whereas in the valley there were daisies and wild 

 carrot, on the summit the wild red cherry was 

 just in bloom. In that short distance one walked 

 upward — or rather backward — from the middle 

 of June to late April. Another four thousand feet 

 would have carried one back into the depths of 

 winter. The seasons are thus with us throughout 

 the summer; we have only to go up in the air 

 after them. 



Warblers were nesting on the mountain slopes 

 which would otherwise hardly have been found at 

 that season this side of Canada, such as the black- 

 throated blue, the magnolia and myrtle. The 

 winter wren was fairly abundant, and on the very 

 summit a snowbird had her nest. About half way 

 up, the butternuts of the ravine gave way to spruce 

 and balsam. As the ascent continued, mountain- 

 maple and mountain-ash suggested higher latitudes. 

 But what impressed one most was the subtle reces- 

 sion to the early year. The seasons having fairly 

 begun to revolve, it was as though some power 

 were slowly turning them back again. 



Some hundred feet or more up the face of an 

 overhanging cliff, a bower of columbines hung out 

 into the grim ravine. They were clustered just 

 66 



