TIMBER-LINE AND SUMMIT 131 



One afternoon as Charlie and I were returning from 

 several hours of climbing to look at the goat remains on 

 Phillips Peak, the trail led across some slide-rock which 

 gave us an open view upward toward the west. In an 

 evil moment, I saw to the westward a ridge that was 

 heavily timbered quite to its summit; and seeing no land 

 higher up, I rashly concluded it was a low pass. So 

 I said, 



" Charlie, it doesn't look far up to the top of that 

 divide. Suppose we climb up, and take a look over the 

 other side, toward Bull River." 



Charlie hesitated two or three seconds, looked at the 

 sun, then quietly answered, 



" All right. . . . We'll strike up on the right of this 

 slide, and have easy going." 



We struck up, and the climb through the green tim- 

 ber was all right. But when we reached what I had 

 thought was the summit of the divide, behold! we stood 

 at the mouth of a big, bare basin between the two peaks, 

 beyond which there rose a roof of the steepest and most 

 difficult slide-rock that I found on that trip. We were at 

 timber-line, and exactly half-way up to the real summit! 

 I felt as if that notch had deliberately deceived me. 



After a brief rest, we crossed the bottom of the basin, 

 chose the best line of ascent, and started up. Never 

 shall I forget that climb. The mountain was frightfully 

 steep, and from basin-bottom to summit, the slope was 

 covered with slide-rock of the best possible size to roll 

 under a climber's foot, and throw him down. 



" Be very careful of your footing here," said Charlie, 



