lichen.

The summit is broad, and, although in part composed of broken rocks, is
quite compact in structure. Its general form is rounded and dome-like.

But the view?

Here we were among the clouds, the wind blowing freshly, and the mists
sweeping past, obscuring every object below. In this wind lay our hope,
and scarcely less in the mists, for they might be the means of
dispersing the haze. There went a rift, a patch of blue sky--and there a
bit of green mountain! Then again all was leaden, damp, and cold. We
seemed to have reached the Ultima Thule, to be the sole living creatures
in some far-away corner of an earth gone back to chaos and mysterious
twilight. Again a break, and again appeared a stretch of dark
fir-covered mountain tops, an avalanche-riven peak, a bright, green
field, or a corner of some far-away blue water. This hide-and-go-seek
between landscape and mist lasted some half hour, when the clouds all
rolled away, and left us with bright sunlight and the most glorious view
our eyes had ever rested upon. The extreme distance was still hazy, but
the nearer wilderness of forest and mountain was wild and grand enough
to have satisfied the most fastidious. The elder guide, who had stood
some dozen times on the summit, missed the bits of Lake Champlain and
some dim outlines of hills and waters that ought to have been visible,
but we were quite content with the sharp ridge of the Haystack and its
deep chasm, the bold and beautiful lines of the Gothic Mountains, the
stern, scarred face of Moriah, the distant, still cloud-capped Dix's
Peak, the pleasant valley of the Au Sable, the Camel's Hump, the Schroon
Mountains, the Boreas Waters, Mud and Clear Ponds, the hills about Lake
George, Mounts Seward and Sandanona, Lake Sanford, Mounts McIntire,
McMartin, Golden, Whiteface, Bennet's Pond, the plains of North Elba,
the Skylight, with its singular rock whence is derived its name, and an
infinity of peaks of every possible form, all gathered about us as doing
homage to the stately monarch, the comely and benignant giant, Tahawus.

The sun was warm, and, sheltered by a rock to screen us from the west
wind, we found a single shawl all-sufficient covering. Diogenes produced
from his capacious pocket sundry lemons, which, added to some maple
sugar, a block of chocolate, and a few crackers, furnished a delightful
repast. We had reached the top of the mountain about nine o'clock. By
eleven the clouds again began to thicke