"HIKING" OVER THE MOUNTAINS 



M3 



until we reached a long divide, which 

 we followed until we reached a spring 

 known as Elk Spring. Here, some 

 trapper or hunter had carved the 

 words "Elk Springs" on the side of a 

 tree, and hard by was a deserted trap- 

 per's cabin. 



The remarkable feature about that 

 spring, is the fact that it rises almost 

 on the very top of the loftiest promon- 

 tory of the whole mountain range ; the 

 spring being named for the herds of 

 elk that frequent that locality, and 

 often came to it to drink, and to wal- 

 low in the swamp just below it. 



From this place of vantage we could 

 see, far to the southeast, a long valley 

 covered with evergreen timber, wind- 



ing through the irregular mountain 

 defiles. So continuing our journey 

 that way we reached the stream thai 

 drained that magnificent stretch of for- 

 ests. This stream is known as Lake 

 Creek and is seldom visited by man. 

 Hence the waters are not often whipped 

 by anglers, and the trout are unsophis- 

 ticated. 



There we decided to select a suit- 

 able camping site, with a view of re- 

 maining a few days for the purpose 

 of exploring the canons, fishing, and 

 hunting the beasts that prowled nightly 

 in search of prey. 



That evening we caught twenty-five 

 trout, enough, as my brother said, "to 

 make the frying-pan smell good." 



LAKE CREEK 



