Mount Ritter is king of the middle portion of the High Sierra. I had explored the adjacent wilderness, but my studies had never drawn me to the top. It is fenced by steeply inclined glaciers and canyons of tremendous depth. But difficulties of this kind only exhilarate the mountaineer... My first day was pure pleasure, tracing happy streams and learning the habits of the birds and marmots. The next morning, immediately in front of me loomed the majestic mass of Mount Ritter.

I began to climb. having passed several dangerous spots, I dared not think of descending. My instincts were leading me astray.

After gaining a point about halfway to the top, I was suddenly brought to a dead stop, with arms outspread, clinging to the face of the rock, unable to move hand or foot either up or down. My doom appeared fixed. I must fall. 

Life blazed forth. My trembling muscles became firm again, and my limbs moved with positiveness and precision. Had I been borne aloft upon wings, my deliverance could not have been more complete.