204 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



Several heavy snows fell early. These made 

 McClain and his friends uneasy, for fear a snow- 

 slide should come down the gulch. However, 

 the heavy forest growth at the head of the gulch 

 above showed that a century or longer had 

 elapsed since a slide had "run." This was as- 

 suring, but the snow continued frequently to 

 fall, and all agreed that it would be well to go 

 out before spring, the time when most slides 

 loosen and run. 



The snow continued falling, and in places ac- 

 cumulated to great depth. At the head of the 

 Norton Gulch the range rose precipitously for 

 several hundred feet. This formed an excellent 

 starting place for slides. That many slides had 

 started from here was probable, but evidently 

 they had been too small to run down into the 

 woods. 



The summit of the range, being exposed to the 

 winds, was kept swept bare of snow. The snow 

 from the summit accumulated in fields and cor- 

 nices just to the leeward of the crest. 



One day McClain called the attention of the 

 others to an enormous, almost unsupported 

 snow cornice clinging above the head of Norton 

 Gulch. After a brief discussion all decided to 

 abandon work at once and go down to the 

 Graybird in the morning. 



That evening O'Brien came up on skees with 



