2?8 



RECREATION MAGAZINE 



the "commissary department," a roll of 

 blankets on his back, the shiny new rifle 

 in his hand, and a package of grape- 

 nuts (private stock) sticking out of his 

 pocket. He informed us, with an air 

 of indifference, that he was going up 

 the trail a little way to look for a buck, 

 and probably wouldn't return that even- 

 ing. 



"How can I get lost," he asked 

 scornfully, when we tender-hearted 

 women protested at the late, solitary 

 start. "All I have to do is to follow 

 the trail up as far as I wish to go, and 

 then turn around and follow it back to 

 camp." 



It sounded simple, but we were not 

 convinced. A two months' experience 

 with our "tender-foot" had shattered 

 what faith we might have had in his 

 ability as a mountaineer and path-finder. 

 We felt that he spoke truly in saying 

 he would not return that evening. 



"I am certain," I said, "that the boy 

 will not get back until we bring him. 

 He should not have been allowed to 

 start." 



There was a laugh from the unfeel- 

 ing men. "If he gets lost it will be a 

 lesson to him, and he can't get so far 

 away but that we can find him," was the 

 reply. 



Toward sunset, Carl, our big hunter, 

 started off for a hill of scrub chaparral, 

 manazanita, and oak which flanked us 

 on the east, to look for meat. The 

 women spread the white oil-cloth on 

 the leaf-strewn ground, set out the tin 

 plates and cups, started a pot of fra- 

 grant coffee to brewing, and mixed up 

 some flap- jacks. 



In an hour the hunter returned, 

 weighed down with a fine young buck, 

 which he swung up between two rugged 

 mazanita trees, and covered it with a 

 piece of netting to keep away the swarm 

 of yellow- jackets which appear where 

 there is meat, with the first rays of the 

 sun. 



We were off our blankets by three in 

 the morning ready for a ride over the 

 surrounding country. Our host, on 

 whose claim we were camped, had told 



us where we might find an abundance 

 of mud turtles and mountain frogs in 

 a lake on the crest of Grizzly. For 

 five days we had been without fresh 

 meat, butter, bread, eggs, and potatoes, 

 and our healthy, young beings longed 

 for the "flesh-pots." As the men fed 

 and saddled the horses, we prepared the 

 delicate venison liver, bacon, flap- jacks, 

 and coffee. 



The sun was just rising as we sat 

 down on the leaves around our fern- 

 bedecked cloth. Looking South we 

 feasted our eyes on a view of surpassing 

 loveliness. Our camp was located on a 

 ridge some three thousand feet above 

 the sea and from this elevation we 

 looked down into a huge, semi-circular 

 basin skirted by three mountain ranges, 

 towering one above the other. The 

 shades of night still lingered in the 

 gulches, but the ranges caught the first 

 rays of the sun, which tinted them in 

 varying shades of purple, red, and pink. 

 Here and there a gray remnant of fog 

 clung to the peaks. A fresh breeze 

 fanned the red into our cheeks, and a 

 woodpecker in the cedar above, tapped 

 a merry "good-morning" as the wel- 

 come shafts of sunlight penetrated our 

 solitude. 



It was a wild country which we rode 

 through that morning. Mile after mile 

 of scrub oaks, chaparral, mazanita, and 

 cruel blue and white thorn. The little 

 mustang I had brought from home re- 

 sented the rough touch of the thorns 

 and solved the question of bruised 

 sides by jumping over the clumps, 

 throwing me forward on the pummel 

 and back toward his tail, regardless of 

 my feelings. Now and then we would 

 pass through a fine stretch of timber, 

 gigantic pines or firs, and then out into 

 the scrub again. 



Half-way up the trail, we saw ahead 

 of us a large doe pawing and "blowing" 

 at the foot of a Madrone tree, display- 

 ing every evidence of fierce resentment 

 and anger. She was chopping up the 

 ground with her sharp little hoofs, and 

 blowing the air through her nostrils 

 with a loud whistling sound, as she 



