not to speak of the Umatilla, John Day’s, De Chutes, and Klickitat valleys, was richly worth the effort of arriving at this point.  From here Mrs. Winston, Miss Tanner, and Mr. Coe turned back.  The rest of the party, Misses Aubert and Johnson, and Messrs. Johnson, Brooks, Booth and Eelis being bound for the summit, proceeded on their way, sometimes on ridges of rocks and sometimes on snow.  At half past twelve we found a spring of water coming from under the snow on a rocky ridge, where we lunched, the sun shone warm and pleasant and the butterflies flitted gaily around us.  Feeling refreshed, we again continued the ascent, and as we rose higher the air was colder and the wind stronger.  At half past two Messrs. Brooks and Johnson, and half an hour later the rest of the party reached

THE SUMMIT,

     Which unfortunately was enveloped in a cloud that appeared to form on the north-east side of the mountain.  It was freezing cold and the wind blew a hurricane.  The air was like but not particularly disagreeable.  Occasionally as the clouds broke we caught glimpses of Puget Sound and to the north Mount Rainier, besides lakes and country which seemed under our feet.  The top was entirely covered with snow of unknown depth, and was twenty or thirty yards wide by perhaps a quarter of a mile long, running north-west and south-west.  One or two hundred feet below the summit is a large base and half a mile across, containing about one hundred acres.  About four hundred feet below the summit the first rocks were visible, where was a sardine box containing cards in a perfect state of preservation, with the names of a party who had ascended the mountain three years before, vis.: Rev. T. Condon, Messrs. W. Stillwell, C.C. and Henry Coe, and an Indian by the name of Johnson.  These names were written in pencil, but were as legible as if written the day before.  It is difficult to describe our emotions as we stood on the summit, a little group,

“Up above the world so high.”

     It was not a little pride that every one of the party felt, as these were the first ladies that had ever gained the summit of a snow-capped mountain in either Washington or Oregon.  Here, at fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, we sung the Doxology; and if anyone knows of “Old Hunkred” having been sung higher than that, they will please inform us with what kind of tuning-fork it was pitched.  After firing a salute and shivering sufficiently, at ten minutes past three we began

THE DESCENT

     The mode of which, beggars all description.  We skedaddled at a 2 40 rate; some sitting on tin plates; some wrapped in shawls, and some minus either of these conveyances; but we all slid downhill feet foremost or head foremost, right side up or wrong side up, as the case might be, faster then we went up a good deal; the gentleman showing as much gallantry in assisting the ladies down hill as circumstances would permit.  As there was no danger, it was a scene of unmixed merriment.  Hugely jolly was that the descent of Mount Adams; long will it be remembered by every member of the party; and if there are any who suffer from the blues, such an expedition can be safely recommended as a sure antidote, at least for the time being.  Most of the party were two and a half hours making the descent, though one of the gentleman, Mr. Brooks, run away with himself and made it in an hour.
     As we dried ourselves by the campfire that evening, and were regaled by a good strong cup of tea, it seemed to us that we should sleep more soundly than ever; but what a disappointment awaited us; soon after retiring to rest, nearly every one of those who had gained the summit, experienced a painful sensation in the eyes, which became severe and was accompanied by swelling and inflammation.  Mr. Eelis, who wore spectacles, was the only exception.  Miss Johnson, who wore a veil, suffered much less than the others.  The discomfort was felt for several days but gradually dismissed.  The sight was somewhat affected, and it was difficult to see objects clearly as everything appeared to be blurred.  We now turned our faces homeward, and on the ninth of August descended again to the summer heat of the Columbia, where we separated, each feeling that we were simply repaid, both in mind and body, for the time we had spent in this pleasant and exhilarating recreation.

E.