2–8 July 1866

I went with Annie Keyes and Mr. Channing on Wednesday, 27th June, to Troy, N. H., thence to the Mountain House in wagon, and, with Edward and Tom Ward ' who had come down to meet us, climbed the mountain. The party already encamped were Moorfield Storey, Ward, and Edward, for the men ; and Una Hawthorne, Lizzie Simmons, and Ellen E. for the maidens. They lived on the plateau just below the summit, and were just constructing their one tent by spreading and tying India- rubber blankets over a frame of spruce poles large enough to hold the four ladies with sleep- ing space, and to cover the knapsacks. The men must find shelter, if need is, under the rocks. The mountain at once justified the party and their enthusiasm. It was romance enough to be there, and behold the panorama, and learn one by one all the beautiful novelties. The countrj'^ below is a vast champaign, — half cleared, half forest, — with forty ponds in sight, studded with villages and farmhouses, and, all around the horizon, closed with mountain ranges. The eye easily traces the valley followed by the Cheshire Railroad, and just beyond it the valley of the Connecticut River, then the Green Mountain chain : in the north, the White Hills can be seen ; and, on the east, the low mountains of Watatic and Wachusett. We had hardly wonted our eyes to the new Olympus, when the signs of a near storm set all the scattered party on the alert. The tent was to be finished and covered, and the knapsacks piled in it. The wanderers began to appear on the heights, and to descend, and much work in camp was done in brief time. I looked about for a shelter in the rocks, and not till the rain began to fall, crept into it. I called to Channing, and afterwards to Tom Ward, who came, and we sat substantially dry, if the seat was a little cold, and the wall a little dripping, and pretty soon, a large brook roared between the rocks, a little lower than our feet hung. Meantime, the thunder shook the moun- tain, and much of the time was continuous cannonade.