Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-01-07
4 BEAR AND SNOW RACE.
from the Philadelphia Times

II seldom happens that such co1nblra-
ton Of terrorS are met with as were encoun-
tered by George T. Clark, Of Denver, in his
recent Trip to Breckenridge. near which
place he has some valuable mining proper
ty. Mr. Clark has just returned from BTeck-
enbridue. II started out one morning" he
said. "to visit mountain located about six
miles southeast Of breckenridge. | went on
| horseback TO the base OF the mountain, tied
NV horse and went up the side on snow
shoes. CARRYING rifle and stall. The SNOW
was two feet deep. The walk WAS L good
stiff one Of two and half miles. | attend
ed to the work l had il hand, aud as the
tlav was liue determined on enjoying a
somewhat more extended hunt than l had
originally intended. / sGirted around q
clump of aspens on the northeast side OF
the mountain, keeping the location OF MY
horse in sight, and passed over the range
and Strucl; up through some struggling
pines Tor :; mile or more, keeping close 10
the ridge. / got on the fresh track OF Il bear:
and followed this up close 10 timber line;
| and finding that the game had crossed the
ridge determined to follow. | again pass
ed over the ridge, and for the first time dis
! covered that | was much higher than | had
any desire to be- Still there was Il good de-
cline before me, nearly tivcmilcs, over which
| Icoud skim on my snow shoes like :. bird on
| the wing. 1t was very steep, however, and
| had | been less expert IN the Use OF snow
shoes ! should have hesitated to attempt
the descent, but bracing my staff under my
! arm, setting my course for the direction ot
my horse, and singing my rifle in stich
manner that it could be brought readily into
use in case | caught sight OF the bear, which
| | Observed had taken the route that | was
| about to follow. l started. The snow was
| lust right for coasting, and swept along
| like the wind down the mountain side.
had only proceeded about quarter OF q
mile, however, when was forced t0 slightly
| deviate from my course to avoid a thick
clum OF trees. Suddenly the head OF huge
| grizzly bear was pushed out from under
some wild rose bushes, on the seeds of which
bears feed, almost directly in front Of me
| and not more than ten rods away. Quick
is :; flash brought my rifle to my shoulder
and fired I knew that | had struck the
| bear. for he gave roar Of pain aud rushed
| after me. went By like flash. Settling
back on his launches and placing his fore
DAVIS in front Of him, he started after me.
| was not much alarmed at this, however,
as mad frequently seen grizzly bears slide
down mountains in this way, and felt GER
tain that ! could beat one Of them. But in
the rush he made at ,Ire ] noticed that he
| he'd looscned lot snow, and The fear Of II
snow slide SHOT across nay mind. l took n
| quick glance over my shoulder and saw that
my worst fears were realized. knew that
nothing could stop the slide. lfit were not
| forthe pursuit the bear could have stopped
at the Start and allowed the comparatively
| light rush Of snow TO pass me, but it was al
ready too late for this and the bear was gain
ing on me The bear roared with pain from
the wound had inflicted upon him, until
his voice was gradually drowned out by the
increasing roar Of the snow slide, which
was already an awful avalanche. | did not
dare to look again for several moments, du.
ring which l shot through half a mile Of
clear space and struck through cump Of
heavy pines Occasionally a boulder which
had become disengaged from the main mass
of snow and debris would come alongside OF
me and then leave me in the race, carried
on by its greater gravity. Entering the
clump of pines again glanced back mo-
memtarily, and through the mist Of flying
snow, not more than rod behind, | saw
the cleaning eyes Of the grizzly. Then all
my attention was required TO Steer my
course safely at the mad gait at which was
going through the trees.
'Iu an instant ! had whisked through the
forest, the trees of which appeared to be
flying up the mountain in Il grand charge
against the now overwhelming masss of
snow and rocks. and in another instant
they had Joined the conquering avalanche,
and were engaged in the pursuit of me and
the bear. could scarcely see on account
of the binding drift Of loosened snow which
had been aroused and the speed at which /
fl,.1 f,,,, do
Suddenly l found my self flying through the
open air. and then again l struck the noun
tain. l had passed over 81 dreadful gully at
least hundred feet in the clear. and the
thought flashed across me that | had at
least got rid of the bear. But hot breath
upon my neck convinced me of my error.
The bear had also crossed the gully in safe.
ty and was still gaining upon me. He evil
IDENTIFY felt that he had me, and gave a say
age roar Of triumph which sounded above
the roar and din Of the avalanche. | was
saved by a miracle. l glanced over my head
lust in time to see huge boulder crush the
bears skull and bound harmlessly over my
head. But while the bear was out of the
race the odds We're largely in favor of q
snow slide for winner. Already the drift
ing snow was above my knees, and | cx-
pected momentarily to share the fate of the
bear from some of the boulders hurled ont
of the terrible mass of moving matter SO
close behind. I had still mile and a hall
to go, and while I was sweeping along with
almost lightning speed the conviction was
growing upon me that l would soon be
part of the snow slide. Suddenly, as if by
inspiration, thought flashed through my
mind. It was that I could increase my
speed by adding to my specific gravity. !
cast my eye quickly to one side, and
seeing boulder bound out of the mass OF
matter, grasped it in my arms. The effort
| a1,,, o,t ooet NO NV 1;fo for ;f Tho snow ha6