TIMBER-LINE AND SUMMIT 139 



where present, sometimes bare of trees and bushes, and 

 nicely set in grass, and again thinly covered with young 

 trees. 



(7) In places are found large patches of fine, loose 

 earth, perfectly bare. 



(8) Slide-rock is always to be expected, sometimes 

 coming from sources that are visible, and again de- 

 scended from goodness knows where. High up, it is 

 usually more finely broken than lower down. Near the 

 top of a steep divide, or " pass," it is common to find a 

 wide belt of bad slide-rock (called " scree " by the pro- 

 fessional mountain-climbers, and " talus " by geologists), 

 and often the top also is completely capped with it. 



(9) Occasionally the climber strikes a stretch of 

 small stones, or, better still, an acre or two of loose shale, 

 which is very safe and comfortable while it lasts. Down 

 a good stretch of this one can plough along fast and 

 fearlessly, as one descends the ashy side of Vesuvius, 

 covering two yards at a stride. 



(10) When it comes to snow, and ice, — that is an- 

 other story, and a long one. 



It was through a bewildering succession of such feat- 

 ures as the above that Charlie and I made a long and 

 arduous, though nowise dangerous climb, to the top of 

 a pass that looked over into the Elk River water-shed. 

 It was a cold day, and the changes of temperature that a 

 climber experiences in one day were absurdly numerous. 



I started up wearing my elk-skin hunting-shirt, a silk 

 muffler around my neck, and two suits of underclothing. 

 At the head of the creek we took our last drink of 



