CAMP DESOLATION. 



provided the horse is willing. Otherwise 

 it may take 6 men twice as long. There 

 are sure to be cne or 2 horses that are 

 hard to catch and mean to pack. 



When the last horse has been cinched and 

 his pack adjusted we are ready to start. 

 By that time the animals that have already 

 been packed have strayed about and a few 

 minutes are necessary to round them into 

 a bunch. The head guide swings himself 

 into nis great Mexican saddle and his cay- 

 use ambles off down the trail. The other 

 ponies are driven in behind and the mem- 

 bers of the party scatter themselves 

 throughout the line to prod the delinquent 

 beasts. When the trails are good and the 

 animals old at the work the driving simply 

 amounts to riding along in the procession 

 and admiring the scenery. But this, alas ! 

 is seldom the case. We have not been on 

 the road an hour before we begin to strike 

 difficult trails. A trail in the West simply 

 means that at some time in the past some- 

 one has been over the route. Often there is 

 nothing to indicate the presence of a trail 

 except a blaze on a tree every few hundred 

 feet, or perhaps a root or an overhanging 

 bough that has been hacked with an axe. 

 On the hard ground there is often no sign 

 for miles of any previous travel. All we 

 can do then is to head in what seems the 

 right direction. This is not so difficult in 

 the mountains as it would seem, for a trail 



265 



must always follow the river valleys and 

 we are sure of picking it up in the canyons 

 or at the fords. 



In many spots we find a well worn path 

 perhaps 18 inches wide and several inches 

 deep. These have often been made by the 

 game and worn by the Indians. As long 

 as the trail is well defined all goes 

 smoothly, but when we get in a little, 

 the difficulties begin. Of all these, fallen 

 timber is the worst. There is no task so 

 maddening or conducive to profanity as 

 driving a pack outfit over a trail that runs 

 through fallen timber. These strips occur 

 in spots all through the mountains. In the 

 first place, a fire has passed through the 

 woods, burning every green leaf and shrub 

 and leaving the trees standing naked and 

 charred. The roots die and the first wind 

 storm that comes along tips the trees over. 

 If a bad blow has been through the moun- 

 tains we find them piled up like jackstraws. 

 The smaller ones, up to 3 feet, the horses 

 can jump or step over, but the larger ones 

 or those hanging directly across the trail, 

 must be chopped through or gone around. 

 Every time the leader halts all the rest of 

 the train is delayed. It is easy to see that 

 15 horses will string out over a consider- 

 able distance. When the leader stops per- 

 haps one of the horses 4 or 5 back does 

 not stop. Indeed they often turn off at 

 right angle? and commence jumping over 



