ing years, but during midsummer not one tenth 

 of the heights is snow-covered. Vast areas are 

 occupied by craggy peaks and barren rock- 

 fields. The barrenness is due almost entirely to 

 a lack of soil, not to altitude nor to the rigors of 

 the climate. The climate is in many respects 

 similar to that which wraps the Arctic Circle 

 near sea-level, and it allows many forms of 

 vigorous life. 



Numerous moraines, terraces, steppes, and 

 moorlands — the wide sky plains — have their 

 soil, and this in the warmth of summer gener- 

 ously produces green grass and brilliant flowers. 

 These, together with big game, birds, and circling 

 butterflies, people this zone with life and turn 

 the towering and terraced heights into the rarest 

 of hanging wild gardens. In favored places for a 

 mile or so above timber-line are scattered acres 

 of heathy growths. Stunted by cold, clipped off 

 by the wind, and heavily pressed by the snow, 

 these growths are thickly tangled, bristly, and 

 rarely more than a few inches in height. Among 

 these are wintergreen, bunchberry, huckleberry, 

 kalmia, currant, black birch, and arctic willow. 



104 



