Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-11-06
ON THE HEIGHTS.

The story in the News" of the re-
cent climbing of the peak of one OF
the Big Cottonwood twins" and the
climb remind me Of another feat of
climbing on wager The person who
gave me the incident Is well known In
Salt Lake City, and has been for years
a prominent figure in the work among
the granite boulders in Little Cotton
wood. All who are familiar with
"Wasatch' will recognize the two i'm
mense granite rocks that appear to be
merely sitting on the northern heights
of the canyon where nestles the old
Sumner Home. / have a good look ut
them every time l am In the cany.n
and always wonder when they will
get n move" on themselves and come
down to stop at the hotel. one OF
them, as seen from the villa, looks like
a huge bench with convenient foot stool
in front. With a fondness for ancient
Norseland mythology, and seeing so
much about the canyon suggestive of
the "Old Thunderer." l named that
rock Thor's Chair, fancying that there
he might have sat and Glove the noun
tains in the long ago Telling my
friend of my naming of the rock re-
minded him of his having climbed to
it in 1858. A party of workmen came
into camp early in the morning and one
of them said Il will wager n gallon
OF whisky that no man here can go to
that rock and back in a day" Four
men (dry mem accepted the wager
nd CT nh cd ,ttf I'D
reached the rock and returned to camp
before dark. 1t was fully equal to the
recent trip fromMurray to the 'Twins.'
l threw off the blankets and turned
out" in Alta at o'clock yesterday
morning. The mercury was 16 degrees
below the freezing point. Drinking a
cup of coffee | tramped mile or more
before breakfast and my fingers tin
gled as IL the mercury had been
frozen. But such a morningl My sis
ter. Aurora Boree Ellis, came up the
eastern slope through a sky in which
there was not the faintest sign of
cloud In her hair, like a heavenly
Koh-i-noor, cleaned the morning star.
Her swift feet sprang from peak to
peak as she flew painting before her
lover, Sol, and she disappeared in the
skies as the god of day flung his far
piercing searchlight over the mountain
tops and down the mighty clefts.
l was out all day In the snow and
never did Alta appear to me so beauti-
full. Not vestige of dirt anywhere
visible. The house was in order The
chamber busted. the bed made up. the
spotless counterpane smoothed down
and everything ready for the last rest
and the dying sleep of the old year.
Every apex and cliff shrub and tree,
We're adorned with a daintier lace or
frost, mot made with hands" than
ever fell from the loom of most skifull
woman.
told the Nestor OF the canyon-dear
mountains even better under the snow
come up here in Feberooary and get
chased by a snow slide and see how
you like 'em" Fritz is awfully pro-
sale. He has rooster. but no hens,
and feeds magpies just TO torment that
rooster. Recently he located a claim
| covering the Frederick dump. tunnel
| and buildings. on ore he found n few
feet below the surface in the engine
room. and he had the gall to call his
claim 1.-The Rooster" FrltzR wicked
ness to the poor bird is vlllainous. Yet
he is, apparently. one of the best fell
lows on earth. For q quarter of a cen-
| tury he has been in Alta. and for years
he has lived the winters through alone
in the Frederick with only cats for
companions Even now that he has n
rooster he contemplates killing 1t for
Christmas. He has been in several
snowslides. and some day, when the
snow is deep on the heights, I may tell
You his story.
CHARLES ELLIS