120 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



lived snow clouds were thrown explosively off as 

 it struck obstructions. 



I caught sight of this slide just as a flock of 

 Bighorn sheep rushed out of the snow dust on one 

 side, like frightened people almost struck by a fly- 

 ing express. It is probable that one or two of the 

 sheep were caught and carried down by the slide. 

 As the dust cleared, two injured sheep were seen 

 limping along far behind the others. Another 

 flock, alarmed by the chaotic echoings, rushed upon 

 a cliff. There, in tense and splendid poses, singly 

 and in groups, they watched the rushing slide. 



This slide ran two miles, descending about 

 fifteen hundred feet. Most of its descent was in 

 the first half mile, and on the last part of its run it 

 moved slowly. 



At timberline it plunged headlong over a preci- 

 pice, a leap of about four hundred feet, landing 

 upon a steep and heavily forested slope. Several 

 thousand trees were overthrown and smashed to 

 splinters. The striking power of this mass of snow 

 and stones cannot be computed. The slide prob- 

 ably weighed about two hundred thousand tons. 

 On striking, the flying mass was thrown forward. 

 Stones had bounded in all directions, cutting off 

 trees to right and left. The forest within two 

 hundred feet from the slide's landing place was 

 ruined by this short, terrific bombardment. A 

 trainload of stones and many tons of earth were 

 dropped. 



