Mystic Lake in Moraine Park.
IV.
THE CLIMBERS.
Climb the mountains, and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.—John Muir.
Upwards—towards the peaks, towards the stars, and towards the great silence!—Ibsen.
Given good muscles and wind, the other requisites for an ascent of the Mountain are a competent guide and grit. It offers few problems like those confronting the climber of the older and more crag-like Alps. There are no perpendicular cliffs to scale, no abysses to swing across on a rope. If you can stand the punishment of a long up-hill pull, over loose volcanic talus and the rough ice, you may safely join a party for Gibraltar Rock and the summit. But the ascent should not be attempted without first spending some time in "try-outs" on lower elevations, both to prepare one's muscles for climbing and descending steep slopes, and to accustom one's lungs to the rarer atmosphere of high altitudes. Such preparation will save much discomfort, including, perhaps, a visit of "mountain sickness."
Glacier Table on Winthrop Glacier. This phenomenon is due to the melting of the glacier, save where sheltered by the rock. Under the sun's rays, these "tables" incline more and more to the south, until they slide off their pedestals.