16 FORTYMILE, BiECH CREEK, ANP FAIRBANKS PLACERS, [bull. 25; 
the only points where difficulties may be encountered arc at Charle] 
River and Birch Creek, which at times of high water may becom 
sources of delay, though at low water they present no difficulties 
Charley River was easily crossed, but high water caused a delay c 
two days at Birch Creek. 
From the Birch Creek region there is a direct and easy trail to th 
Tanana, by which Fairbanks, 150 miles to the southwest from Circle 
was reached the night of September 11, just in time to take th 
steamer down the river next morning. 
Conditions of travel. — Traveling through the Yukon-Tanan 
country with pack trains is comparatively easy. The trail keem 
mostly to the divides, and these, except in rainy weather, general! 
afford good firm footing and can often be followed for two or thr 
days without crossing the main drainage lines. The summer of 190 
was very dry in the Fortymile region, and the hot days of June an 
July, hazy with the smoke of many forest fires, hardened the trail 
and lowered the streams till the conditions were unusually favoratj 
for travel. 
When traveling on the high divides, which are covered only wil 
moss or a sparse growth of dwarf birch and occasional clumps c< 
alder, it is easy at camping time to drop down to the green vallev o 
some small stream where the horses find the freshest grass and whei 
the straggling spruces from the thickly covered slopes furnish abuii 
dant firewood. In these upper valleys caribou are frequently to \\ 
found in great abundance during the fall and winter months. Hun 
dreds of them were encountered between the Seventymile and Birc 
Creek. They betrayed only curiosity at the presence of the pact 
train and were apparently migrating slowly toward the east. 
The larger streams can generally be forded at low water, and I 
the points where the main trails cross them ferry boats are availabJ) 
for the transportation of passengers and outfits, while horses crew 
either by wading or swimming. At Fairbanks a wire-cable fern 
has been constructed capable of carrying several horses with thea 
packs/' A wire cable was also in use at Twelvemile, on Birch Creek 
In case of sudden rain a stream like Birch Creek may rise seveni 
feet in a few hours, and the crossing, which was so easy while t!l 
water was low and clear, becomes an impossibility till the flood hi 
subsided. Fortunately, with clear weather the water falls rapid! ( 
and the crossing can be made in a day or so with little difficulty 
This sudden change in character illustrates the delicate adjustmei 
between the streams and the weather conditions, which results froJi 
the fact that, in consequence of the frozen character of most of tl 
ground in the drainage areas, the rainfall finds its way rapidly to tl ' 
streams. 
A bridge bus replaced tbe wire-cable ferry. 
