THE GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN 371 
the forehead consisting of fir trees that when whit- 
ened by the winter snow give a venerable appear- 
ance to the stone face. Somewhat above this profile 
from this point is also visible another, with smaller 
and rounder features, which of course is the Grand- 
mother. 
Returning to the main path and continuing the 
ascent, the way grows wilder and if possible sweeter. 
One has a sense of rising spiritually as well as phys- 
ically. At the base of a high cliff, framed in foliage 
and crowned with the rosy-flowered Rhododendron 
Catawbiense, gushes out the famous Grandfather 
Spring that is only ten degrees above freezing 
throughout the summer. Up to this point there is a 
bridle path ; beyond here it is necessary to walk. The 
rose-bay still in bloom clings to the rocks, in whose 
crevices little dwarf trees have taken root along with 
the mosses, ferns, and saxifrages. 
The path gets very steep and rocky. You are now 
among the balsam firs, those trees to name which is 
to name a perfume, and you go climbing up over 
their strong red roots. The pathway becomes a 
staircase winding about moss-trimmed rocks in 
whose crevices are tiny contorted balsams like Japan- 
ese flower-pot trees. Enormous coal-black lichens 
hang from the cliffs and the ground is softly carpeted 
with mossy growths and oxalis, out from whose 
pretty pale leaves look myriads of pink-and-white 
blossoms. Long after the Rhododendron Catawbiense 
is done blooming below, one finds it in its prime on 
the high peaks of the Grandfather. 
