Mount Taygetus

“ To the south-east, through another gap, appears the range of Taygetus, with its beautiful outlines and sharp snowy peaks. In the nearer foreground, between Ithome and 346Taygetus, rises Mount Ira, the last stronghold of the Messenian race in its struggle for freedom with Sparta. To the east are bare rough hills, dotted with oak-trees, the western spurs of Mount Lycaeus, while farther to the south appears the high round-topped Tetrasi, perhaps the Nomian mountains of the ancients. The sea is not visible, but it may be seen by ascending the slope at the back of the temple. ”

“ Though the Isthmus of Corinth connected the peninsula with the continent by a narrow neck of land, yet it was not traversed in its whole length by any continuous chain of mountains; the Œnean hills being entirely separated from the mountains of Peloponnesus.248 The principal elevations in Peloponnesus form very nearly a circle, the circumference of which passes over the mountains of Pholoë, Lampe, Aroanius, Cyllene, Artemisium, Parthenium, and Parnon; then over Boreum, and from thence up to the northern rise of mount Taygetus, and finally over mount Lycaon along the river Alpheus. ”

“ Another mountain mass, the Lycæus, or Diaforti—the Arcadian Olympus, which the Pelasgians claim for their cradle—and which rises almost in the centre of the Peloponnesus, is continued westward of Laconia by an extended mountain chain, the most elevated and most characteristic of all the Morea. The highest crest of these mountains is the famous Taygetus, known also as Pentedactylum (five fingers) , because of the five peaks which surmount it; or as St. Elias, in honour, no doubt, of Helios, the Dorian sun-god. ”

“ The backbone of the peninsula is the great range of Taygetus, which runs south till it terminates in Taenarum, the modern Cape Matapan, the southern extremity of Greece. The scenery of the peninsula is wild and savage; the villages, hedged in by impenetrable thickets of cactus, cling like eagles’ eyries to the faces of apparently inaccessible cliffs, and are reached by stony and exceedingly toilsome footpaths—the only semblance of roads in these secluded highlands. Almost everywhere the surface is nothing but the naked rock. ”

“ It is the symbol of an awful power clad in beauty.
This northern slope of the mountain is very steep, and the consolidated snow begins its downward movement from near the top. Little pinnacles of rock project through the mass and form eddies in the current. A jagged ridge divides it, and part descends into the deep unexplored cañon of White River, probably the deepest chasm in the flanks of Mount Tacoma. ”

“ From this celestial height one may see more than a hundred miles in every direction, far away to the ocean on the west and into the great Inland Empire on the east. The snow-capped peaks already noted are seen toward the south, Mount Olympus to the northwest, and Baker, Shuksan, Stuart, and Glacier Peak to the north; while the Mother, the Sluiskin, the Sourdough Mountains, and the Tatoosh Range near by seem like mere foothills, between eight and nine thousand feet below. No grander or more inspiring view may be observed anywhere in the world. ”

“ The prevailing rocks are in the first place the pumice-tuffs, which not only as a rule form the coast-cliffs, but occur inland as high as the summit of Mount Thuku almost 1,300 feet above the sea. They were probably in great part ejected from sub-aërial vents, though no doubt, as in the vicinity of Undu Point, they were often deposited under the sea. The acid and basic tuffs in the vicinity of Tawaki and Thawaro are, as I imagine, largely derived from marine degradation. Next to the pumice-tuffs, massive quartz-porphyries and oligoclase-trachytes are the characteristic rocks. ”

“ The glacial system of Takhoma is stupendous. The mountain is really the focal centre and summit of a region larger than Massachusetts, and the five large rivers which water this region all find their sources in its vast glaciers. They are the Cowlitz, which empties into the Columbia; the White, Puyallup, and Nisqually rivers, which empty into Puget Sound sixty, forty, and twelve miles respectively north of Olympia; and the Wenass, which flows eastward through the range and empties into the Yakima, which joins the Columbia four hundred miles above its mouth. ”

“ Mount Thuku.—My ascent of this hill, which is 1,288 feet in height, was made from the north coast. I found it to be composed from the foot to the summit of white pumiceous tuffs without any evident arrangement. It has a narrow top and shows no sign of a crateral cavity. The hills east and west, as viewed from its summit, are ridge-shaped and display nothing in their configuration at all suggestive of craters. The pumice-tuffs of Mount Thuku are non-calcareous, and exhibit greyish pumiceous lapilli in an abundant white matrix formed of fine pumice-debris. ”

“ Then they rolled the great stones before the door, and Tayoga said:
"Now, we will imitate our friends, the bears, and take a long winter sleep."
Both were soon slumbering soundly in their blankets and furs, and all that night and all the next day the snow fell on the high mountains in the heart of which they lay. There was no wind, and it came straight down, making an even depth on ridge, slope and valley. It blotted out the mouths of the caves, and it clothed all the forest in deep white. ”

“ But when at length, after climbing for hours an almost perpendicular peak,—creeping on hands and knees over loose rocks, and clinging to scanty tufts of grass where a single slip would have sent us rolling a thousand feet down to destruction,—we reached the highest crest and looked over, we exclaimed that we were already well repaid for all our toil. Nothing can convey an idea of the grandeur and ruggedness of the mountains. Directly in front, and apparently not over two miles distant, although really twenty, old Takhoma loomed up more gigantic than ever. ”

“ Mount Darwin sends its one great glacier sweeping down into the main stream; then the Hochstetter Dome stands at the head of the Tasman Glacier itself, and westward rise the noble summits of Mounts Elie de Beaumont, Green, and De la Bêche—the last a most beautiful triple peak, queen of the whole group, and over 10,000 feet in height. Still following round, the eye falls on the Rudolf Glacier descending from the peak of the same name, then Mounts Jervois, Spencer, Glacier Peak, and lastly Mount Haidinger, a fine flat-topped mountain clothed from base to summit in broken ice. ”

“ So abundant is the [238] rock débris released by melting that the wind at times whips it up into veritable dust storms.
Beautifully regular moraines accompany the ice mass on both sides, giving clear evidence of its recent shrinking.
The partner of the Tahoma Glacier, known as the South Tahoma Glacier, heads in a profound cirque sculptured in the flanks of the great buttress that culminates in Peak Success (14,150 feet) . It is interesting chiefly as an example of a cirque-born glacier, nourished almost exclusively by direct snowfalls from the clouds and by eddying winds. ”

“ A lesser lobe splits off to the south on a wedge of rock.
Immediately south of the elevated amphitheater of the Puyallup Glacier the crater rim of the volcano is breached for a distance of half a mile. Through this gap tumbles a voluminous cascade from the névé fields about the summit, and this cascade, reënforced by a flow from the Puyallup cirque, forms the great Tahoma Glacier, the most impressive ice stream on the southwest side. Separated from its northern neighbor by a rock cleaver of remarkable length and straightness, it flows in a direct course for a distance of 5 miles. ”

“ Takhoma, he said, was an enchanted mountain, inhabited by an evil spirit, who dwelt in a fiery lake on its summit. No human being could ascend it or even attempt its ascent, and survive. At first, indeed, the way was easy. The broad snow-fields, over which he had so often hunted the mountain goat, interposed no obstacle, but above them the rash adventurer would be compelled to climb up steeps of loose, rolling rocks, which would turn beneath his feet and cast him head-long into the deep abyss below. ”

“ It is reached by a stiff climb over rocks and a huge heap of fallen stones and debris. From it the view is similar to that from the Schwarzsee, but much finer, the Théodule Glacier being seen to great advantage. Above the Hörnli towers the Matterhorn, huge, fierce, frowning, threatening. Every few moments comes a heavy, muffled sound, as new showers of falling stones come down. This is one of the main dangers in climbing the peak itself, for from base to summit, the Matterhorn is really a decaying mountain, the stones rolling away through the action of the storms, the frosts, and the sun. ”

“ Your plan to climb Takhoma is all foolishness. No one can do it and live. A mighty chief dwells upon the summit in a lake of fire. He brooks no intruders.
Many years ago my grandfather, the greatest and bravest chief of all the Yakima, climbed nearly to the summit. There he caught sight of the fiery lake and the infernal demon coming to destroy him, and he [134] fled down the mountain, glad to escape with his life. Where he failed, no other Indian ever dared make the attempt. ”

“ South coast between Tawaki and the foot of Mount Thuku.—The tall cliffs that rise to a height of from 200 to 300 feet behind Tawaki are composed of white tuffs and agglomerate-tuffs derived from the acid rocks of the district. Eastward from Tawaki to the base of Mount Thuku the coast scenery is particularly fine. A little inland a line of hills, named “Na Kula,” rises precipitously to a height of 700 or 800 feet, and in the vertical sides are displayed tuffs and agglomerates probably of the character of those above noticed. ”

“ View northward in early summer from Eagle Peak, at western end of the Tatoosh. Gibraltar Rock and Little Tahoma break the eastern sky-line. On the extreme right lies Paradise Valley, still deep in snow, with the canyon of Paradise River below it. Next is seen the Nisqually Glacier, with Nisqually River issuing from its snout. Then come Van Trump Glacier (an "interglacier") , and the big Kautz Glacier, dropping into its own deep canyon. Beyond the Kautz, Pyramid Peak and Iron and Copper Mountains rise on the Indian Henry plateau. The Tahoma Glaciers close the view westward. ”

“ We would never have thought of attempting the ascent of the mountain without bringing back whatever little addition to human knowledge was within the scope of our powers and opportunities. Tatum took rounds of angles, in practice against the good fortune of a clear day on top, on every possible occasion. The sole personal credit the present writer takes concerning the whole enterprise is the packing of that mercurial barometer on his back, from the Tanana River nearly to the top of the mountain, a point at which he was compelled to relinquish it to another. ”

“ Andenmatten selected his own line of descent, and in a few minutes we had entirely lost sight of him. It was too dark to find our way across the glacier, and we could only hope by following the loose stone ridge to make our way to the right place. So we stuck to the rocks, occasionally falling and nearly sticking on their detestably sharp points. Even a Caucasian moraine leads somewhere if you keep to it long enough, and as we turned a corner, the huge glimmering mass of Dych Tau, towering up in front, showed that the end of our journey was not far off. ”

“ Toward morning the wind sank, and the sheets of rain grew thinner. Once or twice thunder moaned in the southwest, and there were occasional streaks of lightning, but they were faint, and merely disclosed fleeting strips of a black lake and a black forest.
"Before the sun rises the storm will be gone," said Tayoga. "The miracle that Areskoui worked in our behalf is finished, and the rest must be done by our own courage and skill. Who are we to ask more for ourselves than the Sun God has done?" ”

“ The impossible often happens. Great spirits like Tayoga love the impossible. It draws them on, it arouses their energy, they think it worth while. I've seen Tayoga more than once since he started, as plainly as I see you, Will. Now, I shut my eyes and I behold him once more. He's in the forest. The snow is pouring down. It lies a foot deep on the ground, the boughs bend with it, and sometimes they crack under it with a report like that of a rifle. ”

“ The sweep of the rain maintained a continuous driving sound. Boughs cracked and broke beneath it. The waters of the river, swollen by the floods of tributary creeks and brooks, rose fast, bearing upon their angry surface the wreckage of trees, but they did not reach the stone shelf upon which the travelers lay.
Tayoga awoke before the morning, while it was yet so dark that his trained eyes could see but dimly the figures of his comrades. He sat up and listened, knowing that he must depend for warning upon his hearing, which had been trained to extreme acuteness by the needs of forest life. ”

“ Ahead loomed the central mountains of Tycho crater, biting into the black sky, saw-toothed, for fifteen thousand feet. On labored the moon tank, climbing now, its old engine whining a protest against the steep grade, the sound echoing strangely inside the vehicle because outside in the luna vacuum it could not be heard at all. They crossed the first peak of the range, looked down on a great cauldron in the rock, a crater within the crater, a mile across. ”

“ The Northern part of North Tahoma Glacier, seen in the distance beyond the wedge of rocks, feeds a tributary of the Puyallup.
The mountain divinity, with his under-gods, figures in much of the Siwash (p. 032) folklore, and the "Land of Peace" is often heard of. It is through such typical Indian legends as that of Miser, the greedy hiaqua hunter, that we learn how large a place the great Mountain filled in the thought of the aborigines.
Anemones, a familiar mountain flower.
This myth also explains why no Red Man could ever be persuaded to an ascent beyond the snow line. ”