196 Mountain Meteorological Stations and an 



body to conform to the motions of my intelligent beast. After pass- 

 ing these dangerous places the mules would stop and try to recover 

 from the great exertions they had been making. The perspiration 

 would appear on their bodies and a general relaxation of the muscles 

 follow, which plainly indicated the severity of the trial. We patted 

 their necks and spoke kindly to them, and by a backward glance of 

 the ace they seemed to acknowledge our appreciation of their arduous 

 labors. All mules are not bad mules, or at least there are times when 

 the bad ones may remove the stain of evil from their records. This 

 burst of sympathy, however, does not warrant you in placing implicit 

 confidence in these animals, at all times. They are liable at any 

 opportunity to emphatically resent imaginary insults. 



The " Half-way House," although located only about one-third the 

 distance to the Peak, is deceitfully so called to encourage the weary 

 tourist in the belief that half of his journey has been accomplished. 

 It may be needless to tell you that this house is neither a winter nor 

 a summer palace. Its accommodations are limited to the number of 

 persons who can coil upon the floor of the log cabin, or hide them- 

 selves away in a large bundle of buffalo robes and horse blankets rep- 

 resenting a bed, in one corner of the room. This mountain resort 

 was presided over by a grizzly-faced, long-haired individual, who 

 lived as a hermit the most of the year and eked out a scanty subsist- 

 ence during the short summer, when tourists are daily passing to 

 and fro and generally purchase some curio from him. We put up 

 for the night, as it was useless to go ahead, having learned from the 

 mountaineer that the snow was extremely heavy and the winds high. 

 Up to this time our small arsenal of side arms had served no purpose 

 except to burden us, but I was now to learn that they might be the 

 means of saving life, as the rocks and timber secreted many a bear, 

 wild-cat and mountain lion. We placed our mules in a comfortable 

 log stable and then repaired to the cabin for a frugal repast. Oar 

 appetites, as you can imagine, were not very weak. We ate raven- 

 ously of whatever was presented, without any attempt at critical 

 examination. Before retiring, the mountaineer regaled us with blood- 

 thirsty stories of bear and lion hunts, hair-breadth escapes from 

 snowslides, high winds and extreme cold. We also discussed the 

 difficulties to be encountered on the morrow and the best way to 

 overcome them. I became thoroughly convinced that there was no 

 little trouble in store for us. The Sergeant did not seem very talkative 

 and I could see that his mind was fixed upon something outside of 

 the cabin. He was evidently pondering over the problem which we 



