The Yellowstone Park 



summit of the ranges present an indescribable 

 array of crags and precipices reaching far 

 above the timber-line. The Rocky Moun- 

 tains nowhere offer a rougher tract of country 

 than the Absaroka Range bordering the Park 

 on the east. Such an elevated mass naturally 

 becomes a storm center, attracting moisture- 

 laden clouds. The concentration and precip- 

 itation of this moisture in the form of rain 

 and snow furnishes during the year an amount 

 of water exceptionally large for the Rocky 

 Mountains, An abundant supply of rain and 

 snow favors a forest growth, which in turn 

 aids to conserve the water. In consequence 

 a luxuriant growth of nutritious grasses 

 springs up, accompanied by a varied under- 

 growth of bush and shrub. Observation of 

 mountain, valley, and plateau shows that about 

 84 per cent, of the Park is forest-clad. Over 

 the greater part of the timber reservation the 

 proportion of forest is not quite so great, 

 much of the higher mountains being above 

 timber-line, or else in the southern part more 

 open and park-like, with long stretches of 

 grass-lands dotted here and there with groups 



of picturesque pines. 



249 



