206 SADDLE AND CAMP 



present-day travelers through unsettled regions 

 of the West. 



Beaver Creek has considerable volume where 

 the trail enters the mountains, but ascending 

 the gorge it gradually shrinks into a mere rivu- 

 let, trickling from scattered springs. Beyond 

 this the diminishing trees disappear, and pres- 

 ently, above the gorge and on the summit of a 

 ridge dividing two water sheds, even willows 

 and shrubs gave way to sage brush. 



The main road here is a wood road, which 

 drops over the ridge and sends branches into 

 some three or four canon lumber camps. The 

 direct road for Bear Lake turns to the left and 

 is little used. An hour before I met the cow- 

 boy on Beaver Creek, I had passed an outfit 

 consisting of a teamster with a heavily loaded 

 wagon of lumber-camp supplies and a man in 

 a buggy. The latter was a lumberman named 

 Lewis, the former one of his men, on the way to 

 Lewis's camp in Skunk Creek Canon. Mr. 

 Lewis invited me to spend the night at his camp, 

 where he told me forage could be had for my 

 horses. 



The sun was sinking in the west behind a 

 bank of threatening clouds when I reached the 

 Bear Lake trail, over which the cowboy had 

 come. His description of the naked region 



