Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1897-02-04

THE ALMOST INACCESSIBLE
MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON.
NOW A PARTY OF EASTERN sPoRTsMEN
ARE RoUGuING IT IN THE
FAR WEST.
BY RAYMOND GOULD HOPPER.
rContinuci from last week. !

One day alter TINS lthe elk NUM- heiu
ond Mum were out on the mountain and
came upon large black bear asleep at the
base of a tree. Reid stopped short and
threw shell into his rifle chamber. As
he did so MIR. Bruin awoke with grunt
and made off only to fall dead with
bulIet in his head. The same day Mum
killed a fine specimen of the fisher.
Game birds were very plentiful, and
there was not much effort needed to keep
on hand constant supply OF grouse and
nheasants. Mountain marmots abounded,
and one night Hopper's proves made one
less wolf in those parts. This ended the
hunting on the divide. OF fishing there
was none. Lake Marmot furnished an
abundance of frogs legs, but as far as the
marty could ascertain there was not a
single fish in the icy waters.
Stanley Hopper's experience year pre-
yious will not be amiss, since it Illus
trates yet more strongly the dangers be-
setting hunters. He was up on snow
clad mountain, only few miles from his
own cabin, in search of deer. Pushing to
the extreme end OF high hog back
which ended in bold promontory, he
gazed for several minutes upon the coun-
try beneath him in the hope of locating
game.
Turning to back track, a noise startled
him AMI something jumped into the
bushes Coming upon prints in the snow
beside ais own tracks, he learned enough
to drive fear 10 the stoutest heart. a
frna e. cougar Of great size had, with her
Noamg, followed him to his place of OBJ
s.rvaiion. For quarter of Il mile these
terrible beasts had tracked him. No ami
nal, are SO much feared as cougars, and
no 4utters should I've alone when it comes
tunn encounter. Stealthy and noiseless
a. cats, they pounce upon their victims
h5e lightning. Hopper WIS fortunate
in turning just when he did; perhaps it
was not a second too soon.
or For THE PACIFIC.
On the mU>ling TT August > camp was
broken, and, according to previous mr.
rangemeut. Mum started for Lake Cush-
man with the venison, horses and surplus
camp outfit Re.d, Hopper, and Church
each took sixty pound pack and started
for the Pacific ocean. The first object of
interest was the Lindsey glacier. 1t Is
high mass of ice easily discerned from a
long distance aud rivals in grandeur
many of the already famous glaciers. 1t
gives rise to the Quinault river. The
water is white, and although it flows
with great rapidity, it is not very diff
cult to cross because OF its narrowness.
The hunters soon discovered that the
O'Neil trail was overgrown, and that the
blazings on the trees could be found only
by the closest scrutiny. Indeed, 1t would
have been difficult matter to follow the
trail at all had it not been for the know
ledge of Church, who was one OF the
ONeil party. The party worked along
for a considerable distance through dense
thickets and over large wlndfalls.
Such slow progress was made that 1t
became matter of policy, as well as ex
pediency, to resort to another method oil
reaching the lower lands. The forest was
literally covered with elk trails, and II
was to this kind of a road that they
trusted their foot steps. There WAS great
difficulty in keeping straight course, be-
cause at frequent intervals cross tracks
would lead into new feeding grounds
On many occasions when the trai! APP
peared to he clearly defined and certain
of an extended course, it would suddenly
stop in the midst OF some dense thlcket
or against a windfaIl. Any hunter who
has attempted to make his way over q
moderately rough trail with a forty
pound pack on his shoulders, cartridge
kalt II, "a riH flo HI
hand, will recognize the actual hardships
endured by these hunters. They saw q
bear hat day, but he WAS some distance
off and they did not take the trouble tc
go after him.
At night they slept by small campfire
rolled up in blankets, and after the trials
Of the day they were not troubled by
sleep-d disturbing dreams. Their sleeping
blankets, or bags, as they called them
are worthy of note. Ordinary blankets
had been folded iengthwise and ther
sewed at one end and up the open side
To creep in and pull the upper edges clos'
around the neck is easy, and thus warmth
is insured where the ordinary covering
frequently exposes the sleeper to tn.
elements.
A FISH STORY.
On the second day the fishing com
menced to be good; in fact, they did moi
have tackle strong enough to hold the
trout that were eager to grab the fly
which struck the ripple or eddy. The
stream had never had fly in 1t as hlgf
up, and The trout were greedy. Hopper
got fast to rainb that he thought
would have weighed fully twelve pounds
He played him for about an hour and hat
him on his side; then the line took hal
hitch on the tip of his rod and away wen
fish and leader. The other fish ranged
from one to seven pounds.
There, within those secluded recesses
the silraru danizeu hog unriNalpd SWAY