the spruces were set deep in snow, and their 

 lower limbs were pulled down and tangled in 

 it. These trees had the appearance of having 

 been pushed part way up through the snow. In 

 places the cliflfs showed their bare brown sides. 

 Entire spruce groves had been tilted to sharp 

 angles by the slipping and dragging snow weight 

 on steep places; among them were tall spruces 

 that appeared like great feathered arrows that 

 had been shot into snowy steeps. The leafless 

 aspens attractively displayed their white and 

 greenish-white skin on limbs that were held 

 just above the snow. 



With a curve, the yard shaped itself to the 

 buried stream. It lay between forested and 

 moderately steep mountains that rose high. 

 In this primeval winter scene the deer had faced 

 the slow-going snow in the primitive way. At 

 the upper end of the yard all the snow was 

 trampled to compactness, and over this ani- 

 mals could walk without sinking in. Firm, too, 

 were the surfaces of the much looped and oft 

 trodden trails. The trail nearest to the stream 

 passed beneath a number of beautiful snow- 



264 



