ECHO KOCK. 33 
outstretched plain. I have observed the same phenomenon once before in 
the cliffs near Long's Peak, and am pleased to meet with it again. 
During the afternoon, Bradley and I climb some cliffs to the north. 
Mountain sheep are seen above us, and they stand out on the rocks, and eye 
us intently, not seeming to move^ Their color is much like that of the gray 
sandstone beneath them, and, immovable as they are, they appear like carved 
forms. Now a fine ram beats the rock with his fore foot, and, wheeling 
around, they all bound away together, leaping over rocks and chasms, and 
climbing walls where no man can follow, and this with an ease and grace 
fulness most wonderful. At night we return to our camp, under the box- 
elders, by the river side. Here we are to spend two or three days, making 
a series of astronomic observations for latitude and longitude. 
June 18. We have named the long peninsular rock on the other side 
Echo Rock. Desiring to climb it, Bradley and I take the little boat and 
pull up stream as far as possible, for it cannot be climbed directly opposite. 
We land on a talus of rocks at the upper end, to reach a place where it seems 
practicable to make the ascent ; but we must go still farther up the river. 
So we scramble along, until we reach a place where the river sweeps against 
the wall. Here we find a shelf, along which we can pass, and now are ready 
for the climb. 
We start up a gulch; then pass to the left, on a bench, along the wall; 
then up again, over broken rocks ; then we reach more benches, along which 
we walk, until we find more broken rocks and crevices, by which we climb, 
still up, until we have ascended six or eight hundred feet ; then we are met 
by a sheer precipice. 
Looking about, we find a place where it seems possible to climb. I go 
ahead ; Bradley hands the barometer to me, and follows. So we proceed, 
stage by stage, until we are nearly to the summit. Here, by making a 
spring, I gain a foothold in a little crevice, and grasp an angle of the rock 
overhead. I find I can get up no farther, and cannot step back, for I dare 
not let go with my hand, and cannot reach foot-hold below without. I call 
to Bradley for help. He finds a way by which he can get to the top of the 
rock over my head, but cannot reach me. Then he looks around for some 
stick or limb of a tree, but finds none. Then he suggests that he had better 
5 COL 
