'I he Sto7'y of the RedfisJi Lakes. 



149 



MORAINIC RIDGE, KETWEEX PETTIT AND YELLOWBELLY LAKES, NEAR SAWSOOTH, IDAHO. 



7,200 feet above sea level. 



are smoothed and rounded and left as 

 the large dome-like elevations called 

 mutton-backs or roehes inoutonnces. But 

 as time went on climatic conditions 

 changed. The Ice King slowly loosed 

 his chilling fetters, and warmth and life 

 appeared where only cold had reigned. 

 Rains became more frequent and the 

 snowfall less. The river of ice became 

 less wide and less deep ; but the change 

 was very slow, for the King who had 

 ruled so many centuries was loath to 

 depart. And the cliffs during all these 

 years did not forget to let fall upon the 

 diminishing stream a constant shower 

 of rocks, great and small, and as the 

 stream slowly melted away those which 

 fell near the edges became stranded 

 and were left in great windrows on 

 either side ; there we see them to-day 

 more or less distinctly. Between each 

 two caiions opening out into Salmon 



River valley is a long ridge. Back from 

 the valley it is high and its sides are 

 steep ; as it approaches the valley it 

 gradually flattens out. Examine one 

 of these ridges closely and it is found to 

 consist of rock fragments of various 

 sizes with a small amount of soil. Only 

 at the upper end is there a central 

 axis of bed-rock ; all the rest is gla- 

 cial material and is the joint product 

 of the two glaciers, one upon either 

 side. 



These ridges are, as a rule, well tim- 

 bered, and form the most characteristic 

 feature qf the region. Looked down 

 upon from any high peak above, they 

 appear as long tongues of dark green, 

 reaching out into the dead brown of the 

 treeless valley. Sometimes small sec- 

 ondary glaciers left immense piles of 

 rock upon the flanks of the larger lat- 

 eral moraines, and these, in some cases, 



