WATER TRAILS OF THE CERISO 



It seems that man-height is the least 

 fortunate of all heights from which to study 

 trails. It is better to go up the front of 

 some tall hill, say the spur of Black Moun- 

 tain, looking back and down across the 

 hollow of the Ceriso. Strange how long 

 the soil keeps the impression of any con- 

 tinuous treading, even after grass has over- 

 grown it. Twenty years since, a brief hey- 

 day of mining at Black Mountain made a 

 stage road across the Ceriso, yet the par- 

 allel lines that are the wheel traces show 

 from the height dark and well defined. 

 Afoot in the Ceriso one looks in vain for 

 any sign of it. So all the paths that wild 

 creatures use going down to the Lone Tree 

 Spring are mapped out whitely from this 

 level, which is also the level of the hawks. 



There is little water in the Ceriso at the 

 best of times, and that little brackish and 

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