Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-06-01
PicniCing in Colorado.

and bundles in a large covered wagon, drawn
by four sedate and antiquated mules We
leave the dusty town behind US, but do not
escape the sitting sand of the roads, that
makes little clouds before US shining in tie
heat of the July sun. However there is 40
necessity of being confined to the common
thoroughfare we travel IN almost any
direction, and never once be hindered By
fences The mules are not slow to take al
vantage of this liberty, and we strike cat
across the plains, in utter disregard of the
points Of the compass, expecting somewhere
to find grove large enough for camping
place. Some of the party have extravagant
New England notions, that two or threat&ss
will not answer our purpose at all, so Nc DO
not accept the shelter of some scraggv cot
tonwoods, but look for a more ambitious for
est further on. 1t proved to be so mech
further on than we expected. that weauite
tired of peering through the openingsiof the
wagon, and asking the driver if We we're
almost there We could now and then each
glimpscs of the river. and just acrossou the
other side was veritablc forest, not h;ge,
but delightfully."- cool and fresh we INV /;
but the river must be forded before we<qild
reach it. The water was unusually lovxsbu.
for all that the waySAaau nted sassic& sly
huear .ur,feot. s-~-sk -.--A--a -
think they were bearing us rapid y. w
stream. We were glad enough to ss@-she
mules toiling up the opposite banks Gas,
we had not reached the land of Beulahsay
crossing the m,-the grove had charged
Its position. A long intervening strip, of
prairie lay between us and it. But we, did
reach it at last. Then came an unloadiog
and oyerhauling of lunch baskets, and some
body built a fre-not to warm us-but to
make coffee, and the tea-kettle sang over the
blaze, as though il had always been acus-
toned to outdoor life. After primitive
dinner under the trees we strolled around
to make discoveries. Here was an archnt
brook channel. now moss and grass grown,
making dainty, still hiding places for the
flowers fragrant red rose buds, and sprays
of wild heliotrope. scarlet trumpet howas,
and strange little blossoms, fair and SWEET,
that we never had seen before. Some Of ne
party were enthusiastic over trouting ut
somehow after standing by the river, pole IN
hand, for two consecutive hours, and catcl-
ing nothing, their zeal gradually diminished,
till, limp and exhausted, they stole back %
the shade of the trees with decided az
tipathy to that branch of the fish fanny
called trout. 1t no consolation to IS
hat he laE he
were filed with them it was only an a.
gravating truth that did not serve our pre-
ent necessities. But if the brook did Mt
give US trout, it Gang marvellous songs to u,
sleepy songs they were too, with the dril,
drip, of the waves on the shore.
When night came, tents were spread f.
us under the trees, and we experienced 81
the sweets of camping out; such as lister
ing for wolves and snakes, and hearing bus
climb close to our ears, and brushing lon,
green worms from our blankets. Probabl
if these annoyances had MT distracted ouI
thoughts, we should have listened sympa
thetically to the beating of natures heart
In the moonlight under the whispering leaves
close to the busom of the earth, she miGLs
have told her sweetest secrets to US ,-sa
most of us only remembered that nature wa.
absurdly democratic, and nourished ali
sorts of dirty crawling things, cold ano
Shiny, and SO persistent in creeping over
one, that it was impossible to take any other
than a practical view of the case. Notwith-
standing this, we were enough refreshed to
G. A.
sun. How it lighted up the little flower
ravine, and the river, and the rocks of the
far-off mountains We climbed up the hill
for lookout. A long green valley Law un-
der our feet, slender shafts of sandstone rose
in the air like monuments, and down the
nearest hillside, blue prairie flowers huddled
together, making billowy lake of swaying
blossoms. Further on we could see the
winding road, cut in the solid rock of the
mountain, where hundreds of feet below. a
silver line of water cut the shadows silently.
We could only confusedly gather up the pic
ture in our hearts, and hurry back to the
camping ground, for an early start for home.
We were 10th to leave the cool shadows of
the trees for the barrenness of the roads
but the wonders of the route home. which
led us by Bradford Cave, fully compensated
US. We had heard SO much about it. that we
expected to be ushered into some abysmal
depth, and were to peer into the darkness
with torches, and hear pcnt-up waters, and
all the other peculiaritics of caves. S, we
were not little surprised when the cave
presented itself in the shane IF n h,1a root~ ]
nearly perpendicular in front, and sloping
almost to the ground at the back. We en-