IN THE CATSKILLS 



forced by two other brave climbers, we determined 

 upon the assault, and upon making it from this the 

 most difficult side. The regular way is by Big In- 

 gin Valley, where the climb is comparatively easy, 

 and where it is often made by women. But from 

 Woodland Valley only men may essay the ascent. 

 Larkins is the upper inhabitant, and from our camp- 

 ing-ground near his clearing we set out early one 

 June morning. 



One would think nothing could be easier to find 

 than a big mountain, especially when one is en- 

 camped upon a stream which he knows springs out 

 of its very loins. But for some reason or other we 

 had got an idea that Slide Mountain was a very slip- 

 pery customer and must be approached cautiously. 

 We had tried from several points in the valley to 

 get a view of it, but were not quite sure we had seen 

 its very head. When on the Wittenberg, a neigh- 

 boring peak, the year before, I had caught a brief 

 glimpse of it only by climbing a dead tree and cran- 

 ing up for a moment from its topmost branch. It 

 would seem as if the mountain had taken every 

 precaution to shut itself off from a near view. It 

 was a shy mountain, and we were about to stalk it 

 through six or seven miles of primitive woods, and 

 we seemed to have some unreasonable fear that it 

 might elude us. We had been told of parties who 

 had essayed the ascent from this side, and had re- 

 turned baffled and bewildered. In a tangle of prim- 

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