June-October 1881, Cruise of the Corwin, Part II Image 172

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1881
• Subjects: John Muir; journals; drawings; writings; travel; journaling; naturalist; The Bluff; Dwarf birch; Tundra
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/2174; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/jmj-all/article/3173/type/native/viewcontent/fullsize.jpg

to the summit is solid ice, save a covering of tundra, mosses, lichens, dwarf birch, etc. about a foot thick, the height about 140 ft. The ice is in great part obscured by dirty muddy water oozing over it from the boggy tundra and by masses of the tundra turf undermined by the melting ice and falling down the sloping face, and also by a dense and tall growth of grass which has taken the place of the tundra moss on the sloping, overturned and drained humus. Hope to learn more definitely its extent and origin ere we leave. Walked with Captain Hooper back a few miles over the tundra above the bluff. It is the most beautiful ever saw – one mass of lovely color at this time of year – not gorgeous masses, but delicate blending of neutral tints with most vivid, in charming restful proportions and all at their brightest and purest on account of the wetness from rain sprinkling. Bright red or dwarf birch, crimson, fading-edged patches of crimson arbutus https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/3173/thumbnail.jpg