The Aftermath of a Club Outing. 155 



whom we had met here before, set us on our way 

 through the labyrinth of cattle paths to the proper saddle 

 of the hills where lay the trail. None of us had ever been 

 over this before; of course we had no guide, and the 

 finding of our way was one of the charms of the trip. 

 It would have been perfectly easy to do this save for 

 the presence of cattle and the distracting maze of trails 

 which they had made. 



Shortly before noon, having crossed the divide into 

 the Roaring River basin, and finding water and some- 

 thing bearing a remote resemblance to feed, we threw 

 off the packs and let the stock refresh themselves for a 

 couple of hours in the heat of the day, and then skirting 

 Williams IMeadow we followed Sugarloaf Creek down 

 to the little dome which gives it its name. Here in the 

 network of cattle paths we went too near the river and 

 away from the real trail, which, we ascertained after- 

 wards, crosses the plateau higher up and makes a cut-off 

 by Bog ]\Ieadow to Scaffold Meadow. Near this latter it 

 was our intention to camp, on the far side — that is, the 

 right bank — of Roaring River, a mile or so below the 

 junction of the two branches. We finally found ourselves 

 pinched in on a steep, very rocky hillside, with the choice 

 of three courses before us, — viz., of returning to the last 

 patch of grass, which was not really sufficient for the sus- 

 tenance over night of five head of stock; or of going 

 ahead by pursuing a precarious course on the hillside 

 overhanging the river; or, finally, of climbing away up 

 above our present situation and attempting to intercept 

 the lost trail, if one were there, a circumstance of which 

 we were then in doubt. In council the last alternative pre- 

 vailed, and after scrambling about we struck a well-worn 

 trail which soon led into the Roaring River bottom. Our 

 acquaintance at Rowell Meadow had told us that there 

 were cattle here, but we had not realized how many there 

 were to be of them and how completely they had given 

 their minds to the eifacement of everything fit to eat. 

 Fortunately, at this juncture a conciliatory stockman, 



