THE LANDS OF UTAH. 97 
with scarlet; the willows to crimson and russet; the meadows are 
quickly sered, and soon the autumn verdure presents only the somber 
tints of the evergreens; early snows fall, and the whole land is soon 
covered with a white mantle, except that here and there bleak hills and 
rugged peaks are swept bare by the winds. The brief, beautiful summer 
is followed by a long, dreary winter, and during this winter of snowfall 
are accumulated the waters that are to be used in fertilizing the valleys 
away below in the border region between the mountains and the desert 
basins. 
From the Wasatch on the north to the Colob on the south are elevated 
tables, in general bounded by bold, precipitous escarpments. The lands 
above are highly and sharply differentiated from the lands below in climate, 
vegetation, soil, and other physical characters. These high plateaus are 
covered with sheets and beds of lava, and over the lava sheets are scat- 
tered many volcanic cinder cones. ‘The higher plateaus bear heavy forests 
of evergreens, and scattered through the forests are many little valleys or 
meadow glades. The gnarled, somber forests are often beset with fallen 
timber and a vigorous second growth, forming together a dead and living 
tangle difficult to penetrate. But often the forest aisles are open from 
glade to glade, or from border cliff to border cliff. In the midst of the 
glades are many beautiful lakelets, and from the cliffs that bound the 
plateaus on every hand the waters break out in innumerable springs. 
Here, also, a brief summer is followed by a long winter, and through 
its dreary days the snow is gathered which fills the lakelets above and 
feeds the springs along the bordering cliffs. The springs of the cliffs are 
the fountains of the rivers that are to fertilize the valleys lying to the 
east, south, and west. 
The Uinta Mountains constitute an east and westrange. From a single 
great uplift, nearly 200 miles long and from 40 to 50 miles wide, valleys 
and caions have been carved by rains and rivers, and table lands and 
peaks have been lett embossed on the surface. Along its middle belt from 
east to west the peaks are scattered in great confusion, but in general the 
highest peaks are near the center of the range. The general elevation 
descends abruptly both on the north and south margins of the uplift, and 
IS AR 
