224 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



scrambling up the steep hill above Georgetown, en route 

 for Gray''s Peak, the ascent of which was the chief goal 

 of our ambition in coming to the Rockies on the present 

 expedition. The distance from Georgetown to the 

 summit of this peak is fourteen miles, and the crest it- 

 self is fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-one 

 feet above sea-level, almost three hundred feet higher 

 than Pike's Peak, and cannot be scaled by means of a 

 cog-wheel railway or any other contrivance that uses 

 steam or electricity as a motor. Indeed, the only 

 motor available at the time of our ascent — that is, for 

 the final climb — was " shank's horses,*" very useful and 

 mostly safe, even if a little plebeian. We had been 

 wise enough not to plunge at once among the heights, 

 having spent almost a week rambling over the plains, 

 mesas, foothills, and lower ranges, then had been occu- 

 pied for five or six days more in exploring the valleys 

 and mountain sides in the vicinity of Georgetown, 

 and thus, by gradually approaching them, we had be- 

 come inured to " roughing it "" in the higher altitudes 

 when we reached them, and suffered no ill effects from 

 the rarefied atmosphere. 



We passed the famous " Georgetown Loop,*" crept at 

 a snaiFs pace — for that is the natural gait of the burro 

 — through the town of Silver Plume, and pursued our 

 leisurely journey toward the beckoning, snow-clad 

 heights beyond. No, we did not hurry, for two reasons : 



