AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 189 



late in October, were overtaken by a terrible snow- 

 storm, which completely blockaded and obliterated 

 all the trails, and filled the gulches, canons, and 

 coulees to such a depth that their horses could not 

 travel over them at all. They had lain in camp 

 three days waiting for the storm to abate; but as it 

 continued to grow in severity, and as the snow 

 became deeper and deeper, their situation grew daily 

 and hourly more alarming. Their stock of pro- 

 visions was low, they had no shelter sufficient to 

 withstand the rigors of a winter at that high alti- 

 tude, and it was fast becoming a question whether 

 they should ever be able to escape beyond the snow- 

 clad peaks and snow-filled canons with which they 

 were hemmed in. Their only hope of escape was by 

 abandoning their horses, and constructing snow- 

 shoes which might keep them above the snow; but 

 in this case they could not carry bedding and food 

 enough to last them throughout the several days 

 that the journey would occupy to the nearest ranch, 

 and the chances of killing game en route after the 

 severe weather had set in were extremely precarious. 

 They ' had already set about making snow-shoes 

 from the skin of an elk which they had saved. One 

 pair had been completed, and the storm having 

 abated, one of the party set out to look over the 

 surrounding country for the most feasible route by 

 which to get out, and also to try if possible to find 

 game of some kind. He had gone about a mile 

 toward the northeast when he came upon the fresh 

 trail of a large band of elk that were moving toward 

 the east. He followed, and in a short time came -up 

 with them. They were traveling in single file, led 



