Hunting at High Altitudes 



fatiguing to animals and men. I walked most of 

 the way up the mountain, leading my saddle ani- 

 mal, and all the way down, going ahead of my 

 mare and breaking a road through deep snow near 

 the foot of the mountain. 



Next morning Catlin went out early, to learn, if 

 possible, something about the road, and when he 

 returned reported that it would be very difficult to 

 get out of the pass on to Brackett Creek. Finally, 

 however, after careful choice of a way, we reached 

 the stream without trouble and were now on dry 

 ground and out of the snow. We camped on a 

 side hill only a little further on, where there was 

 wood and water and good shelter from storms. I 

 had intended to hunt in the evening, but when the 

 time came found that the horses had started away 

 from camp down into the valley, and it took some 

 time to overtake and bring them back. An all- 

 day hunt on April 5 showed no game, and only a 

 little sign of deer, but the following day I took 

 a walk in the evening and discovered a band of 

 twenty-five or thirty mountain sheep, which I en- 

 deavored to approach. After going a long way 

 round, we approached them within three hundred 

 yards, but could not get nearer without being seen 

 or winded. I fired the express ball at them at that 

 distance, but apparently without result. Catlin, 



108 



