, 1884-02-16
The old Moaprain Trail.
The Trail Trsn Beaver creek 10 Priishard
creek n 10 Was l,sI Fall.

peccng some OF the rrieDt2ries OF Beaver
Creek the previous day. Ind being unable to
get To bedrock on account OF water, my
partner and myself made an early start TO
cross thediviie which humpsitselfas wagon
wheel between Beaver and Pritchaid creek.
These creeks are distsnt iron each other
only eight miles, but the trip Is rarely made
In less than four hours, and on the present
occasion, owing TO a blizzard .; snow
storm prevailing, nearly SIX hours were con-
sumed in the urney. have since known
as many days to have been sp5ns unsuccess-
fully in attempting to break the snow block
ade over the same tran. We Lit the fiat at
Al early hour and assembled Trail creek. a
tributary OF B aver, over 4 fairly Level but
desperately muddy trail for two NIL ;, and
then branching OF. comm need the scent Of
the divide. The steep slopes Of the noun
tam are deasely covered with q scrub
growth Of timber and underbrush. Over
head Is a veritable canopy Of evergreen,
through which the snow slowly drifts and IS
whirled in our faces by the eddying gusts
which make themselves felt even in the
dense thickets OF this primeral forest. The
forest fires; our path is lined with the
charred trunks Of aged and gigantic trees,
while our feet tread on soft cushion Of tsm-
araek leaves and tir cones. The trail winds
Ia and out and around aud among tha live
timber, and frequent hats a'e made 10 en-
able our ack horses to leap tie fallen legs
which oEs,ruct tie tr3il at nearly every pace
As We ascend, the trail becomes more pre-
cipitous worse than any part of the eighteen
miles OF iougi travel between the Mu!lan
read AM Beaver, and the upward climb is
correSpOnd!ngly difficult and ainful. The
rariiied a.mC sphere of this lofty elevation Is
oppressive to the lungs Of man snd beast,
and the lator Of the ascent ccmpels sach
deep Iespirs.ian that the heart beats With
pressure that threatens to burst its bounds.
A cattingly cold wind is blowing, the sEow
fails thickly through the matted a:bor Gi the
forest until the faint trail is lost nom view
ty the failing fakes. ard other signs famil-
isr to mountain men are relied on TO conduct
us to our destination And still the ascent
becomes more abrupt, the wind bloSs harder
and colder, the snow falls faster ard thicker
AID the gitom Of tie forest deepens, al
though !. is high noon. as we approach the
top. AS the pack animals carefully pick
their way through the maze OF fallen timber
they have the appearance of eiInging 20 the
mountain side Ike flies. Al every upward
step the packs sag backwards on the taun-
ches Oi the animals N q m2nCer which, IL
the nlzr.oot, would make it appear ut
terlg impossible To- the beasts To proceed.
In due TIM the summit is reached. As the
pack aain ais attain tbs elevation thsy vent
a sI.h Of relief that Is almost human IN It's
expression, apd then hegIn TO EOze among
the sn1w for tooihfu!l Of scanly Ls.bags-
Around US are the gloomy snlItud-s ot the
forest. We stGrd On a sGdi lie Cr depression
of TIE mountain range, with g. endless s-s's
OF ascen,ling Ie:ghts ca e.tner h2nd- Bs-
hind and before Us Al OcCa Eo8sl pstcA Q.
sky Is revealed, ss we osero * The tree
tops. The w.uls blow raw and coli, AID
It wii-.l-s dismsily sm1ng the trees VI the
forest. With this exception tie silence -
oppressive uat;! relieved ty the eteerY
chirp of Squirrel who plays and watches
Us from tie branches OF a bull piae. Th,re
is cold mai sly IN these le.Eote nedptaIn
businesses at suea season, TIN. leaves Its'
imprint On the SOU, and even The mad thirst
foI gold is forgotten IN al almost inToian-
tary worship from the cOnte npla'Ive heart
IL these gloomy so!itGdes.
Having by tins time recovered O1r ,ecoud
wind We C, mmeuce the descent II Pritehard
creek. Bal as tie trail VAS on the climb
from b aver It was infinitely wore on the
descent TO Prltchard c7e k, snd WAS GER
tainIy not Improved BY the depth Of Sow.
1. is on piteh so steep that many land
slides have occurred, which havein Plaoes
sUert the Inouritain clear OF trees snt sUL TO
the Se;r,ck. Doxn this delightful thor
ousbfare we slid rather than wslaed; even
the animal, found difficulty in keeping their
feet and on one occasion tEeg stumbled and
.eIi so that the packs had 70 BE- uulOaded be
fore they could recover taeIr feet About
midway 90 N the mouEts'n the trail struck
ehe head of the land slides and the way for
short G'ssanee vas complra,iysly level, bat
worse than sliding down greasod pole
The slides consisted OF ioose sci that had be-
come detich d from the bedrock, an1 bad
slid down the mountsil Until is couEse vas
arrested. Above til. slides uamsIous large
sprlng, ggshed forth, whose water wss ao-
s9rbei by the loose esltI CT the side. until
il became al out the consistency OF deer
HEX. aud the firmn6ss OF ostmssi mush.
Our WY lay through tins morass. and night
brarely did We pull at the birdie ana "nip
.be horses one ct time until alI were safely
extricsted from tie horrible apd botkomless
mess in which the7 sank ielly deep at every
imp. There were IL al, three OF these
sw.mps. n-i,her bet nor worse than VS.,
the o.her, but they were happily crossed
yitbou. = nor. ser-o1s m.saGrentIre than
brsaking a pack saddle AID the conse-
quznt displacement OF tine pack from the
back cf TIE quadr1l-1 into the mud Rs
IoadiHg, We continued the de'csn;, finally
arrived at 20 -bo.ne," on PritehArd cresk,
and piuDging INTO the storm and gloomy
shadows 0: tie gigantic cellars on the bot
ton. We pu he'd On down to E,gie CITY and
fiualIy arrived al that Lgely +anp" c0'G,
vet, tired AID hungry. "C-mP" Is a. e.
,stic word and may BE stretched to meade
. uic-nic tent and huckle3erry bush in the
mountains or city the s ze Of Denver, a2d
80 we postpcne description CT our camp
until amt ser lssue-
Al.
Raising Cheeks
Simon Mcmahon was arree.ed- On fndsy
BY Constable Ireland for raising checks
Some time since he presented . check to the