NORTHERN GAME TRAILS 319 



There was no difficulty in picking up, with the 

 .22, what grouse we required for the pot along 

 the trail. I found three varieties the Franklin 

 grouse, the Richardsons and Ruffed. Of the 

 ptarmigan I got two varieties the Willow and 

 the Rock; but of course they were almost invari- 

 ably found above timber on the bare, snowy 

 slopes. 



For several days Mac and I hunted Bear 

 Mountain and the surrounding country for 

 America's most prized, as well as most dangerous 

 of all big game animals the grizzly. In the 

 lower country his signs were frequently seen, 

 where he had reaped a harvest when the berries 

 were at their best, but we were just a few days 

 too late. So now it was to the higher bare slopes 

 we turned our attention, where he so assiduously 

 pursues and digs out the whistling marmot of 

 this country (locally called ground hog). We 

 often saw his big unwieldy track, in snow, in 

 sand, in the mud, and also his recently dug holes, 

 large enough to admit his great hulk, where he 

 had been searching out some luckless ground hog. 

 But never once did we glimpse the royal quarry 

 himself. The autumnal days were slipping by 

 all too fast and the mornings grew ever more 

 drear and chill. The Indians were getting tired 



