of the cabin. The greater part came to a stop 

 and lay scattered about the ridge. Not one 

 tenth of the original bulk went over and up to 

 wreck the cabin! The prospector stood on this 

 ridge, surveying the scene and thinking, when 

 I last looked back. 



Heavy slides sometimes rush so swiftly down 

 steep slopes that their momentum carries their 

 entire mass destructively several hundred feet 

 up the slope of the mountain opposite. 



Desiring fuller knowledge of the birth and 

 behavior of avalanches, or snow-slides, I in- 

 vaded the slide zone on snowshoes at the close 

 of a winter which had the "deepest snow-fall 

 on record," Several days were spent watching 

 the snow-slide action in the San Juan Moun- 

 tains. It was a wild, adventurous, dramatic 

 experience, which closed with an avalanche 

 that took me from the heights on a thrilling, 

 spectacular coast down a steep mountain-side, 



A thick, snowy, marble stratum overlay the 

 slopes and summits. Appearing on the scene 

 at the time when, on the steeps, spring was 

 melting the icy cement that held winter's wind- 



84 



