i8 



height of four feet, with blossoms twice the size of our east- 

 ern plants, and six to nine inch clusters of lupine blossoms 

 are the rule. Vegetation starts to sprout as soon as the 

 first bare patches of ground appear in the spring; and as 

 the snow recedes more plants spring up, with the result that 

 all stages of vegetable life, from plants in seed to those that 

 are just appearing through the ground, may be seen at the 

 same time. This is especially noticeable in the case of a 

 certain plant which has a blossom resembling our strawberry. 

 It is not unusual to see this flower in bloom within three 

 feet of a melting snow bank and with frozen ground five 

 inches below the surface. 



Still higher, some of these plants are found, but in a 

 dwarfed condition. Here the more boreal forms flourish 

 wherever there is moisture and soil enough to afford a foot- 

 ing. Several species of berries are also found within this 

 belt, one of which remains fresh throughout the year and 

 until another crop has ripened. This berry is the principal 

 food of the Kenai Ptarmigan, which can exist there only 

 through this provision of Nature. A little short, coarse 

 grass and an occasional willow not more than a few inches 

 in length and growing flat on the ground may be found in 

 favorable places. 



At an altitude of about 4,500 ft. perpetual snow is en- 

 countered and the mountains at that height become so 

 rugged and broken as to form an almost impassible barrier. 

 Canons with almost perpendicular walls contain distorted 

 glaciers or roaring torrents from the melting snow and ice 

 above. The view from these higher mountains is mag- 

 nificent and unbroken — across the miles of tableland and 

 across Cook's Inlet to the Alaskan chain of mountains 

 beyond, with its gigantic snow-capped peaks. Among them 

 are Redoubt, lUeawua and Chinnebora, all of which are more 

 or less active volcanoes, while on clear days Mt. McKinley 

 may be seen with its 20,464 feet of rock and perpetual 



