The Coconino weekly sun., 1892-06-30
A DAY ON SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS
Inc Beauties Of the Unlyerae as Viewed from thc Foot of IJoyIc's Trail to the summit of
 Agassiz Peak.


 Trail to the summit of
 Agassiz Peak.
 The san Francisco peaks are so nearly part and parcel of FlallstaD that they have come to be considered al sort of horeditament to the town, Yet it is tolerably safe to assert that not moro than one in ten of the inhabi- tants of the town realize the grandeur of the view that is attained at the ter minus of Doyle's trail, on the sImmit of Mount Agassiz,
 Last Sunday, at the kind invitation of Mir. Doyle, the writer enjoyed trip to this peak, in company with MT, Jones, of The Democrat, and MT. Funston, of TIE SUN. We started from town at S:30 and pleasant drive of two hours brought us to the end of the wagon road and to the beginning of the soon to be famous Doyle trail. Here we saddled the horses and began the ascent of the peaks,
 The trail is built, as Mir. Doyle eX- presses it, on the corkscrew plan, but to the writer's notion it more closely resembles streak of Jersey lightning with it's back broken in forty-seven places. It is absolutely out of the question for a person to lead a straight life on the Doyle trail. In order to get ahead at all it is necessary to do a great deal of crooked work. However, the trail is well built, broad, commo- dious and selected with view of fol- lowing the easiest and most natural grade. From scenic point of view, the site of the trail could not possibly be improved upon. As one gains height the country to the south gradu- ally unfolds to the delighted vision q painting from the master hand of na- ture, constantly enlarging, ever grow ing in beauty, marvellously increasing in soul-satisfying splendor. The pros pect behind is so entrancing that one is like the title of Bellamy's book, choking backwardn switching the head from one side to the other as the horse turns an acute angle in the trall, vaguely conscious of a growing ache in the back of the neck, caused by pro tracted tension of the muscles.
 In the course of an hour we arrived at Camp MonteVista, the camp at which Mir. Doyle has established headquar- ters, and where he proposes to erect a summer hostelry for the accommoda- ton of the numerous visitors to his at tractive resort. This point is just be. low timber line, and from appoint about twenty yards from camp, which MT. Doyle calls hls window, one peeps out from copse of pine and aspen to the whole broad and diversified area be- low. It is most beautiful and com manding spot, and we'll selected for the purpose to which it will be devoted Not -tl,e. laast -arnanes tha- blessing feic turesof Camp Monte Vista is huge bank of snow not more than twenty fec away from the ''dining room." By some curious coincidence we found upon arrival there several bottles ot Cornish beer-and right there the snow was utilized. It has become the unan. imous opinion of the party that for cooling and improving the flavor oi beer nothing quite equals a siX-foot snow bank.
 After each one of the party had eaten enough for two square meals al the camp, we again mounted the horses and once more headed for the peak. Here the journey became de, cidedly interesting, increasing in in, terest in relative ratio as the supply of breath decreased. We soon reached timber line and from that point on the sides of the mountain are entirely de- void of any sort of vegetation, the only substance in sight being thick bed of volcanic cinders of every color and tint. which is considerably more at- l tractive to look at than to climb over. However, the trail is so well built that most of the difficulty of climbing is eliminated and the ascent is compara- lively easy. Nevertheless, the tender hearted editor of the Democrat worked himself into travail of sorrow at the labored efforts of his horse and alighted from his back to give his animal a show, as he sympathetically expressed it. If we may judge by the time it took Mir. Jones to climb back on his horse again it doesn't take very long to give an animal show in this country.
 About two hundred yards from the summit the trail becomes SO steep that riding is no longer practicable and the party left the horses standing in the trail and completed the journey on foot. MT. Doyle said he took the newspaper men out in order to puff the trail. If the latter end of that trail