168 BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 
Placid lake is hemmed in on all sides by abrupt slopes, save toward 
the southeast, in which direction the small stream leaving the lake flows 
toward the South Fork river. At the upper end of the lake is a small 
and densely wooded flat. The trees are beautifully formed, tapering to 
a point, tall and stately. It is a fine place for camping, and game ap- 
pears to be abundant in all the timbered slopes and valleys. The trail 
is traveled very rarely, and the life of the lake and adjacent territory is 
unknown, save from the collections made at the time of our visit, and 
which will be reported later. It appears that the Indians have made 
this a halting place in earlier days. 
From Placid lake the trail ascends a ridge to the northeast, the as- 
scent being about 800 feet. The view in every direction is very fine, 
and for this reason the ridge was named View ridge. At the time of 
our visit the vegetation was very luxuriant. <A storm was ap- 
proaching from the east, across the miain Rockies, the backbone of the 
continent. Heavy clouds were rolling over the peaks, enveloping them 
one by one. It was a rare sight to stand at a distance and see the 
ranges slowly wrapped in a mantle of mist. Behind, almost a thousand 
feet below, was to be seen Placid lake. Beyond it was the main ridge of 
the Swan range; to the left was Dodge mountain, bold and rugged. Be- 
tween View ridge and Dodge mountain is a creek of considerable size, 
unnamed. This creek we called Trail creek, because the old trail is not 
far from it during its entire course, and crosses the creek again before 
it flows into the South Fork river. Let us again follow the trail, 
down View ridge; between it and the next ridge is another beautiful lake, 
larger than Placid lake, and more interesting. The trail passes close 
by the lake. The shores of the lake have no doubt been the camping 
place of Indians, as evidenced by the large number of tepee poles. Tha 
age of these poles shows that they were used many years ago. Game 
signs are abundant. Collecting is good, but owing to lack of facilities 
the life of the lake was not examined. From this region many rare bo- 
tanical specimens were secured. 
Again the trail makes the ascent of a ridge, to the northeast. It fol- 
lows the summit of the ridge southeastward, and keeps on the ridge until 
it drops off to the South Fork’ river. For this reason the ridge 
was named Trail ridge. The lake is likewise named Trail lake. 
The names Trail creek, Trail lake, and Trail ridge seem very 
appropriate. The waters from Trail lake flow in the opposite direc- 
tion from those of Placid lake, and reach the South Fork river by an un- 
known and unexplored creek. The waters of Placid lake flow into 
Trail creek. Trail creek originates in the snow banks and glacier on 
MacDougal peak. 
The view from Trail ridge is excelled only by that from View ridge, 
and the territory one may inspect is considerable. The ridges and val- 
leys are well wooded, and to leave the ridge is to plunge into timber 
where a view of the surrounding country is seldom had. 
