Aug. 29, Mt. Rigi
Awaked at half past four & rose & dressed hastily to go out if possible to see the sunrise. Traveled up to the Kulm, a genuine uphill walk. Some two or three hundred people collected & waiting for the mist to roll away, nor did we wait in vain, for it soon passed by & a most magnificent & glorious prospect was presented which exceeded any thing I had ever seen or expect ever to see again. One the right, the tops of the Bernese Alps covered with glaciers; beyond a sea of these beautiful, fleecy clouds. On the left, the beautiful Lake Lucerne & Zug, villages & farm houses with mountains beyond. Then the sun just throwing up the light of morning & tinging the mountains all around . . . Many other small lakes are seen, not long before the whole was shrouded in mist so that our clothes were all wet with it. Then it would be lifted off again & all but the mountains covered over with clouds so invitingly soft that you would want to jump into them & lie there . . . It was a time long to be remembered & not expected more than once in a lifetime.