82 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Feb. 23, 1888. 



THE ROCK CLIMBERS. 



IX. — FACING A BLIZZARD. 

 1VT0 man's conscience is likely to trouble him much 

 when lie is constantly occupied in mountain climb- 

 ing. After he has rolled Ids blanket about him and set- 

 tled his pillow comfortably under his head, made sure 

 that there are no sticks or stones under Mm, which 

 manifest an unpleasant disposition to pry into his ribs or 

 to try the thickness of the flesh that covers his hip bones, 

 and ascertained that there are no open spaces about his 

 neck into which the cold airs of the night may creep, he 

 quickly falls asleep. He has no time to make plans for 

 the morrow, or to review what he has done during the 

 day. Sleep is what he wants, and the mountaineer 

 usually gets it. 



Appekunny and Yo rested well on their last night at 

 Red Eagle Lake, but when in the gray dawn of the morn- 

 ing the latter put his face out from beneath the piece of 

 canvas, which was a pack cover by day and a protector 

 against the weather by night, he received a chilling 

 baptism which thoroughly awakened him. Three or four 

 inches of snow lay on the canvas, and a mass of this, 

 falling down on to the face of the half-awakened man, 

 told its own unpleasant story. The wind was howling 

 down the valley, bearing on its rushing wings thick 

 clouds of snow, which hid everything but the trees im- 

 mediately about the camp. Even the horses, though so 

 near at hand, were concealed from view, and at the rate 

 which the snow was falling it seemed likely that it might 

 be a foot or two deep before n'ghtfall. This was very 

 unpleasant, but grumbling about it would do no good, 

 and the sooner they got away the better it would be for 

 them. Dressing under such circumstances does not take 

 long, and presently the fire had been kindled, and despite 

 the wind and the snow. Avas burning bravely. While 

 breakfast was being prepared, the horses were looked for. 

 It was feared that they might have drifted before the 

 storm, and, as the. snow was falling so rapidly as to 

 quickly obliterate, any traelis that they might have 

 made, the hunting them up, if they had wandered , would 

 have been a work of some little time. Fortunately they 

 were all found in a sheltered corner of the park, busily 

 engaged in pawing away the snow to get at the grass be- 

 neath it, and were soon brought close to camp and tied 

 there. Then ropes, blankets and saddles were resurrected 

 from beneath their snowy covering and brought close to 

 the fire to thaw out and dry. 



The pack saddle which they were using was one of the 

 old Government kind, long since discarded by the army, 

 and perfectly worthless for any purpose except that of 

 fire wood. Every man who has packed much in the 

 mountains knows the article and its exasperating charac- 

 teristics. It is almost flat where it rests on the animal's 

 back, and if only a moderate amount of blanket be put 

 under it, will make a mule's back sore in a day's march, 

 while if enough blanket is used to properly protect the 

 back, the saddle is sure to roll. Then, as if this fault 

 were not enough to utterly condemn it, it has rings 

 before and behind for the attachment of the swing ropes, 

 and these rings are fastened to the wood by staples, 

 which pull out on the smallest provocation. Some of the 

 trials of that day's march were due to the faults of the 

 saddle, but by no means all. 



Breakfast over, the packs were made up, and Split- 

 tongue saddled. The side packs were put on and the 

 swings tied, but as the center pack, which consisted of 

 meat in a blood-besmeared sack, was being lifted on, the 

 little mule dodged, twisted, and in a moment, avoiding 

 the attempts of the men to seize the rope, was bucking 

 and galloping across the little park, pursued by the 

 invectives of the careless packers, who, since they had 

 no blinds for the mule, ought of course to have tied the 

 animal to a tree. The men followed and caught Split- 

 tongue standing under a tree a couple of bundled yards 

 away. The saddle had turned, so that one of the side 

 packs was under her belly and the other was on top of 

 her back. Returning to the 6re, the packing was suc- 

 cessully completed, but not in a satisfactory way, for the 

 pack cover was stiff with ice and snow, and the lash rope 

 was frozen, so that it was impossible to get a good pull 

 on it. 



However, at length a start was made, and the little 

 train moved off across the snow-covered pa" k. After go- 

 ing half a mile they crossed the creek, but the trail, 

 scarcely visible at the best of times, and now completely 

 hidden by the snow, was missed, and they struck too 

 far up the hill. For the next four hours they were 

 struggling through the down timber, which was nowhere 

 really bad, that is to say actually impassable, but was so 

 thick that they had to walk and lead their horses. The 

 snow was sometimes quite deep, and at others only two 

 or three inches covered the ground, but each twig, bush 

 and tree bore its load of soft white powder, which, as 

 horse or rider brushed against it, descended in a thick 

 shower that penetrated everywhere. It was very cold, 

 and the men's gloves, wet from pulling the icy ropes, 

 were frozen so stiff that it was hard to bend the fingers 

 in them. In the depths of the forest no wind was felt, 

 thriugh the bending treetops and the. moaning of the gale 

 showed that the storm had not abated. The snow kept 

 falling in fine thick flakes, and it was impossible to see i 



even the face of Red Eagle Mountain , along whose base 

 they were traveling. 



They moved along very slowly. Sometimes Appekunny 

 would be in the lead, and close behind him followed the 

 pack mule and the loose horse, while Yo, leading Caribou, 

 would bring up the rear. Then a place would be found 

 where the fallen timber, piled four or five feet high, ab- 

 solutely barred further progress, and the leader would 

 call back, "We can't get through here," at which an- 

 nouncement Yo would turn off and begin to search for a 

 pa tli along which the horses could advance. Appekunny 

 would turn the loose animals about so that they would 

 follow the horse which was now in the lead, and they 

 would slowly advance in a new direction. 



Often for some little distance the logs would be piled 

 so high that the animals were obliged to jump them, and 

 after one series of these jumps it was found that the pack 

 was tilted dangerously forward over the mule's neck. 

 Examination showed that the staple of the ring in front 

 of the saddle, through which the swing rope passed, had 

 pulled out, and it was necessary to take off the pack and 

 re-arrange the swing rope by passing it through the sad- 

 die. The pack cover, rigid and unyielding, stood up like 

 a board when it was taken off, and the lash rope was 

 frozen stiff as a bar of iron. Under such circumstances 

 it was hard work re-packing, but the load was put on, 

 and stayed there for the rest of the day without another 

 pull. In and out, and around and over the fallen logs 

 they passed, horses and men, plentifully besprinkled with 

 snow from the overloaded branches, as white as their 

 surroundings, wading laboriously through the ever-deep- 

 ening snow. Once the mule took it into her head to bolt 

 away from the train , and had to be pursued by one of the 

 men for a quarter of a mile and led back, and again, the 

 leader got into a miry spot in crossing a little gully, and 

 they were forced to make quite a long detour to avoid 

 this. Gradually the timber became more open, the fallen 

 logs fewer, they passed through several open parks, 

 and at length before them appeared an opening, through 

 which they saw the creek, and a moment later found 

 themselves on the Kootenay trail. This was easily fol- 

 lowed, and they hurried along as fast as possible. 



The walking was hard, partly because the snow was 

 deep and partly because it balled up on the men's feet. 

 Moreover, as they approached the edge of the timber they 

 became exposed to the severity of the bitter wind that 

 was blowing so furiously. They were tired, too, from so 

 much wading through the snow and so much stepping 

 over high logs, and every now and then would try rid- 

 ing, but it was too cold for that and they were soon glad 

 to jump off and walk. 



At length they crossed the creek and turned down the 

 valley. Here, though still under the lee of the hills they 

 began to realize how cold it was. Neither of the men 

 wore an overcoat, and though warmly clad, the wind 

 seemed to penetrate to their very marrow. Feet, hands, 

 ears and faces suffered most severely, however, and only 

 brisk walking, beating and rubbing sufficed to keep up 

 the circulation in these parts. And still the snow fell in 

 thick blinding poiidve and the gale howled among the 

 treetops. Riding again for awhile, they waded through 

 the muddy swampy valley of a side creek, whose waters, 

 fed by warm springs, had not yet stiffened, even in this 

 severe cold, and then chmbed the last hill, wmich brought 

 them out on the upland, about six miles, as they thought, 

 from camp, and where the wind had full sweep to work 

 its fury on the chilled men and animals. 



Steadily they tramped onward, bent forward to face 

 the storm. Yo was in the lead, following the trail, which 

 even in the knee deep snow was most of the time visible. 

 On him fell the task of breaking the road in which the 

 animals behind traveled. Once or twice the loose beasts 

 refused to face the storm, and turning off to one side 

 sought shelter from its force under the lee of a little 

 grove of trees, but it was no time for stopping, and they 

 were quickly driven back and set in motion in the right 

 direction. E ven where the trail was utterly obscured by 

 the snow, it was easy to follow it by the "feel," for as 

 soon as it was departed from the soft grass could be felt 

 under the feet, while the trail itself was hard, smooth and 

 bare of vegetation. 



With feet wet, gloves frozen and bodies chilled, the 

 men were uncomfortable enough and anxious to push on 

 as rapidly as possible, for should night overtake them 

 before the Inlet was crossed there would be no alternative 

 but to camp in the snow, and they greatly preferred the 

 warmth and shelter of their comfortable tent to the pos- 

 sibilities of a night spent on the uplands in a howling 

 blizzard. It was getting late, and every moment's delay 

 increased the danger of another night out, for their pro- 

 gress through the deep snow and in the teeth of this 

 storm was painfully slow. 



And now a new cause of delay arose. Appekunny for 

 some time had been losing sensation in his feet, and at 

 length called out to his companion that he feared they 

 were freezing. It seemed that the only thing to do was 

 to stop and thaw out these members, and at the next 

 grove of aspens which they passed the animals were 

 caught and tied up; then the snow was scraped away, 

 some dry twigs collected, a fire was built, and Appekunny 

 was relieved of his shoes. He had been unnecessarily 



alarmed, for the feet looked all right, and after a vigor- 

 ous rubbing and warming and the substitution of dry 

 socks for his wet and frozen ones, the animals were turned 

 loose, and, partially thawed out, they started once more. 



Out into the storm, away from the shelter of the trees 

 they plowed their slow way, and the fury of the blasts 

 struck them with its icy breath more fiercely than 

 before, while the air was filled with the thick powder 

 which concealed even the dark spruces bordering the 

 narrow way on either hand. Now and then, whirling 

 close to them, at one moment blotted out by the white 

 snow wreaths and then suddenly staiting into view 

 again, came flocks of the tiny gray- crowned finches, 

 birds which in fair weather are not seen except among 

 the highest peaks, where there are only cold gray rocks 

 and far-reaching stretches of ice and snow. Hither and 

 thither they flew, for a moment alighting by the tall 

 weeds that still held their heads above the snow, and 

 then darting away again. Suddenly vanishing and as 

 suddenly reappearing, they seemed like true spirits of 

 the storm, wayward and unrestful as the gusts that seemed 

 to bring them and to sweep them away. 



The weary march through the ever deepening snow 

 continued. Each moment it grew colier and colder, the 

 wind blew harder and the snow flew more thickly. 

 Presently during a slight lull in the storm a glimpse was 

 caught of the upper lake, and it was seen that they were 

 only two or three miles from camp. With renewed vigor 

 they pushed on and at length descended the steep hill, 

 through the spruces and came out on the Inlet flat. Now 

 they were almost at home, and yet how long the ride 

 across the open level flat was to the tired half-frozen 

 men. By this time they had mounted, and were trying 

 to urge the animals forward at a better pace, but these 

 were as tired as their riders and would not hurry, but 

 plodded onward at the same slow pace. Indeed it was 

 impossible to ride fast, for the flat was covered with snow 

 and ice and the bare-footei animals slipped and sprawled 

 if they attempted to quicken their pace. 



After they had reached the flat it seemed as if they 

 would never come to the Inlet; after the Inlet had been 

 crossed it seemed as if camp would never come in 

 sight. But all thing3 come to an end, and at length 

 they rounded the timber near Mad Bear Creek and 

 saw the familiar spot, and presently the white tent 

 showed through the falling snow. The dogs had run 

 ahead, and by their barking had notified the Rhymer and 

 Jack of the arrival, and in a moment more two shadowy 

 figures had stepped out of the tent and were seen through 

 the flying snow watching their approach. The thick 

 smoke which curled up from the fire indicated that cook- 

 ing was going on, and Yo called back to Appekunny 

 the word "Dinner," and the stiffened faces of the two 

 gradually changed their set expressions and slowly 

 creased themselves into responsive grins. 



Arrived at the tent the animals were quickly tied up ( 

 and the men hurried inside with their guns. These hav- 

 ing been deposited out of the storm Yo went out and 

 helped the Rhymer and Jack unpack and unsaddle, and 

 when he entered the tent a few moments later, Appe- 

 kunny said: "Lord, did you have the sand to go out and 

 unsaddle?" 



"Well," said Yo, "I thought I couldn't be much colder 

 than I have been for the last six hours." 



Darkness was closing over the lake when they reached 

 the camp, but half an hour later, when warm and with 

 dry clothing, they were enjoying their delicious supper, 

 they laughed at the hardships of the day's march and 

 pronounced their excursion an unqualified success. 



Yo. 



We are constantly in receipt of requests from readers 

 of Forest and Stream asking us for the names and 

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 may seem good to him. 



The Booneville, N. Y., Sportsmen's Club is discussing 

 the feasibility of restocking the Adirondacks with moose. 

 There should be no difficulty in such a project, provided 

 that for every moose put out a score or two of mongrel 

 hounds are added to the Booneville contingent. 



Yesterday, Washington's Birthday, was celebrated in 

 Vergennes, Vt., with a public entertainment, at whieh 

 were given readings from "Uncle Lisha's Shop." 



