UINTA EANGE. 195 



bedding gives almost the a23pearance of a pile of Cyclopean masonry, forms 

 a picture of rare beauty. Seen from the Bridger Plains on the north, the 

 apparent height of the range is dwarfed by the effect of the Tertiary beds, 

 which extend up in gentle, even slopes on its flanks to a height of 10,000 

 feet ; but from the south, where erosion has acted with greater effect, aided 

 by the proportionately greater force of the sun, and the warm southwest 

 wind from which the northern slopes are sheltered, the full grandeur of its 

 rugged sides, rising over 7,000 feet from base to summit, is more apparent. 



Owing to the precipitous and rugged nature of its peaks and canons, 

 the range is difficult to explore, there being only three trails by which it 

 may be crossed with animals, and these up to midsummer are frequently 

 rendered impassable by snow. The most prominent peaks of the range, 

 seen from the north, are Tokewanna and Gilbert's Peaks, whose altitudes 

 above sea-level, as determined by barometrical measurement, are respectively 

 13,458 and 13,687 feet; that of Emmons' Peak, the highest summit in the 

 range which is situated somewhat to the south of the main crest, is 13,694 

 feet. The topographical divide lies somewhat to the north of the middle 

 of the range, so that the streams which flow to the southward have larger 

 and more deeply-eroded canons, but the intervening spurs descend very 

 gradually, so that the southern face of the mountains, toward the Uinta 

 Valley, presents a bold precipitous wall, cut through at intervals by deep 

 narrow gorges, which form the gateways of the canon- valleys of the streams. 

 The growth of coniferous forests, which on the northern slopes only com- 

 mences at about 9,000 feet, extends on the southern spurs below the base 

 of the range into the upper portions of the Uinta Valley, to a level of less 

 than 7,000 feet, while the upper limit of forest-growth in the range may be 

 considered to be about 11,000 feet. The prevailing species among these 

 forests are Pinus flexilis, P. ponderosa, Abies Mendesii, A. Engelmanni, A. 

 Douglasii, A. grandis, A. amabilis, together with, on the lower levels, Juni- 

 perus Virginiana. 



The eastern portion of the range beyond Marsh's Peak is much lower 

 than the main crest, but preserves the same general character of a broad, 

 elevated region of shallow, basin-shaped mountain-valleys whose flanks are 



