half of the forest floor. This was melting rap- 

 idly and was "rotten" from the rain, so that I 

 quickly gave up the difficult task of fording it 

 and made an abrupt descent until below the 

 snow-line, where I again headed for the fire- 

 cleared slopes. 



As I was leaving the wood, the storm seemed 

 to begin all over again. The rain at first fell 

 steadily, but soon slackened, and the lower 

 cloud-margins began to drift through the woods. 

 Just before reaching the barrens I paused to 

 breathe in a place where the trees were well 

 spaced, and found myself facing a large one 

 with deeply furrowed bark and limbs plentifully 

 covered with short, fat, blunt needles. I was at 

 first puzzled to know what kind it was, but at 

 last I recognized it as a Douglas fir or "Oregon 

 pine." I had never before seen this species at so 

 great an altitude, approximately ten thousand 

 feet. It was a long distance from home, but it 

 stood so contentedly in the quiet rain that I half 

 expected to hear it remark, "The traditions 

 of my family are mostly associated with gray, 

 growing days of this kind." 



279 



