EOTLicH.] ITINERARY. 21 



steep, smootli rocks inposihij vra readied the lake after several hours of 

 hard work. 



Looking up along the route which we had just traveled, it seemed in- 

 credible that any animal larger than a deer could accomi)lish what our 

 mules had done. From below we could see nothing ])ut a mass of steep 

 rocks, one apparently piled on top of the other, with a scattering growth 

 of tiinber intervening. Narrow ledges, not visible ft-om below, had been 

 the means which made our descent feasible. After a certain distance 

 had been traversed, it was no longer a matter of choice whether wc 

 would go on or not, as a return by the same way would have been be- 

 yond our power. We encamped at the lake, in the shelter of a grove of 

 spruce-trees. Xot far from our camp we found that of two fisliennen, 

 who gained a well-earned Uvelihood by catching fish in this lake — Bar- 

 refs Lake — and selling them at the settlements. They had constructed 

 a raft, upon which they i)ushed out into the lake, and then fished in 

 deep water with still bait. Two of us accompanied them, and an liour's 

 fishing furnished us with over a hundred j)oimds of very fine trout, 

 weighing from three-quarters to a pound and a half each. It seems 

 that this lake is literally- crowded with fish, and their rather emaciated 

 condition indicated that there might be more than could well be sus- 

 tained there. In this connection a fact may be mentioned that, sur- 

 prising as it may seem, is fully borne out by numerous observations : In 

 the head-drainage of the Sweetwater not a trout can be found, while in 

 that of Green Eiver, as weU as Wind Eiver, they occur in large quanti- 

 ties. Why this should be so is not very apparent. The streams, near 

 their headwaters, or rather those of their tributaries, are but a few miles 

 apart. They rise in the same lithological formations, and eventually 

 they flow through the same. All of the streams under consideration ob- 

 tain considerable size while yet within the metamorphic area. In both 

 the Green River and Wind Eiver drainage, trout are caught long after 

 the streams have left the metamorphics. So far as can be determined 

 without detailed examinations, the vegetation on all these sti-eams is 

 essentially the same, and no industrial works are extant that might 

 adulterate the water of the SAveetwater. Wherever a stream of any size 

 presented itself we fished, and, unless falls or large cascades prevented 

 the rising of the trout, they were found in aU creeks excepting those 

 which flow into the Sweetwater. No cause that is apx^arent to me can 

 be assigned for this peculiar distribution. 



Mr. Fosher, one of the fishermen, decided to accompany us on the fol- 

 lowing day in oiu* ascent of Snow Peak. It appeared to be the highest 

 l)eak of that portion of the range, and vre promised ourselves a very 

 extensive view from its summit. 



On July 27 we made an early start, expecting a long foot-climb. 

 Biding up the narrow canon of the stream which emptied into Barret's 

 Lake, we gradually approached timber-line. The ground was frozen 

 hard, and we rode in safety over swamps. Small lakes, shallow, as a 

 rule, were almost entirely frozen over. On either side of the narrow, 

 Iiartly-timbered valley, precipitous walls of metamorphic rocks rose up 

 to a relative elevation of more than a thousand feet. Exposed rocks on 

 the ground showed very thorough eft'ects of glaciation, and rows of 

 erratic bowlders denoted the course of former glaciers. Slowly making 

 our way in the valley, which gradually grew narrower as we approached 

 the immediate base of the mountain, we encountered large masses of 

 snow. Upon it we found the tracks of what must have been a bear of 

 very large size. A porcupine {EreiM::on epixanfhnfi), having shed its 

 quills, was shot near timber-line. As the snow was comparatively firm 



