476 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



there is a dense grove of timber, through which you pass up a pretty 

 steep slope ; iu a short distance the pines end, and you come out into 

 an open space, extending several miles up the stream, and cov- 

 ered with a remarkably rich growth of weeds and shrubs. This 

 circumstance is probably explained by the fact that here a great 

 part of the lower slopes of the canon is composed of red sandstone, 

 which seems to produce a much better soil than the volcanic rock. 



The next day (September 6) we made the ascent of the highest peak 

 iu this vicinity. It is marked station 30 on the map, and has an eleva- 

 tion of 13,897 feet. The climb was difficult, on account of the long 

 slopes of loose debris up which we had to climb. The top of the peak 

 was remarkable for its smallness. It is formed of two knobs, about 20 

 feet apart, the northern one being a little the higher, and connected with 

 the other by a very sharp ridge. To the west was a slope of 60° or 70° 

 for 30 to 40 feet, then a precipice of about a thousand feet nearly, if not 

 quite, vertical. When the tripod was set up, we could not pass around 

 it, but had to crawl under it. We three monopolized all the sitting 

 and standing room on the peak. Mr. Wilson with the instrument 

 completely covered the true summit. Dr. Endlich took his geologi- 

 cal notes from the lower knob, while I sketched, sitting at the 

 edge of and almost under the instrument. The slopes, on all sides 

 but the narrow path we had followed, were very steep, and in a 

 few feet terminated in great precipices. From here we got a 

 splendid view of Mount Wilson, which we had seen from many 

 stations before this, but always across the group of mountains of which 

 station 30 formed a part. Now it rose up grandly, forming the most 

 massive of any peaks in our district, and, judging from its appearance 

 and rough estimates from the angles of elevation, we felt that it must 

 be very high. In line with the peak, but several miles nearer, appeared 

 Lizard's Head, a peculiar pinnacle, which from this view appears quite 

 broad. It will be more particularly noticed farther on. 



After finishing our. observations, we built a small monument of 

 loose stones, which, when finished, covered the top so completely, that 

 a person could not pass around it. We descended more easily than we 

 had ascended, and found camp at the lower end of a long patch of 

 timber, near the junction of the main stream with the last tributary 

 which comes in from the south as you travel up. This marks the upper ' 

 end of the open, weedy area already mentioned. The total climb from 

 our last night's camp to the station was 4,000 feet, and the descent to 

 our present camp 3,200 feet. On the day following we let camp remain 

 where it was, and rode up the creek to the south of us, and over the 

 divide, to Engineer Mountain. On the way we had to pass around a 

 peculiar amphitheater, which had been eroded out of the red sandstone. 

 The stratification of the sandstone had produced benches, which extended 

 ail the way around the head of a little stream which flows into Cascade 

 Creek. We found the ascent of the peak not very tiresome, but rather 

 dangerous. We climbed up the ridge from the east. On our right was 

 the great bluff, which is nearly a thousand feet in height and almost 

 vertical. On the southeast side the rock weathered off in small plate- 

 like fragments, producing innumerable cracks and little shelves, but 

 none large enough to give a secure foot-hold. The slope on this side 

 is very steep, so that if a person should slip he could not possibly 

 save himself from destruction. Mr. Prout in 1873 ascended this same 

 peak from the south side, which I should judge is much the safer, but at 

 the same time the longer and more tiresome way. From this point we 

 had a splendid view down the Animas. Animas Park was visible, and 



