THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. I. 



ALBION, N. Y., JULY 15, 1895. 



No. 9 



Among the Rockies. 



By Morton J. Elrod. 



in. 



one of the most delightful camps in 

 my life was a ten days' tenting at 

 Seven Oaks, i S miles from Manitou, 

 Col., up the Bear Creek canon road. 

 This being my first visit to the Rockies 

 everything seems more vivid and dis- 

 tinct than on other occasions. Three 

 of us, all pedagogues, took advantage 

 of a low rate to take an outing and 

 collect. A rig was leased, at the usu- 

 al good figure, an abundance of pro- 

 visions piled in, as we thought, we fol- 

 lowed the tortuous road slowly up the 

 gorge, the high cliffs frowning on 

 every side, with frequently a deep gorge 

 down which the clear stream dashed in 

 its mad haste to make the descent, in 

 marked contrast to our toilsome as- 

 cent, since we had a grass fed pony 

 just from the pasture, and a boiling 

 sun. It is a romantic road. Many 

 little parks are passed, delightful places 

 for a naturalist to spend the summer, 

 and here and there was a neat summer 

 cottage, though all were apparently 

 untenanted. 



Our camp at Seven Lakes was 

 pitched at an altitude of 1 1 500 ft. , 

 about 500 ft. below timber line. Al- 

 though it was the last of July, ice froze 

 nearly every night of our stay, and 

 rain fell nearly every day, much to 

 our discomfiture, making collecting 

 very unprofitable. We had a delight- 

 ful place. Northward some six or 



seven miles the bald summit of Pike's 

 Peak was plainly visible. The trains 

 could be seen toiling up the mountain 

 side at a snail's rate, and the whistle 

 when sounded would echo and re-echo 

 among the mountains until lost in the 

 distance as the sound waves moved 

 onward. To the south was the pass 

 through the mountains leading to the 

 mines at Cripple Creek. Southeast- 

 ward, a mile or so from camp, the 

 steep sides of Old Baldy were clothed 

 in green with a dense growth of pines, 

 while above them his bare and rocky 

 summit tempted us daily to an ascent. 

 Camp was on the bank of the second 

 lake. The first lake is at the base of 

 the mountain Old Baldy, fed by snows 

 from its sides in spring and summer. 

 It is clear as crystal, cold as ice, no 

 one knows how deep, and covers thir- 

 ty-five acres. Nestling at the base of 

 this great mountain, it looks small in 

 comparison, and its size is not appre- 

 ciated until one walks around it. On 

 the bank of the lake is a so-called 

 hotel, built of logs in the old fashioned 

 way, with a great fireplace, which was 

 very pleasant to sit by after climbing 

 until one's legs ached and one was wet 

 to she skin. Close to our camp on 

 the east was a growth of pine with 

 trees and fallen timber so dense and 

 matted that I don't see how any four- 

 footed animal could get through, but 

 it is presumed they do. 



Here, amid such surroundings, with 

 a few books, plenty of fuel, and a fair 

 supply of victuals, we sat or climbed 



