32 



RECREATION. 



climbed within 1,000 feet of the summit, 

 when we were overtaken by a storm and 

 had to return ; yet the memory of that climb 

 is like a page from the Walpurgis Night. 



We went on horseback. Three miles of 

 the journey were through thick timber, up 

 a steep mountain trail. Beyond that are 

 3 miles which can not be traversed by even 

 the surest footed saddle .horse, but must be 

 taken on foot, with an ascent in the mean- 

 time of a sheer 5,000 feet. The scene 

 is wild, terrible, beautiful ! What dizzy 

 heights, what awful precipices ! We look 

 aloft and sicken at the thought of defying 

 their terrors. How cruel, how merciless if 

 once they should get us at a disadvantage ! 

 Inch by inch, step by step, we pressed on- 

 • yard and upward, though physically ex- 

 hausted. After every few steps we were 

 compelled to stop, panting, almost gasping, 

 for breath. The exertion of ascent is 

 enough ; but the rarity of the atmosphere 

 makes it doubly difficult. Somehow we 

 overcame our weakness. We measured each 

 footstep and planted one foot beyond the 

 other with studied care and deliberation. 

 When we reached a convenient rock we 



sat down a few moments. Heavens ! How 

 the heart throbs and the lungs labor ! Can 

 physical frailty endure it? Possibly, if it is 

 not below the average. Then the heart 

 might stop ! 



We looked back over the trail below. 

 Not so steep, after all ; but then, upward ! 

 Ah, those cold, merciless steeps ; black and 

 gray, reeking with moisture, the clinging 

 mists and melting snows ! 



For an hour we climbed over craggy beds 

 of broken rocks and prehistoric snow, to 

 the saddle. A storm descended on us and 

 the wind blew a gale, spitting rain, hail and 

 snow. Strangely enough, at that stupen- 

 dous height we come across a prospect hole. 

 The prospector had not been long gone, for 

 in the bottom of the hole were his pick and 

 shovel. The wind was pitiless, and all 5 

 of us got down into the prospect hole for 

 shelter. The storm did not abate, and with 

 the wind blowing 60 miles an hour it was 

 not safe to continue the ascent. So we re- 

 luctantly retraced our steps and after an 

 hour of careful work arrived safe at the 

 foot of the mountain and found our horses 

 anxiously awaiting us. 



A LARGE ADDITION TO THE PEN. 



Here is a reproduction of a photograph of this picture don't look like train rob- 

 that comes to me bearing the following bers, then I am no judge of mugs, 

 legend : The dog shown in the lower left corner 



"Caught by Mr. and Mrs. Burmeister of the picture evidently had more sense ot 



and daughter, Guy Burnside, William Ar- 

 thur and Russel Klein. Five hours of sport 

 on Spirit lake among the pike and silver 

 bass. June 5, 1903. Spirit Lake, la." 



If the 2 men on the right and the left 



decency than any of the men, for he hung 

 his head so low that the lens cut it off. 



Burmeister's number in the fish hog book 

 is 1,015 ! Burnside's is 1,016, Arthur Klein's 

 is 1 1,017, an d Russel Klein's is 1,018. — 

 Editor. 



