TIIK ROCKY ^[OLTNTAINS 87 



vaiiilv as it proved, to liiid s]i('r]i. l)iil iVdiii ilic i(i|t of 

 wliicli wo cauLilit our lii'.sL glimpse, t>\er the t(»|> of I lie 

 M.ilii hi\i(lc. lirre at its lowest, of" the Teton I'eaks far 

 • Ml the otlier side ot ii. To reach the T iiinii Pass, which 

 is that most usuall)' tnivelhil fiitm the upper part of t lie 

 W iii<l lii\('i'. lakes (inl\ four hours frdhi ('hirke.>. hut the 

 lop of the To-gwo-tee Pass is a h>iig day's ride. 





li'* >'■> 



TIIK TETONS OVKH TIIK DIVIDi;. 



Taking Ckirke, wlio had been to the toj», to show the 

 Avay, we left his house on Septeuiher 2. AVe rode foi- 

 several hours along the Wind Uiver, now reduced to very 

 small pro})ortions. At mid-day we began to rise into the 

 thiek timber, and for the rest of the dav it was a con- 

 tintious struo-ok> with a maze of snao-s and fallen stems. 



This bane of ]iack-trains is caused by forest fires, 

 wliich have burnt out the life of the trees, leavini; unl\ 

 gaunt stems and blackened ground, followed by tempests 

 which have whirled these tottering giants in heaps \o tlie 

 ground. In places the stems lie parallel to one another, 

 and piled to the height of many feet as though the\- had 

 been laid in sheaves. Elsewheie. while some have stood 

 the shock and are still erect, their neighl)ours lie prone at 

 evcrv conceivable au'de to one another, and their branches 

 pierce the air as weathered snags. This gha.-^tl\' waste, 



