i 3 8 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



the day wherein Charlie and I climbed into the second 

 big notch south of Phillips Peak. 



(1) First came the luxuriant, balsamy, sweet-smell- 

 ing " green timber " of the valley, which climbed half a 

 mile or more up the steep slope. In this the rich earth 

 is smooth, and covered deeply with the dry needles of 

 Canadian white spruce, jack pine, and balsam. The fine- 

 leafed, columnar larches are turning the color of old 

 gold, and the leaves of the quaking asp tell their name 

 by their incessant quivering. Just then the frost was 

 busily painting them Indian red. 



(2) Above the heavy green timber comes the dwarf 

 spruces, which I think must be of a species different 

 from the great tree, and the patches of yellow-willow 

 brush. 



(3) There are patches of hard, bare earth, usually 

 shaly, and often so hard and smooth they are not only 

 uncomfortable, but even dangerous. In freezing weather 

 they must be carefully avoided ; for they give no foothold. 



(4) The deep gullies that so often score the moun- 

 tain-sides, cut down through decomposing shale, are a 

 prominent feature, and in traversing the side of a steep 

 mountain in freezing weather they must be crossed with 

 the utmost care. At such times, our guides regard them 

 as decidedly dangerous. 



(5) Above the brush-belt, often comes the mossy 

 pasture-grounds, in steps, like great stairs that have been 

 covered with a mosslike carpet of Dryas octopitala 

 three inches thick. 



(6) The " slides," or avalanche tracks, are every- 



