CHAPTER XV 
TRAILS 
N the dense chaparral of the humid Transi- 
tion zone of California or in the rough 
lava formation of the arid mountains of 
Arizona, one is as dependent upon trails as a 
ship is dependent on a channel in a shallow 
river. These slender paths admit one to wild 
and solitary recesses otherwise almost inac- 
cessible. The trail is a thread by which to 
find the way. Rough, tortuous, steep, often 
hazardous, it comes closer to the mountains 
than could any road, brings one in closer con- 
tact with the wild and gives a more intimate 
view and understanding. Leading across 
mesas and cafions, around buttes and cliffs, 
and over saddles, spurs, and ranges, it may 
afford the key to a mountain formation, 
to topographical features, to structural and 
dynamic geology. Metamorphism, mechani- 
cal strain, volcanic action, subsequent erosion 
or glacial action are all revealed. Your 
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