Hunting at High Attitudes 



on climbing on a bench of the mountain about a 

 mile from the bait, discovered a large bear, which 

 had evidently seen or smelt us, making off in the 

 opposite direction. We followed him in the effort 

 to get ahead of him, but he was too swift for us. 



The snow was melting and the trail becoming 

 difficult to follow. I became separated from Fishel 

 and Messiter, and they first found the trail, and 

 followed it until it entered a dense willow thicket 

 on a small creek. They rode around it to see 

 whether the bear had gone on, and when on the 

 opposite side a huge bear rushed out and charged 

 them fiercely. At first the horses did not wholly 

 comprehend the situation, and the bear was close to 

 their heels before they began to run. Fishel 

 started back to the camp, to bring out a greyhound 

 that Messiter had brought with him. I met him, 

 and learning what had happened, I hurried to the 

 scene of action and found Messiter already on a 

 high rocky point overlooking the thicket, his horse 

 being tied some distance further away. The clump 

 of willows was dense and extended about a hun- 

 dred yards up and down the small stream, and 

 was fifty yards across. The stream, which was 

 six or eight feet wide and two feet deep, meandered 

 through the willows. 



Across the thicket we held a council of war and 

 84 



