The Yellowstone Park 
summit of the ranges present an indescribable 
array of crags and precipices reaching far 
above the timber-line. The Rocky Moun- 
tains nowhere offer a rougher tract of country 
than the Absaroka Range bordering the Park 
on the east. Such an elevated mass naturally 
becomes a storm center, attracting moisture- 
laden clouds. The concentration and precip- 
itation of this moisture in the form of rain 
and snow furnishes during the year an amount 
of water exceptionally large for the Rocky 
Mountains. An abundant supply of rain and 
snow favors a forest growth, which in turn 
aids to conserve the water. In consequence 
a luxuriant growth of nutritious grasses 
springs up, accompanied by a varied under- 
growth of bush and shrub. Observation of 
mountain, valley, and plateau shows that about 
84 per cent. of the Park is forest-clad. Over 
the greater part of the timber reservation the 
proportion of forest is not quite so great, 
much of the higher mountains being above 
timber-line, or else in the southern part more 
open and park-like, with long stretches of 
grass-lands dotted here and there with groups 
of picturesque pines. 
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