42 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



through Engelmann Canyon, which is nearly filled with large granite 

 boulders, is very picturesque. The small stream tumbles over the 

 great blocks of rock in continuous cascades, and overhead and around 

 is the deep green of the native forest. Near the upper end of the 

 canyon is the intake of the main that supplies Colorado Springs and 

 Manitou with pure, cold mountain water. The water supply of 

 these towns is derived not only from this particular valley but is 

 gathered by a system of tunnels and canals from a number of rocky 

 basins whose natural outlet is to the west. 



After passing through the rough part of Engelmann Canyon the 

 road emerges onto a comparatively level terrace of the mountain 

 side at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. On this terrace the ancient 

 glaciers that came down from the high peak above dumped great 

 quantities of loose fragments of rock in ridges that are called mo- 

 raines. The ice has disappeared, but the moraines still testify to the 

 existence and the extent of the ice. The most conspicuous moraine 

 to be seen from the Cogwheel Road is that which encircles and 

 holds in place Lake Moraine, on the left. The moraine had formerly 

 been breached by a stream, but it has been artificially restored to its 

 original condition, and it now holds a lake of considerable size. 



The surface of the mountain above timber line consists of granite, 

 which is bare except where it is covered by snow. After circling 

 around a long spur that projects to the south the train arrives at 

 the summit. On the east are Colorado Springs and Manitou, which 

 look like small villages or gardens spread at the foot of the moun- 

 tain, and still farther east are the plains, which stretch like a carpet 

 as far as the eye can see. On the west and southwest the mountains 

 roll like the billows of the sea far into the hazy distance. The 

 Sangre de Cristo and the great Sawatch ranges tower like giant 

 rollers high above the others, as if the sea had been consolidated at 

 the very moment of its greatest agitation. On the north is the 

 Rampart or Front Range, but in this direction, instead of rugged 

 mountains, one sees only a gently undulating plateau, which from 

 this great height looks much like the plains on the east except that 

 it is dark with a growth of evergreen trees. 



To the traveler who is unfamiliar with high altitudes one of the 

 most striking features here is the effect of weathering on the rocks. 

 The summit and the slope on the southwest side for some distance 

 down are covered with blocks of granite that have been broken from 

 the massive rock that forms the top of the mountain. The rocks 

 on the summits of all high peaks are broken and thrown down in 

 the same way, evidently through the rigors of the climate in such 

 high and exposed places. The warm rays of the sun during the 



