WIND-RAPIDS ON THE HEIGHTS 87 



rush or surge would tear my holds loose. So I con- 

 cluded to reverse ends. Putting a shoulder against 

 a rock point, I allowed the wind to push my legs 

 around, then forward. I was then going up feet 

 foremost instead of head foremost. The guUey 

 was so extremely steep that I was almost standing 

 or walking on my head. This reverse of ends en- 

 abled me to brace effectively with my feet, and 

 also to hang on more securely with my hands. 

 Little by little I eased myself upward. There was 

 no climbing; the wind sucked, dragged, pushed, and 

 floated me ever upward. 



At last I safely crossed the ridge, rounded a point, 

 and sat down for a long rest on the famous Narrows 

 of the Long's Peak trail. The Narrows is a ledge 

 with a precipice in front and a wall behind. This 

 wall rises precipitously to the summit; the pre- 

 cipice makes a wild, steep descent of two thousand 

 feet. It is none too wide for a thoroughfare that has 

 unbanistered space before it. Fortunately, it was 

 sheltered from the wind, otherwise traversing it 

 would not have been either safe or sane. 



Why did I, in this perilous gale, in this wild wind, 

 venture precipices and go up into the sky on a peak 

 nearly three miles above the seven restless seas ? 



Irresistible is nature's call to play. This call 

 comes in a thousand alluring forms. It comes at 

 unexpected times and sends us to unheard-of 

 places. We simply cannot tell what nature will 

 have of us, or where next. But from near and far. 



