SUMMER DAYS AT MOUNT SHASTA 



road on Mount Washington. In the mean time 

 tourists are dropped at Sisson's, about twelve 

 miles from the summit, whence as head- 

 quarters they radiate in every direction to the 

 so-called " points of interest"; sauntering 

 about the flowery fringes of the Strawberry 

 Meadows, bathing in the balm of the woods, 

 scrambling, fishing, hunting; riding about 

 Castle Lake, the McCloud River, Soda Springs, 

 Big Spring, deer pastures, and elsewhere. Some 

 demand bears, and make excited inquiries con- 

 cerning their haunts, how many there might 

 be altogether on the mountain, and whether 

 they are grizzly, brown, or black. Others 

 shout, " Excelsior," and make off at once for 

 the upper snow-fields. Most, however, are con- 

 tent with comparatively level ground and mod- 

 erate distances, gathering at the hotel every 

 evening laden with trophies great sheaves 

 of flowers, cones of various trees, cedar and 

 fir branches covered with yellow lichens, and 

 possibly a fish or two, or quail, or grouse. 



But the heads of deer, antelope, wild sheep, 

 and bears are conspicuously rare or altogether 

 wanting in tourist collections in the " paradise 

 of hunters." There is a grand comparing of 

 notes and adventures. Most are exhilarated 

 and happy, though complaints may occasion- 

 ally be heard "The mountain does not look 



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