CHAPTER V 



WIND-RAPIDS ON THE HEIGHTS 



TERRIFIC winter winds occasionally sweep 

 through the high passes of the Continental 

 Divide. Believing that their velocity was 

 sometimes more than one hundred miles an hour, 

 I planned to go up and measure the velocity 

 of the next wind that appeared to be exceeding 

 the speed limit. An air meter was placed in 

 Granite Pass. This was on the Long's Peak trail, 

 about one mile beyond the limits of tree growth 

 and at an elevation of more than two miles above 

 the level of the sea. 



One February morning the rush and boom of 

 the wind among the pines proclaimed that previ- 

 ous speed records were likely to be broken. I left 

 my cabin and started up to the meter, which was 

 about three thousand feet higher than my cabin 

 and five miles from it. 



In irregular succession the heavy waves of wind 

 rolled down this slope into the forest. A splendid 

 and stormy sea roared through the tree-tops. The 

 first half mile was through a thicket growth of tall 

 young pines. These young and pliant trees were 

 bending, shaking, and streaming in the wind. I 



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