THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 17 March, 192 i No. 3 



The Long's Peak Trail School and Nature Gtiiding 



Enos a. Mills 



Rocky Mountain National Park, Col. 



One year the last of August a clump of aspens on a high, rocky 

 point stood out like a golden sheaf in the sunshine. This autumn 

 color exhibit was at least a month ahead of normal. But the 

 weather was warm and a drouth of weeks was on. All the apsens 

 were colored before frost. 



Many visitors attributed the brilliant coloring to "the severity 

 of the mountain frosts." Nature guides when asked gave facts 

 concerning leaf coloration and the frost superstitions; that frost 

 does not color leaves; neither do fairies. Frost is not a col oris t; 

 brightly colored flowers of summer would never color if frost came 

 while they were flowering. Leaf and fruit coloring is a chemical 

 process of earth-born mineral paint. 



A nature guide can incite a life-long interest in the wild places. 

 Every child, woman and man who knows a few of the real and 

 enlivening facts concerning wild life and the wonderful geological 

 story, will be free from many hampering supersititions, and have a 

 wonderland ever ready for the imagination. 



Our nature guides are frequently asked concerning tree distribu- 

 tion, the why of willows and firs by the streams, pines on sunny, 

 and spruces on shady slopes. Everyone is interested, too, in the 

 habits of the grizzly, the beaver, *the mountain sheep, and are glad 

 to have the life histories of the flowers, birds and trees of the region 

 interpreted in a live, unscientific story. Old and young become 

 enthusiastic. 



A few of the fundamental facts which we endeavor to feature 

 through our nature guides in the Trail vSchool are ; that the wilder- 

 ness is friendly, wild animals are not ferocious, weather is not harm- 

 ful, and that the outdoors is helpful at all times. We also try to 



