of 



Out on the barren slopes the few widely 

 scattered, fire-killed, fire-preserved trees with 

 broken arms stood partly concealed and lonely 

 in the mists. After zigzagging for a time over the 

 ruins, I concluded to go at once to the upper- 

 most side and thence down to the forks. But 

 the rain was again falling, and the clouds were 

 so low and heavy that the standing skeleton 

 trees could not be seen unless one was within 

 touching distance. There was no wind or light- 

 ning, only a warm, steady rain. It was, in fact, 

 so comfortable that I sat down to enjoy it until 

 a slackening should enable me better to see the 

 things I most wanted to observe. 



There was no snow about, and three weeks 

 before at the same place I had found only one 

 small drift which was shielded and half-covered 

 with shelving rock. The dry Western air is in- 

 satiable and absorbs enormous quantities of 

 water, and, as the Indians say, "eats snow." 

 The snowless area about me was on a similar 

 slope and at about the same altitude as the 

 snow-filled woods, so the forest is evidently an 

 effective check upon the ravenous winds. 



280 



