Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-11-18
AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
- the ohio 50 JournaI.l
CENTRAL CITY, COLORADO,
October IL 1870.

low canst thou walk in these streets. who
hast 1rod the green turf OF the prairies?
low canst thou breathe this air. who hast
breasn'd the sweet air ofthe mountains
It has bsen said that St. Louis lies at
ne bottom Of the deepest ditch on the
American continent. The truth is, that
going westward. gentle reader. you are
ascending an inclined plane from the /
time YOU leave the Mississippi. At Den
yer you are 5.587 feet-nearly the alti- |
rude Of Mt. Washington--above sea
level, and about 5.oI5 feet above St. |
Louis The atmosphere of the plains, |
rarefed by the altitude, IS proverbially |
light, as II IS also free from the miasmat- |
ic influence Of less elevated regions
Even on the smooth expanses the west |
ward locomotive climbs many heavy
grades. indicating a general tendency |
upward. On the Kansas Pacific, the |
railway gains. within seventy-four miles /
from Kit Carson, an altitude Of 400
feet above that place. and 600 feet above |
Denver A few miles further on, at Ce-
dar Point, we are 5000 feet above tide
water, and can take in at a single glance
two hundred miles of the Rocky Noun
tains.
From First View station, I65 miles
Pixies Peak, first appears above the line
of the horizon. At Denver this maJes-
tic mountain is the most conspicuous
object of the range, though its grand
figure of blue and white, rising abruptly
from the plain. is Iz5 miles distant. To
the north-westward So miles, appears,
shrouded in eternal snow, the white
crest of Longs Peak, the next highest
point visible In front of the Snowy
Range, or principal ridge of the Rocky
Mountain chain, appear IN dark, iTreg-
ular outline the foothills, lifting their
pointed tops successfully one above the
other. as they slope backward and up
ward, like the circles of an amphtheater,
toward the grand summit of the range.
From Denver, these hills, or rather
mountains, seem to be huge piles of
sand darkened here and there with
thin patches of pine, and are apparently
not more than one or two miles distant.
Really they are fifteen miles away at the
nearest point, and at a closer view pre-
sent d surface of broken ledges of rock,
scanned with deep. winding gulCheS, and
entirely conceal, with their towering
SUBMITS. the higher mountains beyond
them.
From Denver the mountains may be
approached either by stage or by the
Colorado Central Railway, which IS now
completed to Golden City, a smart little
mining town ct the debouchure of Clear
Creek. The extension of the railway up
the valley of this creek to Georgetown.
making direct communication by rail
between that place and Denver, is pro-
jected, but the route is a difficult one,
leading through narrow, crooked gorges,
and up heavy grades, and not half SO
| agreeable, to the tourist, at least, as the
| present line of transit by coach. Of the
| iattef; party of nine of Capt. TaylOr's
excursionists, including the good-natured
Captain himself and two ladies, have
| lust had the good fortune to avail them
| selves. 1t was a splendid October morn
! ing when they set forth in a regular old
| fashioned Baltimore stage, drawn by six
sleek and muscular bays, upon raid
among the mines and mountains. OF
course as many Of the party as possible
| bestowed themselves miscellaneously
among the mail-bags on the outside of
the coach, the better to enjoy the scenery,
the ladies occupying the seat of honor
beside the driver, whose oraCular utter
ances and skillful manipulation of the
ribbons, were the occasion of spasmodic
wonder Alternately entertained by the
grandeur of the mountains and by Gen.
BENEFITS original jokes, the outs were
kept apprized of the close relation of the
ridiculous to the sublime, and had alto
gether jolly time of it,
Directly after leaving Golden the Cen
tral City road mounts the steep slope of
the foothills, and after twenty minutes
GLOW olarII6erinss araeaze, by narresEv
gateway of precipitous, OvershadoyviIiey e
| rocks, the sinuous windingS of Golden
| Gate canon. For nearly three hours the
| course is now continually upward, with
constantly changing views of gorge sue
] ceeding gorge, of rocks piled on rocks,
of mountain overtowering mountain
BY the roadside little patches of snow at
length begin to appear in shady places,
sharp gusts of wind sweep occasionally
down the canon, springs Of clear. cold
water gush from the scanned and ragged
/ ledges. At each turn of the road is
opened some new vista of grandeur, and
splendid views succeed each other like
the changing scenes of a play, until they
seem connected in the evolution of some
sublime denouement for which the mind
becomes impatient. Some Of the party,
tired of riding, tried little walking, re-
allied the changed condition of the at
mosphere, and were glad enough to
avail themselves of a summary conces-
sion to the superior virtues of horse
flesh.
Finally, about noon, we gained the
summit of a ridge, at the head of the
canon, from which a magnificent view
unfolded itself before the charmed and
astonished vision. To the westward a
mighty chasm Glove asunder the noun
tains, whose convolutions rose again be
yond it higher and higher toward the
cloud-like SUBMITS of the Snowy Range,
while to the eastward, far beyond the
mountain tops, appeared the plains,
Stretching in AIRY undulations far away.
As If the ocean in his gentlest swell
stood st1ll, with all his rounded pillows,
Fixed and motionless forever.
To adequately depict that splendid
scene is scarcely within the power oi
language, and yet it was but foretaste
of grander things to come. II mo-
ment it was all lost to view again, and
its inspiration exchanged for a new and
very different sensation. For the first
time since leaving Golden, our course
was now a descending one, and having
reached a gentle declivity of apparently
several thousand feet. our driver. to the
] ulLSI dSLOllS4IACuL u luC OuLSIQGIS GSD6-
cially, started his team at full speed
down the gorge. The road was fright
fully narrow, steep and crooked, envi-
roned by precipices and crossed by deep
ravines, yet here we went galloping
down the mountain as if racing for a
wager, swinging curves like a whip
cracker, and dashing around corners at
full speed where the road seemed about
to launch like cataract into the abyss.
Such a getting down stairs most of US.
certainly, never before experienced. 1t
was something novel and thrilling. Far
below appeared to be another road,
sloping in an opposite direction, and
the wonder was why there should be so
many roads in such pokerish locality,
but the mystery was soon solved, The
new road was not "a different one, but
only one of the lower planes of our zig
gag course. Astonishment at the reck-
Iessness of the driver soon changed into
admiration, and then confidence. The