STEEP TRAILS 



laden and glacier-laden above the clouds, one 

 may be led to imagine that the country is 

 far icier and whiter and more mountainous 

 than it is. Only in winter are the Coast and 

 Cascade Mountains covered with snow. Then 

 as seen from the main interior valleys they 

 appear as comparatively low, bossy walls 

 stretching along the horizon and making a 

 magnificent display of their white wealth. 

 The Coast Range in Oregon does not perhaps 

 average more than three thousand feet in 

 height. Its snow does not last long, most of 

 its soil is fertile all the way to the summits, 

 and the greater part of the range may at some 

 time be brought under cultivation. The im- 

 mense deposits on the great central uplift of 

 the Cascade Range are mostly melted off 

 before the middle of summer by the compara- 

 tively warm winds and rains from the coast, 

 leaving only a few white spots on the highest 

 ridges, where the depth from drifting has been 

 greatest, or where the rate of waste has been 

 diminished by specially favorable conditions 

 as to exposure. Only the great volcanic cones 

 are truly snow-clad all the year, and these 

 are not numerous and make but a small por- 

 tion of the general landscape. 



As we approach Oregon from the coast in 

 summer, no hint of snowy moimtains can be 



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