Mountain Club Research Articles

Men and Mountains Meet: Journal of the Appalachian Mountain Club, 1876–1984

A t the turn of the century a rising interest in the aesthetic and spiritual benefits of America's wildland regions crystallized in the establishment of several regional organizations dedicated to nature appreciation, outdoor recreation, and preservation. These organizations drew upon the compelling religious naturalism of men like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir, and they found inspiration in the romantic movement, with its emphasis on natural landscapes. In the West, the most prominent mountaineering and conservation clubs were the Sierra Club, founded in California in 1892, the Mazamas (Oregon, 1894), the Mountaineers (Washington, 1906), and the Colorado Mountain Club (1912). Eastern enthusiasts, however, anticipated these western efforts by several years. Inspired mainly by New England's rugged and austere White Mountains-at the time still largely unexplored, unmapped, and unknown-a few dozen men met in Boston on January 8, 1876. The purpose of the meeting was to consider the advisability of forming a society or club devoted to mountain exploration and kindred subjects. It is not known who first suggested the name Appalachian Mountain Club; early records indicate only that the first comment from the floor was How do you spell it, two p's or one? Nevertheless, the name was favored by the group, principally because it provided a wide geographic scope to the club's activities. Charter membership numbered only thirty-nine, and total receipts to the club that first year were just $295. Yet, in June 1876 the club published a sixty-two-page journal titled Appalachia. Although the 500 printed copies required half the club's yearly receipts, this first issue initiated what would become a quiet but unfaltering commitment to the outdoors; Appalachia has since been published in Boston continuously, at first one

The Adirondack Reader. Edited by Paul F. Jamieson (Glens Falls, New York: The Adirondack Mountain Club, Inc., 1983; 2nd. ed. 544 pp. $29.50, cloth; $18.50, paper.)

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsThe Adirondack Reader. Edited by Paul F. Jamieson (Glens Falls, New York: The Adirondack Mountain Club, Inc., 1983; 2nd. ed. 544 pp. $29.50, cloth; $18.50, paper.)Neal S. BurdickNeal S. Burdick St. Lawrence University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 7, Number 3Fall 1983 Published for the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/3984486 Journal History This article was published in the Environmental Review (1976-1989), which was continued by the Environmental History Review (1990-1995). © 1983 American Society for Environmental History. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

A major avalanche event on Mount Egmont, Taranaki, New Zealand

Abstract On the evening of 5–6 September 1981, an avalanche on the east slopes of Mount Egmont buried the walking track to the Stratford Mountain Club skifield under several metres of debris. The weather conditions preceding the event were typical of those producing direct-action slab failures. However, the volume of debris and the presence of shearing layers above the thick ice bands in the snowpack suggest that old snow contributed to the magnitude of the event. Whether the initial failure occurred in the old snow or in the new snow layers cannot be determined from the available information. A systematic programme of snowpack and meteorological observations is required in Mount Egmont and Tongariro National Parks to provide information necessary for avalanche hazard assessment.

Logging Railroads of the White Mountains. By C. Francis Belcher. (Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1980. xiii + 242 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography. Paper. $8.95.)

<i>Logging Railroads of the White Mountains</i>. By C. Francis Belcher. (Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1980. xiii + 242 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography. Paper. $8.95.)

A Small Collection of Bryophytes from Kashmir

Theriotia kashmirensis and Tortula websteri are described as new. The genus Theriotia is reported for the first time outside of Korea and Japan with both T. lorifolia and the new species occurring in Kashmir. Amblystegium compactum is added to the flora of Asia. A floristic list of 60 species is given. In 1955 Grady L. Webster and Eugene Nasir accompanied the Harvard Mountaineering Club Karakorum Expedition under the 1 Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C. 20560. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.159 on Sun, 23 Oct 2016 04:50:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 314 THE BRYOLOGIST [Volume 68 auspices of the Catherwood Foundation and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Their collections of bryophytes were originally submitted to Narinder Chopra, a student at the University of Tennessee, for determination. Unfortunately Mr. Chopra died, leaving the work incomplete. The following list is the result of a complete re-examination of the collections. Specimens are to be deposited in the U.S. National Herbarium, the Herbarium of Purdue University, and a partial series at the University of Tennessee. Four general localities are given for the collections: Hushe Valley and Shyok River Valley in the Karakorum Range, Baltistan; Satpara Nullah in the Himalayan Range, Baltistan; and Nanga Parbat in the Himalayan Range. Gilgit Agency. The collection numbers in italics are Webster and Nasir's.

Velocity of Sliding of an Ice-fall

DURING the Nepal Himalaya P-29 (7,835m) Expedition of Osaka University Mountaineering Club, 1961, we had some experience on sliding and avalanches of an active ice-fall; analysing photographs taken by a Canon 2,000mm telephotographic lens from the base camp at 4,400 m high. Fig. 1 is a series of photographs taken at: (a) May 10, 1° 30′ p.m.; (b) May 11, 9° 30′ a.m.; (c) the same day 11° 30′ just after a small avalanche. By comparing the photographs (a) and (b) we can see that the glacier ice slid down as shown in Fig. 2. The distance of sliding on the original photograph was 2.0 mm. As the distance from the base camp to the ice-fall was 4 km, it corresponds to 4 m. As the estimated slope was 60°, the speed of sliding of the ice-fall became 6 m/day. Evidently this value is too large compared with the usual velocity of flow of a glacier. But as an avalanche occurred immediately afterwards, this value may not be unreasonable and gives some information on mobility of an ice-fall during the pre-avalanche period.

Dryopteris in the Huron Mountain Club Area of Michigan

The seven species of woodferns (Dryopteris) of the Huron Mountain Club area, a natural preserve in northern Michigan, are described briefly with respect to their habitats and chromosomes: (1) Shaded upland ravines (“D. dilatata,”D. intermedia, D. marginalis); (2) vertical rock cliffs (D. fragrans) ; (3) marsh and swamp (D. cristata, D. spinulosa, D. intermedia); and (4) rocky island habitat (D. filixmas, D. intermedia, andD. marginalis). Various sterile hybrids were found:D. cristata Xintermedia, D. cristata Xmarginalis, D. “dilatata” Xmarginalis, D. “dilatata” Xintermedia, D. intermedia Xmarginalis, andD. intermedia Xspinulosa. No new allopolyploid or apogamous hybrids were found. All of the crosses grow where the parents are close by, except thatD. cristata Xmarginalis occurs in marshes where the latter parent is absent. Chromosome studies yielded a number of new cytogeographical records, of which the following are of greatest interest:D. “dilatata” Xintermedia andD. “dilatata” Xmarginalis, both with ca. 82 unpaired chromosomes at meiosis;D. filixmas, with 82 pairs;D. filixmas Xmarginalis, 123 singles; andD. fragrans, 41 pairs. An attempt to identify the “Lake SuperiorDryopteris dilatata” gave negative results. It is not the same as “Western dilatata” nor is it conspecific with the easternD. campyloptera. It is now clear that two distinct taxa have been erroneously combined in the “Gray’s Manual Range.” Epidermal and indusial glands may be either present or absent in both of the eastern American taxa. Other observations on glands indicate that their presence does not necessarily mean that the plant is a hybrid withD. intermedia as one of the parents. Gland size and density vary considerably, and gland size is not necessarily correlated with sizes of other epidermal cells. As evidenced by the conditions in the Huron Mountain area we conclude that man-made disturbance is not a necessary condition for hybridization between species ofDryopteris. Crosses form naturally under the primitive conditions of forest and swamp.

The Altitudinal Limits of Vascular Plants

The Altitudinal Limits of Vascular Plants

Notes and personalia

In the paper on the International Geophysical Year by Sydney Chapman, published in the June 1959 issue of the Transactions, pages 112–119, a correction is to be noted on page 115, In the right‐hand column, third line above IGY Organization, it speaks about an eastward subeurrent “with a speed of about 25 miles per hour.” This speed should be 25 miles per day.In the December 1959 issue of the Transactions, page 368, in the news note concerning Facilities Atop Mount Washington, the statement is made that Gorham Laboratories of Gorham, Maine, operates the Mount Washington Observatory. Wallace E. Howell, President of Mount Washington Observatory, calls attention to the fact that Mount Washington is, and for more than 25 years has been, a non‐profit scientific institution “operated by a Board of Trustees on which Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire, and the Appalachian Mountain Club are represented, as well as approximately 2000 members whose annual dues help support the work and publications of the Observatory.” He points out that the Observatory has always been interested in making its facilities available to persons and institutions wishing to use the unique situation of Mount Washington for geophysical work Inquiries concerning this should be sent to Dr. Howell at 35 Moon Hill Road, Lexington 73, Massachusetts.

An Altitudinal Record for Bison in Northern Colorado

Several authors (Fryxell, Jour. Mamm., 7:102–109, 1926; Warren, Jour. Mamm. 8: 60–61, 1927) have discussed the altitudinal range of the bison (Bison bison) in the Rocky Mountain West, giving records that confirm this animal's visitation in the above-timberline country of Wyoming and Colorado. Most of the records have been based upon location of skeletal remains. This present record is unique because it was included in the verbal report of an Arapaho Indian party, transcribed by Oliver W. Toll for the Colorado Mountain Club. A copy of this report is on file in the Naturalist Office of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. These Indians were brought to the present location of the park in July of 1913 for the purpose of obtaining information on the area during its much earlier period of Indian occupation, prior to 1859. According to their report, one winter about the middle of the last century a herd of buffalo cows climbed high onto the steeply ascending east slope of Thatch-top Mountain, one of the peaks on the continental divide in the present park area. Here the bison were caught by snow, and a band of Arapaho Indians, following on snowshoes, killed many of the beasts. This mountain, called “haathaanon—tahou hut” or “Buffalo Climb” by the Arapahos, rises to a height of 12,800 feet, the upper 1500 feet being above timberline and covered with an abundance of alpine vegetation upon which bison conceivably could have grazed. If the Indians' story can be believed, and Toll felt certain that it was true, this account represents an unusually high ascent by bison at an unusual season of year.

Bouslog John Samuel, M.D.

Born in Logan, Ill., Oct. 13, 1890, John Samuel Bouslog had his elementary and high school education in Illinois and Oklahoma and his university and medical schooling in Colorado. Such a background must necessarily produce a true American with his whole life directed to the advancement of his country's welfare, especially in his own field of activity. Possessed of boundless energy, for years he has worked incessantly and tirelessly in behalf of organized medicine. He has served county, state, and national medical societies in developing and perfecting plans for voluntary health insurance, and he has been a potent influence in directing legislation toward better medical practices and controls. His work has been on local, state, and national levels, in both lay and medical circles. Now, at the halfway mark of the century, in his sixtieth year, he is climaxing his years of service to the profession as President of the Radiological Society of North America. Quite early in his professional life Dr. Bouslog was made secretary of the Colorado State Medical Society and thus became interested in organized medicine. Since that time, he has worked constantly for its advancement. He served the society as constitutional secretary from September 1933 to February 1943, and during World War II, in the absence of the executive secretary, Mr. Harvey Sethman. From September 1937 to February 1943, he was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the society and in 1946 he was elected to the presidency to serve for the term of 1947–48. He is a member of the staff of St. Anthony's, Beth Israel, Children's, Colorado General, and St. Luke's Hospitals, and the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society and Swedish National Sanatorium. Dr. Bouslog has exerted his influence, as he should, by membership and mingling in specialized and non-specialized groups. His hobbies center on wild flowers and birds and coin collecting. Among his numerous affiliations are: Acacia, Bird Club, Denver Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Mountain Club, Denver Athletic Club, Knights Templars, and Shrine. On the scientific side he is a diplomate of the American Board of Radiology, a fellow of the American Medical Association, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the American College of Radiology, and a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Cancer Society, the American Radium Society, the American Roentgen Ray Society, the Denver County Medical Society, the Denver Radiological Club, and the Rocky Mountain Radiological Society. His membership in these organizations has been and still is an active one, and he has held many offices, with vigor and loyalty.

The Vertebrate Fauna of the Huron Mountains, Michigan

The Huron Mountains lie immediately south of Lake Superior in the extreme northwestern part of Marquette County, some forty miles distant from the city of Marquette, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This region represents one of the most extensive and best preserved tracts of primeval forest in the state. A portion of the area is controlled by a private organization, the Hluron Mountain Club, which has owned property here since 1889. Its holdings now include approximately fifteen thousand acres which embrace the principal topographic features of the region.

Scottish Snow Conditions

IN 1939 it was decided to leave a book in the Ben Nevis Hut in order that visitors might record the snow conditions there. The Scottish Mountaineering Club gave the necessary permission and much help. The register was brought down early in 1946, inspected and returned to the hut for further entries.

Scottish Snow Conditions

IN 1939 it was decided to leave a book in the Ben Nevis Hut in order that visitors might record the snow conditions there. The Scottish Mountaineering Club gave the necessary permission and much help. The register was brought down early in 1946, inspected and returned to the hut for further entries.

Erratum

The Polar Record, No. 20, July 1940Page 322, lines 34 and 35. For “A.M.C. Trader” (c/o American Mountaineering Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston) read “A.M.C. Trader” (c/o The Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston).

The Adams Valley and Glaciers, Southern Alps of New Zealand

THE Main Divide of the Southern Alps between Canterbury and Westland is a chain of glaciated peaks linked with curious passes. The subranges are equally intricate and the whole forms a fascinating wilderness for the traveller whether he is botanist, deerstalker, prospector, geologist, or mountaineer. The story of the exploration of the Southern Alps is long and eventful, and even in 1938 was not complete. Some men of purely alpine experience made the mistake of assuming that all the accessible valleys had been trodden. Thus in 1882 in the N.Z. Alpine Journal, No. 22 (p. 127), W. G. McClymont wrote, Only the Murchison remained to be explored at the date when sheepmen entered that valley. Actually for years later in many parts of the Southern Alps, particularly in Westland, there were quite unexplored valleys, and some are still unmapped. In 'Mountaineering' (The Londsale Library), at p. 281, H. E. L. Porter criticizes the absence of reliable maps of the New Zealand high country. His criticism is justified. But the truth is that the Lands and Survey Department can cater only for the tourists in the Mount Cook region, the prospectors and cattlemen in the lower reaches of Westland rivers, and the sheepmen in the foothills. Where economic conditions do not require accurate surveys, the Government does not grant its officers money for what it considers would be to no purpose. So it is left for amateur climbers to improve the knowledge of access to their own terrain. This article describes two expeditions into the unknown watershed of the Perth-Poerua-Adams ranges in Westland carried out with fellow-members of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club. Any blanks in the maps which our parties aimed to fill have been attacked only in brief periods, limited to annual leave, and with the elementary aids of prismatic compass, aneroids, and panoramas made with commonplace cameras. Appetite for mountaineering can be whetted with the taste of reconnaissance work, mild in technique, but welcome to the Lands and Survey Department.

Eclipse‐meteorology, with special reference to the total solar eclipse of 1932

The solar eclipse presents an opportunity to observe the consequence of a rapid shutting off and restoration of insolation, like a quick, brief night interrupting the normal course of the day's weather. The North American total eclipse of August 31, 1932, crossed a well‐populated region of considerable physical diversity at a time when the Sun was high in the sky. Support from the Milton Fund of Harvard University and from J. J. Storrow, Jr., made it possible for the Blue Hill Observatory to undertake an ambitious program of meteorological observations, both surface and aerologlcal, and to collect data from nearly 300 cooperating stations of the United States and Canadian weather‐services, astronomical parties, forest‐services, power‐companies, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and numerous individuals. The complete monograph with rather full details, presented in abstract here, is to be published as No. 3 of Harvard Meteorological Studies.

Aerological studies on Mount Washington

The Mount Washington Observatory, established in 1932 by Joseph B. Dodge of the Appalachian Mountain Club as a contribution to the International Polar Year Program 1932–1933, has afforded an excellent opportunity for the extension of a study of the influence of mountains upon meteorological phenomena conducted during the summer seasons of 1905, 1906, and 1907. The data are simultaneous records of the principal meteorological elements on the summit and in the free atmosphere at the same height.

New books

Abstract EUROPE. Early Burgh Organisation in Scotland : As Illustrated in the History of Glasgow and of Some Neighbouring Burghs. Vol. II. Rutherglen, Lanark, Prestwick, Newton‐upon‐Ayr, Ayr. By David Murray. Glasgow: Jackson, Wylie and Co., 1932. Price 25s. Days and Ways of a Scottish Angler. By Henry Lamond. London : Philip Allan and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 12s. 6d. The Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles. Eighth Edition. Edinburgh : John Bartholomew and Son Ltd., 1932. Price 35s. Isle, Ben and Loch : From the Clyde to Skye. By S. Heckstall Smith. London : Edward Arnold and Co., 1932. Price 10s. 6d. Orkney : The Magnetic North. By J. Gunn. London : Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., 1932. Price 3s. 6d. The Map of England. By Colonel Sir Charles Close. London: Peter Davies Ltd., 1932. Price 6s. net. Venice : Its Story, Architecture, and Art. By Arnold Lunn. The Italian Lakes and Lakeland Cities. By Arnold Lunn. London : George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 5s. each. The Geography of the Mediterranean Region : Its Relation to Ancient History. By Ellen Churchill Semple, M.A., LL.D., Late Professor of Anthropo‐geography at Clark University, Worcester, Mass. London : Constable and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 21s. net. Alps and Men. By G. R. de Beer. London : Edward Arnold and Co., 1932. Price 16s. Denmark and the Danes. By Ethel Carlton Williams. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 7s. 6d. “ Scottish Mountaineering Club's Guide Books “ :—(1) The Northern Highlands, by W. N. Ling. (2) The Western Highlands, by James A. Parker. Edinburgh : Scottish Mountaineering Club, 1932. Price 4s. and 6s. A Wayfarer on the Rivieras. By E. A. Robson. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 7s. 6d. The Geology of the Cheviot Hills. By R. G. Carruthers, G. A. Burnett, and W. Anderson. London : H.M. Stationery Office, 1932. Price 4s. Three Lands on Three Wheels. By Jan and Cora Gordon. London : George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 12s. 6d. Greek Cities. By Peter Anthony Hutton. London : J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1932. Price 10s. 6d. The Pyrenees, French and Spanish. By E. Allison Peers. The “Kit Bag” Travel Books. London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 7s. 6d. ASIA. Land and Labour in China. By E. H, Tawney. London; G. Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1932. Price 7s. 6d. Frontiers. By Sir George Dunbar, Bt. London : Ivor Nicholson and Watson Ltd., 1932. Price 16s. net. Burma and Beyond. By Sir J. George Scott. London : Grayson and Grayson, 1932. Price 18s. Land of the Gold Mohur. By Lady Lowther. London : Philip Allan and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 12s. 6d. By Desert Ways to Indian Snows. By Alexander Jacob Reynolds. London : Unicorn Press, 1932. Price 15s. Twenty Years in Tibet. By David Macdonald. London : Seeley, Service and Co. Ltd., 1932. Price 18s. Through the Kara Sea. By Leonard Matters. London : Skeffington, 1932. Price 18s. AFRICA. The Stone Age Cultures of Kenya Colony. By L. S. B. Leakey. Cambridge : At the University Press, 1931. Price 25s. AMERICA. Up the Amazon and over the Andes. By Violet O. Cressy‐Marks, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1932. Price 12s.6d. Fall of the Inca Empire. By Philip Ainsworth Mearns. New York and London : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1932. Price 21s. OCEANIA. Fiji and the Fijians. By G. C. Henderson. Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1931. Price 25s. The Journal of Thomas Williams. By G. C. Henderson. Two Vols. Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1931. Price 42s. POLAR. The Call of the North. By H. H. Houben. Translated by H. J. Stenning. London : Elkin Mathews and Marrot, 1932. Price 15s. Northern Lights: The Official Account of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1930–31. By F. S. Chapman. London: Chatto and Windus, 1932. Price 18s. net. The Conquest of the South Pole. By J. G. Hayes. London : Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1932. Price 18s. net. GENERAL. Early Astronomy and Cosmogony. By C. P. S. Menon. London : George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1932. Price 10s. net. Red Sea Nights. By W. J. Makin. London : Jarrolds, 1932. Price 12s. 6d. The Great Age of Discovery. Edited by A. P. Newton, M.A., D.Litt. London : The University of London Press Ltd., 1932. Price 15s. net. Nansen. By E. E. Reynolds. London : Geoffrey Bles, 1932. Price 10s. 6d. net.

The Scottish Mountaineering Club Guide. The Northern Highlands

The Scottish Mountaineering Club Guide. The Northern Highlands