XXiV 

CAMPING IN COLORADO. 
A. L. COLE, 
We outfitted at Leadville, a way-up min- 
ing town. The organizer, paymaster, guide, 
scout, angler, game smeller and physician 
in charge of the party was Dr. J. H. Cole. 
The other members were his wife and son, 
and Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Cole, of DuBois, 
Pa. The doctor provided a good team and 
wagon, mattresses, a large wall tent, stove 
and cooking utensils, plenty of provisions 
and fishing tackle, guns and ammunition. 
We headed for Bear river, Routt county. 
The route lay over Tennessee Pass, down 
she Eagle river, across the divide of the 
waters of the Grand, then over another 
divide to Bear river, and down the Bear 
nearly to Hayden. 
From the first night out, which was spent 
on the Eagle, to the return, covering nearly 
4 weeks, we had trout in abundance. 
If Nature had intended to provide an al- 
most perfect country for such a trip she 
could not have succeeded better, The cli- 
mate is superb, game abundant and scenery 
sublime. The whole distance presents one 
grand and wonderful sight, but so varied 
and changing that there is no monotony 
in the scene. 
Before leaving the railroad line, we spent 
Sunday at Red Cliff, a small mining town 
on a narrow strip of land along the Eagle 
river, with mountains so high that the sun 
appears late and disappears early in the 
day. We selected the only level spot to be 
found for a camp site, and discovered Sun- 
day morning that we were within 20 feet of 
the home plate on what was used as a base 
ball ground. We were entertained Sun- 
day by a game between Red Cliff and 
Leadville, which was witnessed by almost 
the entire population of the town. They 
could not be charged with sacrilege, con- 
sidering the life they had to lead the other 6 
days of the week. 
Near this town, on the mountain top al- 
most directly above it, is the little town of 
Gillman, built so near to the precipice of 
Eagle River canyon that it makes one’s 
head swim to walk the main street, with the 
roaring river 2,000 feet below and almost~ 
squarely underneath. One daredevil has 
built his house on a projecting cliff so it 
can only be approached from one way, and 
if he should happen to step out the back 
door, he would be dashed to the rocks, 
hundreds of feet below. 
On this great peak, known as Battle 
mountain, by reason of some traditional 
Indian battle, there are rich gold 
mines, driven in the sides in places almost 
inaccessible. 
After leaving the line of the railroad at 
Wolcott, the road leads through a succes- 
sion of cedar hills where the soil and rocks 
are as red as paint, and the cedars as blue 
as the sky. Just before reaching the Grand 
river, we camped 3 days at Leary’s ranch on 
Piney creek. This is the first trout stream 
RECREATION. 
ee ee ee ee Een 
I ever had the pleasure of casting a fly on. 
An hour’s fishing at any time would give us 
10 pounds of the finest trout anyone ever 
saw. The Doctor caught one that measured 
17% inches in length. 
After reaching the head waters of the 
Bear river, one is in a beautiful grassy 
valley, the home of the cattle grower and 
the hay farmer. This valley seems to be 
natural timothy land. Wherever a little 
water can be run on the soil it produces a 
wonderful growth of clean timothy. 
The next stop was at Steamboat Springs, 
a little town with a big name, and a long 
way from a steamboat. Here are several 
hundred springs, of all varieties one can 
imagine; hot, warm, cold, soda springs, sul- 
phur springs, milk springs, iron springs, 
and several other kinds, all in close prox- 
imity to one another, and of all sizes and 
smells. There is a large building used as a 
bath house, with several vats or pools, 16 
by 20 feet in size and 3 to 6 feet deep, 
supplied with hot water direct from the 
earth. For 25 cents one can enjoy the most 
delicious bath that can be wished for. 
At the end of the journey, 20 miles below, 
we found an old Pennsylvanian in a log hut, 
alone except for a dog that danced to the 
music of his violin. We felt at home there, 
with a man not only from our own State, 
but one who was graduated in the same 
class in a Pennsylvania school with our 
present Governor. Thus are demonstrated 
the favors fortune bestows; but when one 
considers all, is it not hard to tell which one 
she has favored, the one whom she has 
made Governor of a great State, or the 
one whose lot has been cast in the heart 
of the great Rocky mountain wilderness, in 
the midst of all nature’s primitive bless- 
ings? 
In a week’s stay at this place, we saw 
deer every afternoon from our tent door, 
and in a short trip up any one of the many 
canyons or gulches a dozen could be seen 
any evening. Of course they did not all 
get away. 
From there we retraced our route, and 
reached Leadville in the midst of an August 
snow squall, having had a most delightful 
and profitable trip. Its delight and its suc- 
cess were due first.to Doctor and Mrs. 
Cole, and second to the good people along 
the way, all of whom seemed waiting to do 
some act of kindness for the camper, of 
whom there are many in that country. 
Pleasant associates, a delightful cli- 
mate, enchanting and wonderful scenery, 
plenty of fish, grouse, sage hens, and an 
occasional deer! What more could we 
ask for to make a camping trip complete? 
Then you admit having killed deer and 
grouse in violation of the State law. 
need not tell you this is wrong. You know 
it as well as I do. You have laid yourself 
liable to arrest and prosecution, and in case 
you return to Colorado at any future time, 
the State game warden should prosecute 
you to the full extent of the law.—Eb1ror, 
