(preface 



Colorado has one thousand peaks that rise 

 more than two miles into the sky. About 

 one hundred and fifty of these reach up beyond 

 thirteen thousand feet in altitude. There are 

 more than twice as many peaks of fourteen 

 thousand feet in Colorado as in all the other 

 States of the Union. An enormous area is en- 

 tirely above the limits of tree-growth; but these 

 heights above the timber-line are far from being 

 barren and lifeless. Covering these mountains 

 with robes of beauty are forests, lakes, mead- 

 ows, brilliant flowers, moorlands, and vine-like 

 streams that cling to the very summits. This 

 entire mountain realm is delightfully rich in 

 plant and animal life, from the lowest meadows 

 to the summits of the highest peaks. 



Each year the State is colored with more than 

 three thousand varieties of wild flowers, cheered 

 by more than four hundred species of birds, and 

 enlivened with a numerous array of other wild 



vii 



