Morning journal and courier., 1880-02-09
Half 8 Mile @ Minute,
A Rapid and PerllOus Descent on Snovv4
 shoes.


 The Leadville (Col Chronicle gives the fol- lowing account of the parilous journey of MT. F. G. McCandless, who made the trip from Ute City, in the Roaring Fork district, to Leadvile on snow-shoes, 90 miles, in four days and half: s'The first IS miles occupied three days of hard labor, and brought him to Independence Camp. Two days out of this three he was without food, having taken but one days supply on starting. The difficult ties in the road were appalling. Heavy, vet snows had laden the trees in the canon and soaked them full of water. Cold weather froze them solid, and strong winds cracked them off their stumps like so many matches. This caused the narrow gulch to be complete ly filled with dense brush or thicket of their snow-laden branches. The high, perpendic- ular, and heavily-timbered walls of the canon forbade any attempt to scale them, and to pass this all but insurmountable obstruction McCandiess saw that he must cut his way through or return. He chose the former course. A light 'squaw-axe' was his only tool, and was almost useless, from the fact that the wood was almost equal to rock in hardness. He had calculated on making In dependent Camp the first night His provis- lon was gone, and there was nothing to do but toll on, or lie down and die. Night came on, dark and cold. No wolves howled, to keep him company, nor was the roar of the mountain lion heard. Nothing broke the death-ike silence, save ths sharp thud of his little axe, as he cut his way, inch by inch, and foot by foot. through the gloomy defie. So passed the night, the day, the second day, and late in the afternoon, McCandless, haggard, pale, starving, and completely worn out, crawled up to the door of a cabin in Inde- pendence Camp. He was warmly welcomed and tenderly cared for, so that on the next morning he felt like pursuing his way.
 "After hearty breakfast he started again, reaching the foot of the range at the head of Independence Gulch at 930 o'clock Tuesday morning. Another hour took him to the sum- init. He had draw-knife with him, and he stopped to fix his snow-shoes. The edges were shaved down and the pole was sharpen ed. Then, securing everything about his person carefully, and bracing himself for the perilous descent, he made the start. The crust on the snow was like ice, and neither shoes nor pole made any impression upon it. This rendered any attempt at steering or slow ing up useless, and an idea of the rapidity with which that descent was made may be had when we state that 1t was just 10 o'clock when he left the summit, and four miles be- low, where he passed cabin, he pulled out his watch, and 1t marked seven minutes past, showing speed of over mile in two min utes. 1t was while on this descent, and at tho highest speed attained, that McCaudless passed through the most imminent peril of the whole trip. As he drew near to timber line, a tall and sturdy pine, fully three feet in diame- ter, loomed up directly in his course. His hair stood on end, as every effort to swerve to one side of it proved -ein rrtil when, within a few feet of the tree, the snow had become little softened by the sun, and slight grip was taken by the shoes aud pole. Expecting instant death, and with the mentally uttered prayer of 'Good-by, Mac, the man threw him. self over until his shoulder touched the sur face of the snow. A sharp tzip, and the tree was passed in safety. On down through the timber flew the slider, and soon the foot of the range was reached in safety. From there on he used his legs with such good effect that the Twin Lakes were reached at o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday, McCandless having made 3S miles that day. Monday morning, at 10:30. he left the Lakes, and at 12:3O, two hours later, he was eating dinner at the Grant Hotel in this city.
 "The snow shoes on which this trip made are worthy of mention. McCandless hewed them out himself in his cabin. Their length is 13 feet 9 inches each, while the guiding pole is 13 feet long, McCandless is an expert in their use, having travelled, perhaps, thousands of miles upon them. In addition to his travels in all the noteworthy mining regions in America, he has visited and mined in the gold fields of Australia, sthe dia- mond beds of Africa, and other notable for eign mining countries. He unreservedly de- clares, however, that his last trip, as detailed above, is by far the hardest ana most peril ous he has ever made. He will return to Roaring Forks in few days by the same route and means"