86 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



The most difficult and dangerous place was at 

 a point at an altitude of about fourteen thousand 

 feet. This was where a long, narrow gulch and a 

 fan-like slope converged and ended on the summit 

 of a narrow ridge, beyond which there was a narrow 

 ledge, bounded by unbanistered space. Sweep- 

 ing upward three thousand feet from the bottom 

 of a canon came the wind through converging 

 channels that ended in this one narrow gorge. My 

 struggles were intense in the last few feet of this 

 channel. The gorge in which I climbed was ex- 

 tremely steep, yet so powerful was the wind current 

 that all my strength was required to prevent being 

 torn loose, shot upward, and thrown over the pre- 

 cipice. Icy fragments torn from the walls, twigs 

 from a mile below, went hurtling and rattling by 

 and shot far out over the precipice. Had I let go 

 for even a second, I should have followed them. 

 Not for an instant did the wind stop; it had the 

 constant rush of rapids. I eased myself upward 

 in the rushing wind, crawling close, holding with 

 hands, and anchoring and holding rear down by 

 hooking feet behind and beneath rocks. Trail 

 conditions were favourable, and these together 

 with my climbing experiences, endurance, and 

 knowledge of the place, were of advantage to me. 

 All these were needed. 



Just before reaching the top of the narrow ridge 

 and the precipice, I felt the wind getting the bet- 

 ter of me and feared that a slightly more violent 



