The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-08-25
OUR WESTERN CORRESPONDENTS.
Among the Mountains Of the Mid
p. Z b. -uyklg Continent. Z : sl.. s. iafi
EsrEs PARK, CoLoRADo,l
-7-n" August, 1881. )

y.
la -fFE i--a riipG-- -1YTl-.-1 / ssot (
i-1sssa5 - EsrEs PARK, CoLoRADo,l
.n"o "a 81 ss-N" August, 1881.
To the Editor Of the ESrKnPRrsx. ~ 80 'l
The tourist meets with q succession of
surprises as he Journeys form point
to point in this scenic region, the once
great American desert 1 wish 1t were
possible to give your readers picture
of theregioB along the line Of the Union
Pacific r. R., from Denver to Iongmont.
Great wheat ,fieiis, y fellow and golden,
ready for the reaper, spread out like
great sea far as the eye can reach. In.
the distance, losnowIcapped mountains
lift their hoary heads into the purest of
ether. "Tenderfeetn in their Innocence
visiting this State,ssimagine its great
source of wealth Is In the mines, but a
trip through the Cache La Pondre farm
ing districts, and thence TO the SOUTH
ward along the foot hills through the
fertile valley of che St. Vain win dis
sipate all such Illusions. No finer wheat
is grown in the world than here, under
a splendid system efirrgiation, the crop
this year yielding from Is to forty BUSH
els to the acre. A place with the driver
is the seat of honor, and a Concord coach
with six spankingmeuntain steeds, and
Allie Perry handling the ribbons means
business. Estes Park, a silver-rimmed
basin about 10 miles square, surrounded
by the grim old crests of the Rockies, is
36imiles away. The route isSan ever
changing scene Of panoramic, views,
winding along crystal streams, through
cool and quiet glens, by the side of great
mountains, threading the recesses of
pine forests, and over tortuous noun
tain passes, the great monarchs of the
range lifting their heads thousands of
feet above, while cool breezes sweep
through the great pines, filling the air
with a werid music, like the chorus of
q. thousand mnff1ed ,Aeolian harps. On
and on, sometimes creeping over shelv-
ing rocks with scarce a foothold for the
horses, where a-mistake of q few inches
would send horses, coach, and contents
over the precipice into the awful chasm
below. Would I could picture to your
readers my first view Of Estes Park, this
Western Eden, as our six horses came
dashIng out through rocky ledges into
these great meadows, verdure-clsd, !, with
mountain streams born of the snow fields
dashing madly through mountain
gorges, or rippling through meadows
green,i while old Longs Peak, snow
capped, 14,2T1 feet high, crowned his
peak with q crown of gold, halo of
glory stolen from the brightness of the
setting sun. The sharp crack. or the
drivers whip echoes from crag to peak,
and our six horses turn into keen gal
lop, dash through the park, bringing
up at the Hotel where we were met by
our old friend Stetson, formerly of the
Astor House, who knows how to keep q
hotel and furnishes his guests with a
spread that will satisfy the most fastidi-
Gus epicure. This hotel, finely located,
is filed with guests from all sections,
and every day, parties drive, fish, hunt,
go on pic-nics, or make the ascent Of
Longs Peak or other mountain ranges.
The park Is divided into ranches the
hotel and about 5000 acres being owned
by the Earl or Dunraven, an Irish Mem
Der of Parliment. /.
There are several ranchmen running
large dairies. who have built cottages
that are filled with guests the entire
summer. One Of the finest private houses
In the Park is sElkhorn Lodge ON Fall
l. D;,or <,.w,,a "A, - b., VU = Tac.o,C T,.c.-
whose cottages are full from Spring to
Fall. He has herd of $50 full blood
Herefords. Ii one prefers q private house
to the hotel, this is the place to stop.
Rates are from 50 to $12, per week. Two
railroads are pushing their way into the
Park and next year one can leave Den
yer in the morning and dine at noon at
Stetson's, upon game, trout and all the
delicacies of the season. With railroad
facilities, mine host Stetson win need
six times his present space to accommo-
date his guests But we must scale
Longs Peak. Ponies are saddled, wraps
and provender packed, the guide gives
the order to mount, and we are of, at 5
p. M. to ride miles to Lambs at the
base of the mouHtain, where we rest our
weary limbs and dream of the triumphs
OF the coming day. with the morning
dawn all Is astir. Breakfast is over and
we are In the saddle, our eyes turned up
ward to the deep cash in the mountain,
and the oyerhanging rocks 1000 feet
high. Winding our way upward the
trees grow small and gnsrled until we
pass timber line. But the fiowers1-their
beauties are beyond description, bloom
ing year by year for centuries, seen only
by the eye of the great Creator. Pure
mountain streams dashing madly down
their rocky bed, fed by the wasting
snowand ice that cover the mountain
eide from generation to generation.
Sunrise on the ascent Is a picture never
TO fade from the memory. The gliding
of the grim old Peak, the glistening rays
of the rising sun falling on the pure
white snow and ice, the lights and
shadows shimmering through the thick
pines, while all the plain lies. .hushed in
the drowsiness of the breaking twilight,
is a picture that no master can put on
canvass. The earth, the sky, and sum
shine seem like a new creation. .-s-sl
Three miles from the top the guide
ordered us to dismount and. leave our
ponies and now business begins, and
we thread our way under shelving rocks
and over great boulders, scarcely, daring
TO look down, from our dizzy height to
the awful chasm below. Faltering and
shiyering we pick our way along
amongst rocks that seem ready to 60
pitching down the chastn at the slight