190 BIG GAME FIELDS 



usually plentiful, and it seemed almost a certainty 

 that something interesting- was going to happen 

 soon. We decided that George should drop down 

 in the lower country and try for another buck, as 

 we were in need of more meat for camp while I 

 was to hunt up along the ridges and try to make 

 the acquaintance of another bear or two. It was 

 just getting daylight when I saddled up my fav- 

 orite horse, Coley (an adept at climbing these 

 ridges) , and started up a trail which led along this 

 truly wild rivulet. Following this trail some 

 three miles, I turned at right angles and rode up 

 an enormous gulch some two or three miles. 

 Here Coley and I started to climb up the steep 

 ridge and into the big timbers. A light fall of 

 snow that morning had just covered the ground 

 and rather added to the difficulty of climbing the 

 steep ridge, so some distance from the top I dis- 

 mounted, tied Coley to a tree, took my rifle 

 and proceeded on foot. On the opposite side 

 of the ridge it sloped away to the north and the 

 timbers are mostly evergreens, balsam, pine and 

 spruce. As I climbed to the top and carefully 

 peered over the giddy edge down into the grim 

 wild slope of wilderness, huge rocks, great pines, 

 masses of tangled growth, made the scene wild 

 and haunting. 



