An Elk-Hunt at Two-Ocean Pass 229 



by preference cows and calves, and as they were very 

 persevering, but also very excitable and generally 

 poor shots, so that they wasted much powder, they 

 not only wrought havoc among the elk, but also 

 scared the survivors out of all the country over which 

 they hunted. 



Day in and day out we plodded on. In a hunting 

 trip the days of long monotony in getting to the 

 ground, and the days of unrequited toil after it has 

 been reached, always far outnumber the red-letter 

 days of success. But it is just these times of failure 

 that really test a hunter. In the long run, common 

 sense and dogged perseverance avail him more than 

 any other qualities. The man who does not give 

 up, but hunts steadily and resolutely through the 

 spells of bad luck until the luck turns, is the man 

 who wins success in the end. 



After a week at Two-Ocean Pass, we gathered 

 our pack-animals one frosty morning, and again set 

 off across the mountains. A two-days' jaunt took 

 us to the summit of Wolverine Pass, near Pinyon 

 Peak, beside a little mountain tarn ; each meaning we 

 found its surface skimmed with black ice, for the 

 nights were cold. After three or four days, we 

 shifted camp to the mouth of Wolverine Creek, to 

 get off the hunting grounds of the Indians. We 

 had used up our last elk-meat that morning, and 

 when we were within a couple of hours' journey of 

 our intended halting-place, Woody and I struck 



