Over the trails of Glacier National Park . over,ventures the guide, with a placidity of countenance that suggests that it isby no means the first time he made the remark. To the right the mountain slopes quickly down to the bottom of a steep,wooded canyon. The trail is from two to two and a half feet wide, cleft out of therocky slope by patient pickaxes. Occasional gaps in the trees show the whitecrest of a mountain torrent too far down to be heard. On every side mountaintops obstruct the vision. A man with good eyes can see a mile in this country, remarks the guide as heleads the party up a z
Over the trails of Glacier National Park . over,ventures the guide, with a placidity of countenance that suggests that it isby no means the first time he made the remark. To the right the mountain slopes quickly down to the bottom of a steep,wooded canyon. The trail is from two to two and a half feet wide, cleft out of therocky slope by patient pickaxes. Occasional gaps in the trees show the whitecrest of a mountain torrent too far down to be heard. On every side mountaintops obstruct the vision. A man with good eyes can see a mile in this country, remarks the guide as heleads the party up a zigzag course. Soon the twenty horses are, one directlybelow the other, moving alternately, north and south, as they climb to the higherreaches to find the comparatively-level trail on the rim-rock. The trees becomesmaller and grow in contorted gnome-like shapes. Long since we had biddengood-bye to the mountain flowers. In half an hour we were on bare rocks ofgloomy brown splotched with verdigris. A few stray clouds roll over the tree-tops. The trail winds its serpentine way through one long, tortuous aisle of pine and fir, spruceand cedar, each twist disclosing new delights. GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 19 below, lifting to show the green and black little lakes that mark the course of thecanyon. A waterfall, whose beauties could easily occupy hours of sightseeing,is passed with comment expressed in the comparative degree. All waterfallsare beautiful, and the human capacity for expression and appreciation islimited. When the vanguard reaches the rim-rock the pack-horses can be seen a thirdof a mile below, carefully edging their burdens around the sharp turns made bytrees and boulders. A mile or so on the rim-rock, and the trail begins to drop andthe saddles are frequently emptied, as the effort to keep from sliding over thehorses head is greater than that of walking. The sun was almost directly overhead when a shout from the lead guide pro-claimed Sperry camp in a little circular valle
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidovertrailsof, bookyear1911
