Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-03-10
COLORADO. 0.ExPLCRING EXPEDI-
TON.
The Ascent of nong's peak.
ny DE GEO. vAssY.

The party detailed for this purpose
headed by Major Powell, set OF;
from Grand Lake, at the northeast
corner Of Middle Park. They reach
ed the main range by a very iabori-
Gus ascent through extensive fields
of burnt aad fallen timber, over alb
rupt, rocky sleeps, and up banks Oh
yielding sand streWed with granite
fragments.
They set out with the determine
ton OF leaving no possible effort un-
tried, and by means of persevering
toll climbing sometimes on hands
and knees, over ledges where a false
move would have precipitated them
! several thousand feet, at length
reached the summit of the mon
tain, and barometrical calculations,
found its height II $50 feet, or about
thirty-five feet higher than Pixies
! Peak.
Their toll was now amply repaid
| by the magnilicence of the views
! tkcy Obtained views not e2cctt.e eyi
By any on the continent, and such
as few men are ever privileged to
see.
Seventy or eighty miles to the
! Northwest was plainly visible the
mountain peaks called Rabbit Ears,
at the extremity Of the range which
| divides Middle from North Peak F;
while a hundred miles to the South
| rose Pixies Peak, OF golden fame +;
and at different points on the main
range could be seen Mount Lincoln
| Gray's Peak, Silver Heels and 9TH
ers, all towering up into the regions
Of eternal snow.
stretching far away 10 the north,
| the range could be seen for perhaps
! hundred miles gradually sloping
| down into the Black Hill, and
spreading out to form the noun tain
I plateau over which the Union paci-
! tic railroad passed at the highest ell
ovation of s, 250 feet. To the south
west opened a distinct view of the
| undulating ridges and open valleys
| of Middle Park; while To the east
ward, the great plains stretch out
| like wide sea, the city of Denver
! and the settlements at the base of
| the mountains being plainly visible
at distance of from thirty to fifty
| miles. Nestled down in various ba-
| sins 5000 to 1900 feet below, were q
number of small lakes, fed by the
slowly dissolving SHOWS above.
| The party having for some time
| enjoyed these beautiful and magnifi-
cent views, finally prepared for de-
scent.
a monumental pile of rocks, en-
! closing some records of the ascent,
and a speech from Major Powell COM
| pleted the ceremonies Of this inter
esting occasion.
For several miles to the southwest
of Longs Peak, we followed the
main ridge above the timber-line,
over great fields of granite blocks,
| thrown together in the utmost con
| fusion. On each side of the ridge, q
| thousand feet or more below US, we
saw numerous little lakes, ,embellish-
ed with beautiful green border of
! fir trees. Springs of water here and
| there break out from the mountain
| sides, aricking down among the
rocks, their course marked by a
! fringe Of luXuriant Alpine grasses.
| Sometimes these streams spread out
| over rocky table lands, which furn-
ish foothoId for vegetation. and
| produce fields of grass and sedges,
interspersed with beds of the beauti-
ful mountain primrose, patches of
golden bGttercups, and other rare
and interesting Alpine plants
We passed over a field of snow
| which in some places was fifteen to
| twenty feet deep. It's surface was
| hard beaten, SO that it sustained our
| animals, and was covered with un-
| dulating ridges and dcpressions and
/ myriads Of grasshoppers had pcrishe.l |
on its chilly bed, to become food fo'
| grizzly bears and other animals that
! frequent these dreary abodes.
| Early one morning one of our hum
| ters discovered a grizzly bear max
| ing his breakfast among the grass
! hnnnprs On this apnIu ..,,I 81.
| tioning himself behind large rock
| he fired ut the formidable animal
| The shot took effect; he dropped,
! rolled over, and elected his morning
meal then recovered himself and
rose To his feet. Some Intervening
| rocks now prevented the hunter
| frCm seeing the bear for few mo-
! ments, and expecting an onset from
him, he prepared for his appearance;
| his rifle was reloaded, revolver and
| bowie knife in his belt ready for ser
vice but as the bear did not appear,
/ the hunter crept cautiously around
/ the rocks, and saw Brain max in 2
way with rapid steps down the
mountain toward the deep fir groves
at the base. He was pursued and
| shots were fired after him, but he es-
! capped, probably to die in deep soli-
! ltut iEOIli the effect al his W OJlluS. ).
These bears during the summer, feed
largely upon the delicious wild rasp-
. berries which grow plentifully
among the rocks at lower elevations,
and later in the season they fatten
upon the seeds of a species of pine,
called pinon (pin-yon,) and upon the
acorns of Il low scrubby oak, which
grows abundantly on low mountains
west of the range. During the sum
mer months, the deer aud elk visit
1 the higher mountains TO feed upon
/ the rich grasses of Alpine slopes and
valleys.
But 10 return To our camp on
Bethoud's Pass. The weather here
was very capricious during our ten
days stay. Sudden thunder show
ers were frequent, and some days
/ were wholly rainy and driZZly. AT
night the thermometer generally de-
scended below the freezing point,
and the mornings were cool and
frosty.
Having made here series of baro-
metri3al observations, and finished
our collections in Natural History
we descended the mountain Oh the
opposite side, through a number OF
deep, rocky gorges, each conveying
streams of water into valley below,
| where they all converge TO form one
of the head branches OF the Grand
river. The route for some ten miles
was through a dense growth Of pines
and frs, with occasional groups OF
/ aspen, and on the margin of the
| brooks alder, willows, and mountain