Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/146

Rh THE ASCENT OF MT. HERMIT

Few travellers on the west-bound Canadian Pacific express will forget the impressive moment when the train enters the giant gateway that opens to Rogers pass, the railway summit of the Selkirks. Rising on either hand are the towering masses of Mts. Tupper and Macdonald. This is Rogers pass, and the little station which bears that name is close by the summit. Looking back, as the train descends the grade to Glacier House, one commands an inspiring view of the Hermit range, of which Mt. Tupper is the beginning. The next to attract his notice is the compact group of peaks known as Mt. Rogers. Between this group and Tupper, and modestly receding into the background, is a well-knit and shapely rock-mass, with a fine apron of névé spread beneath it, called Hermit mountain. Possibly there is something in the name and the more apparent loneliness of the peak that invites acquaintance. At any rate, it had an attraction for the Rev. Dr. Herdman, whose enthusiasm was contagious enough to induce the Rev. A. M. Gordon and myself to join him in an attempt to climb it. Hermit, as far as we knew, had never been climbed, and that added to our zeal.

We met at Glacier House on the afternoon of August 3rd, 1904. After enjoying a good meal at the hospitable house, we set forth on a five-mile walk to Rogers pass. Edouard Feuz and his son were our guides. Leaving the rails a little east of the Pass