60 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



An old Ute chief once told me that during the 

 hardest winter he had ever known in his country 

 the snow for weeks lay "six ponies deep." The 

 average annual snowfall in the Rocky Mountains 

 is less than twenty-five feet. This is less than the 

 average for the Alps. 



Meetings with other human beings were few. 

 One day, while walking down a plateau, I saw a 

 dark figure that stood waiting on the edge of a 

 snowy mountain moor a mile distant. As I ap- 

 proached the man waved an arm to attract my 

 attention and when I came near enough he said 

 by way of greeting: 



"I thought you had not seen me." 



We were above the limits of tree growth and 

 below and about us was a wild array of peaks and 

 canons. 



"When I saw you come racing down that peak 

 shoulder," said the man, "I fancied that you were 

 an escaping Siberian convict, sentenced for politi- 

 cal aims. What is your sentence or your service ? " 



"They call me the Snow Man," I replied. "I 

 am making winter experiments and gathering in- 

 formation along the summit of the Continental 

 Divide." I had not as yet become official "Colo- 

 rado Snow Observer." 



In answer to a counter question of mine he 

 said: 



"Oh, I'm a prospector, fifty-four, born in Ire- 

 land, raised in Australia and Siberia. Am after gold 



