Two Days on the St. Vrain. 



traced by the fringe of timber along each bank, until lost to 

 sight in the distance. These lands are all under irrigation and 

 everything indicates comfort and prosperity. 



\Yhat a beautiful pastoral picture was presented to us as 

 we sped up the valley one September afternoon ! People were 

 busy harvesting and the orchards hung full of rich, ripe fruit. 



Friday morning, immediately after breakfast, we took our 

 rods and camera and started down stream. The day was bright 

 and warm, and the country was beautiful under the mellow- 

 ing influence of early autumn. 



"Bright autumn comes, a regal queen, 



In royal robes arrayed; 



Her crown the rainbow's changing sheen, 

 That spans the clear cascade." 



Down the valley from Lyons, the river has worn a wide 

 channel during the lapse of ages, through the center of which 

 it meanders, sparkling and bright, over a gravelly bottom, rip- 

 pling occasionally around a boulder with scarcely an audible 

 murmur as if unwilling to disturb the repose of nature. At 

 places the channel narrows, the river tumbles over the rocky 

 bottom for a few rods under the over-hanging willows, then 

 glides out into a broad quiet pool. These are the places where 

 the big trout hide. 



It was mid-afternoon when we returned to the hotel, tired 

 and hungry, but feeling well repaid for our long tramp. 



The next day we hired a team and guide for a drive up the 

 St. Vrain, and what a change from a clay before ! A half- 

 mile from town, we crossed a long bridge and entered the nar- 

 row rock-walled canon of the South Fork. The broad stream 

 in its course, narrows into crevices between the hills, in roar- 

 ing, foaming rapids, the distant music of which, with the soft 

 wind in the pines, spruces and cedars, makes the most sooth- 

 ing of nature's lullabies. 



In places the stream broadens into placid, smiling pools, 

 always deep, cold and clear, and always locked in the embrace 



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