Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1915-08-12

among others. On the first day we
had seen trees covered with short
moss, but this morning we saw hang
ing from many trees long, hairlike,
light olive and pea green colored
moss. The other was the beautiful
yew trees with their dropping ever
green branches. Every one was a
tent for the passing traveller. After
leaving the highest point we came
down into a flat stretch covered with
jack pines and with. many small pit
ted rocks strewn about. was told
that these stones erupted from Mt.
Pitt in its days of activity. To the
right of us on this flat was Buck
mountain, where the deer are so
plentiful that they have trails up and
down the mountain. And every
where all about us were fresh deer
signs. And the lady at the last cabin
had told us that a few nights before
she had seen two bears following the
fence just outside the clearing.
Beyond this flat stretch we climbed
to the top and descended the last
summit. About Ashland the hills are
covered with manzanita, but this
mountain was covered with buck
brush which was just beginning to
bloom. How fragrant it was.
could have shut my eyes and i'm
agined l was walking up the path in
Highland park in Rochester with the
lilacs in full bloom. Down at the
foot of this last summit on the other
side We came into view of our friend
of the evening before, Mt. Pitt. We
had taken the arc of a great circle
and he now stood as many miles to
the west as he had stood to the north
in the morning. Before long the
boys saw the SKY" through the trees.
But soon the "sky" was rolling its
little breakers up on the shore at
our feet. 1t was the beautiful Lake
of the Woods. There in a pocket of
the mountains 1850 feet elevation,
about three to five miles long and
one wide was a beautiful fresh water
lake, clear as the mountain brook,
and warm as the white sulphur water
in the Natatorium. Now those boys
did not stand and look for long.
Soon all were gamboling like young
porpoises in the water
Two or three more descriptions
and our paper will cease. Out be-
tweens the trees overshadowing our
camp, across the lake, and beyond a
wooded ridge, stood Mt. Pitt. From
this side he appeared like a huge
pyramid but with hump in his back,
like the hump which Christian had
on his back when he started on his
journey to the Celestial City. l shall
never forget the coloring of that
mountain at sunset. First it was a
golden dust color. Then light pink
turned to deep crimson and purple,
which later faded into a blush gray
and then the dark gray of all the
night.
1t was Sunday night. The usual
colors had appeared on the noun
tain. At about o'clock the silvery
light of the moon had begun to steal
its way among the trees. By 10
o'clock what appeared to be a full
moon was sending streams of light
down through Gods great Temple
frs. Patches of light played hide
and seek with the shadows in the for
est. Every tree stood silent and
still. Not a needle quivered, not
stick cracked, the faraway cry of the
coyote was hushed, and every insect
and bird of the night was dumb.
How great it was to lie beneath the
open sky with the smell of fir boughs
in the nostrils and the prod of the
fir stick in the back, just drinking
in the glory of that perfect night in
the great woods of Gods all out-of-
doors. Let men build their stone
walls to shut God out, but give me
the freedom of the Oregon woods.
ARTHUR R. BLACKSTONE.