Cottonwood chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1917-current, 1920-09-10

" IliC loB. toatN ~
follow a tortuous mountain
range, heavily timbered with
now and then a spring along the
road where ice cold water has
been led by a gutter hewn from a
solid log into a trough or a bar
rell thus providing convenient
watering places for teams or
cars. During the days when
the Elk region was booming
when mining machinery and pros
pectors rushed into that country
by the thousands there must
have been a heavy traffic over
these roads for the travel these
days would not in years effect
the heavy erosion and deep cuts
worn into the road bed that are
now in evidence on every hand.
We passed through cuts worn so
deep that the banks on the side
of the roadway in many places
were as high as the top of our
car, caused by the finding of
the heavily laden wagons and
the horses feet. Then again we
would see on the trees along the
track where single trees had
scalped the bark off trees twelve
TO fifteen feet above the roadbed
during travel when the snow was
very deep and the road bed 10 OF
II feet above the ground. Pom
dering over these things as your
motor keeps puil'ir- away with
the nose of your car turned up
at an ample that makes YOU think
YOU must soon be at the top of
the world one cannot help but
| feel that this is a real pioneer
trail and that there must be
sometime at the other end
worthy of the living faith attes-
ted to on every hand alone this
route, of the hardships endured
hv the pioneers who went into
this region to muck and MOL for
cold. We reached the summit
in due time having experienced
no trouble whatsoever, our motor
running cool even seeming to
chafe under the restraint nee
essary because of deep chuck
holes and corduroy and the steep
descent down the other side of
the mountain which bepins al
most Immediately after the top
is reachtd.
One might as well forget
High" when travelling here be-
cause you have no use for it, you
will do well to get out of low with
a high geared car. After hav-
ing reached the Summit, at an
altitude of about $500 feet the
descent to Newsome brings one
down to earth again where the
altitude is only about $500, that
is in the summer time when
there is no snow on the ground.
With full quota of snow it is
from Is to 20 feet more. Here
we noticed the first placer work
ings. and we were told that
about S5,000,000 in gold had
been washed out of these dig
gings years ago. For a few
miles along Newsome Creek the
road is fairly good but soon the
road leaves the creek to scale
another mountain range not
quite so high as the first, yet of
respectable height and rugged
ness with steep grades, so that
within a verv short distance the
road is hundreds of feet above
the creek bed. But we must
not tarry on the road too long OIL
the editors patience may become
exhausted and we are still a long
way from Elk City. 1t is not
amiss however to state that al
no point is the road DANGEROUS
that is because of narrow grades
running along mountain sides
generally being cut or Wort
down very deep so that it is next
to impossible for car to go over
the grade and also, almost the
entire route is through timber
ed region where trees line the
lower road side, neither is i
rocky or beset with high centers
lust steep in any direction yot
travel, deep chuck holes ant
: corduroy. 1t is now well alons
l towards the middle of the after
: noon and we are descending ;
: tail of the mountain range from
which we can overlook the VALLEY
l in which is situate the first oh
? iect of our trip. Elk CITY. A
: we glide down the mountain w
get glimpses through the burn
: trees which at this point wel'
+ DESTROYED by forest fires year
t ago. of brown fields and mead
nws that switches the converse