HO! FOR GRAY'S PEAK! 241 



of them in a most cheerful mood, their good will and 

 cordial welcome giving us a pleasant feeling of com- 

 radery as we journeyed together up the mountain side. 



Our climb up Gray^s Peak was a somewhat memor- 

 able event in our experience, and I am disposed to 

 dwell upon it. The valley which we had followed ter- 

 minates in a deep gorge, filled with drift snow the year 

 round, no doubt, and wedging itself between Gray^s and 

 Torrey's shoulders and peaks. Here the melting snows 

 form the head waters of Clear Creek, whose sinuous 

 course we had followed by rail, foot, and burro from 

 the city of Denver. 



The trail, leaving the ravine, meandered up a shoul- 

 der of the mountain, wheeled to the left and crept along 

 a ridge, with some fine, blood-curdling abysses on the 

 eastern side ; then went zigzagging back and forth on 

 the precipitous wall of Gray's titanic mount, until at 

 last, with a long pull and a strong pull, it scaled the 

 backbone of the ridge. All this, however, is much more 

 easily told than done. Later in the season, when the 

 trail is clear of snow-drifts, sure-footed horses and burros 

 are ridden to the summit ; but we were too early to 

 follow the trail even on foot. Indeed, many persons 

 familiar with the mountains had declared that we could 

 not reach the top so early in the season, on account of 

 the large snowbanks that still covered the trail. Even 

 the old miner, who in the valley below pointed out the 



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