Memories of a Bear Hunter 



These bare mountains were about a thousand 

 feet above the pass, and were steep, making the 

 climb difficult for the pack animals as well as for 

 ourselves. It was not until 12 o'clock that we 

 reached the summit. About half way up, a pack 

 on one of the horses became loose, and while we 

 tried to tighten it, the horse lost his footing and 

 rolled down the mountainside, over and over, 

 finally stopping just on the edge of a snow bank. 

 Had he gone a little further and got on the snow 

 bank, he would no doubt have rolled down a 

 steeper part of the mountain four or five hundred 

 feet, and been killed. As it was, he did not after- 

 ward appear at all hurt or sore. We were on top 

 of the mountain where the aneroid showed an 

 elevation of 7,300 feet. 



At 3 o'clock we started down, but found it im- 

 possible to reach Brackett Creek, as we had hoped, 

 because of the depth of the snow. We therefore 

 came down to a point on the pass about two miles 

 from where we had left it, trusting to fortune to 

 get out on to Brackett Creek. There we camped 

 on the headwaters of Brackett Creek, but in a place 

 where there was little grass for the animals, but 

 plenty of wood and water. Here the barometer 

 showed 5,900 feet, which is about the level of 

 Bridger Pass. The exertions of the day were very 



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