io THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



of the compass. I was on the extern side of the 

 Continental Divide travelling eastward. 



After three or lour hours of slow descending I 

 reached the bottom. Steep walls rose on both 

 right and left. The enormous rock masses and the 



entanglements of fallen and leaning trees made 

 progress difficult. Feeling that if I continued in 



the bottom of the canon I might come to a precipi- 

 tous place down which I would be unable to de- 

 scend, I tried to walk along one of the side walls, 

 and thus keep above the bottom. But the walls 

 were too steep and I got into trouble. 



Out on a narrow, snow-corniced ledge I walked. 

 The snow gave way beneath me and down I went 

 over the ledge. As I struck, feet foremost, one 

 snowshoe sank deeply. I wondered, as I wiggled 

 out, if I had landed on another ledge. I had. Not 

 desiring to have more tumbles, I tried to climb 

 back up on the ledge from which I had fallen, but 

 I could not do it. The ledge was broad and short 

 and there appeared to be no safe way off. As I 

 explored again my staff encountered the top of a 

 dead tree that leaned against the ledge. Breaking 

 a number of dead limbs off I threw them overboard. 

 Listening as the)' struck the snow below I con- 

 cluded that it could not be more than thirty feet 

 to the bottom. 



I let go my staff and dropped it after the limbs. 

 Then, without taking off snowshoes, I let myself 

 down the limbless trunk. I could hear water 



