Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-08-17
TO THE DOME OF THE CONTI-
NEWT

! little mining camp OF silver Hlume, ana
| still following the west fork of Clear
Creek we pass Brownville, where. some
of the most profitable silver mines of
Clear Creek country are being worked.
| Continuing our journey till we arrived
at Kelso Cabin, we left our carriages and
| take saddle horses to ascend the trail to
| the grand old Gray's Peak, so named
| from Prof. Asa Gray, the celebrated bo-
tanist of this country Our trail led us
by the way of the Baker and Stevens
mines which are above timber line and
extensive producers of silver.
As we continued our ascent from bench
to bench of mountain level, the trail
ascends, here rough and rugged, steep
and slippery, smooth or undulating, up,
| up, mp, the air the while growing more
and more rarifed, and breathing becom-
ing more and more difficult. The vegi-
taton dwindles. and banks of snow take
the place of patches of grass, barren rocks
stand out rugged and bold, and after a
distance of two miles steep climbing We
reached the sumit, On which is built a
stone house for the convenience for visl-
tors, and is ery.sdesirable of shelter from
the storms that sweep over the peak. The
delight was almost unbounded at our
safe arrival and at the sight of grandeur
which met our eyes We were lifted as
it were into the very heavens. Here the
the waters oftwO oceans divide and course
their way in opposite directions, to the
foaming streams in the valley below. The
towering pines on the hillside. beyond,
dwindle to the size of currant bushes,
1t is well worth the hard and tedious
journey to stand on this stupendous
mountain, up here above the world aud |
look upon these scenes. We have now
reached the altitude of Is, 341 feet, being
a gain of 1927 feet above Georgetown,
or over mile. We must lose no time in
meditating, but improve all our time in
looking about us.
We of course were very anxious to |
view that holy emblem which is renown-
ed to the ends of the earth, being the on
~ one of the kind in the world We |
looked to the south west, and there in all |
its beauty lies the principal mountain Of
the Saquache range cleaning in virgin
whiteness, the "Mount of the Holy
Cross" Long do we gaze at this mar
velous spectacle and wonder at the hand
of nature having formed anything SO
grandly beautiful. The cross is at the
upper portion of the mountain, and is of |
such remarkable size and distinct con-
trast with the dark granite rock that it
can be seen nearly eighty miles away,
and easily distinguished from the sur
rounding mountain peaks. The snow
seems to have been caught in the fssure
and becoming well lodged remains all /
the year. A beautiful green lake lies at
the base of the peak almost up to the
timber line which forms a reservoir for
the waters from the melting SHOWS of the
high peaks. From this flows stream
with many charming cascades. The
height OF the mountaint;is 14,176 feet
alb We tide water, and about 60 miles
from Gray's Peak. The perpendicular
arm OF the cross is 1900 in length and
fully 10 eet in. breath, the snow lying in
the crivice from so to 60 feet in depth.
The horizontal arm varies in length
with the season, but averages 700 feet, |
1t has been stated on fact that a very pc
culiar phenomenon has taken place Oh
the upper portion of the cross, in the
snow turning red. The microscope de-
tects in the snow the presence Of mi
mute red animacule plant, called proto-
coceus which abounds in the northern
coast Of Greenland There is only one |
other case known in the United States, |
viz, on Mount Shasta, in California.
When melted this red snow becomes
clear red water, but leaving no STAIN
How it has gotten there the last few
years no one can clearly explain
To the north stand Longs Peak, stern
and rugged, above its less naughty rivals
Eastward Pixies Peak looms blackly
against the sky. South the Spanish
peaks over 100 miles away loom up IN
magnificent array. The far reaching
plains can be discerned to the eastward,
to say nothing of the vast area of snowy
SUBMITS, dusky forests, and wide-stretch-
ing plains besides-the entire panorama
Cd clear day covering several hundred
square miles. Just a short way to the
eastward is the highest wagon road in the
world 13, 100 feet above the sea level
Let me be considered too enthusiastic