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 

 IX. Mount McClellan is not on the Continental Divide but on a 

 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 peaksj 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 jMount 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 Eiver 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 

 so arranged that the traveler may easily visit such parts of the 

 canyon as he deems most interesting and return to Denver the same 

 day. If he is content with seeing the lower part of the canyon only 



' The altitude of Grays Peak is 14,341 feet ; Evans Peak, 14,260 feet ; Torrys 

 Peak, 14,336 feet ; and Mount McCleUan, 14,007 feet. 



