18 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
zigzagging back and forth up the steep side of the valley the train 
passes around a point and runs up another valley to its head and 
then, after making several switchbacks, finds its way to the summit 
of Mount McClellan. The view from this point is shown in Plate 
TX: Mount McClellan is not on the Continental Divide but ona 
high spur that branches off from it toward the east. The water that 
falls on both sides of this peak finds its way into Clear Creek and 
eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico, but that which falls on dif- 
ferent sides of Grays and Torrys peaks,’ which are on the Con- 
tinental Divide, runs into streams that flow in diverse directions, 
part of it reaching the Gulf of Mexico and part of it the Pacific 
Ocean. These peaks are all more than 14,000 feet in altitude and 
are prominent features that may be seen toward the west, but they 
do not appear to stand so high above their surroundings as Pikes 
Peak and some other well- known mountain summits. | 
The slope on the east side of Mount McClellan is smooth and | 
gentle, but that on the west side is precipitous, because the snow and _ 
ice that long ago lay on the west side, under the shadow of the 
towering summits of Grays and Torrys peaks, were more protected 
from the sun and wind than those on the east side, and consequently, 
during the great ice age, an enormous glacier lay in the angle 
between Mount McClellan and Grays Peak and cut out a great 
amphitheater in the rocks, which, because of its circular form, is 
called by geologists a cirque. If the traveler standing on the ragged 
crest of this old cirque and looking down 2,500 feet into it has a vivid 
imagination, he may still see the great glacier that once filled it and _ 
flowed down the valley nearly to Idaho Springs 
The route followed by the traveler throughout this trip is practi- 
cally parallel with a high-tension electric transmission line of the 
Colorado Power Co. The power is developed at a large hydroelectric 
plant on Colorado River above Glenwood Springs and is carried to 
most of the mining camps in the mountains, crossing the Continental 
Divide three times and finally descending on the east to Georgetown, 
Idaho Springs, and Denver. The line may be distinguished by the 
high steel towers and the strip of cleared land along its right of way. 
SOUTH PLATTE CANYON. 
The canyon of South Platte River southwest of Denver offers many 
attractions to visitors from other parts of the world. There are no 
regular one-day excursions to this part of the mountains, but the 
train service on the narrow-gage Colorado & Southern Railway is” 
day. If he is content with seeing the lower part of the canyon onl: 
"The altitude of Grays Peak is 14,341 feet; Evans Peak, 14,260 feet; Torrys "7 
Peak, 14,336 feet; and Mount McClellan, 14,007 feet, 
