, 1922-11-30

time in the ffty-four years since man set his
lot on The Summit. And this Is a feat to set
talking mountaineers all over the world. For the
E1ountaln-c climber of all the world know Longs
Peak. Many from the ends of the earth have
climbed 1t. But the challenge of the Chasm Lake
(east) front has daunted the boldest-until Prof.
James w. Alexander took 1t up.
1 have looked upon Longs Peak from every
point OF the compass / have looked up to the
heights above from Chasm Lake. 1 have looked
down from the heights above to Chasm Lake. I
have seen the crest when the naked gray granite
turned to ruby under the first touch of the sun
rising behind the Twin Sisters, with the lesser
peaks that rim Tahosa Valley still in the shadow.
I have seen the crest haloed by the crimson glo-
ries Of the sunset. ! have seen 1t by sunlight and
by moonlight when It was white with new-fnllen
snow. ! have seen II black with storm-cloud.
And for many an hour have | watched the sheer
preciplce OF Longs from the front porch of
my cabin on the slope of the Twin Sisters III 500
across Tahosa (Dwellers-in-the he Mountain-Tops)
Valley. 1t Is distant six or seven miles of eagles
Hight. Two of the small pictures $ ,ow Longs
C4255). Meeker left. 13.911) and Lady Washing
ton fright. 13.269) as seen from my cabin. | see
but the upper half OF the preclpice. The lower
half and Chasm Lake are shut or from view by
the great moraine thrown up by the ancient gla-
cier that dug East Gorge.
So / have stared and marveled that Nature
could produce as she has so tremendous & thing
as that giant p~reciplce. For II Is as II some Titan
had split the great peak clearly In two and had
CuTTleu OH one OI the nalNeS. NO enrthQuake,
mind you! And no volcanic uphenval. A glaciers
work In the ancient times. supplemented by the
ceaseless labor through the ages OF sun and frost,
snow. water and Ice.
And always have / said to myself: Opportunity
knocks but once on a mans door and Is gone. Here
she takes her stand and beckons. Does she lure
man to fnme or deathf'
Yet the king" despite the menacing challenge
of his East Front, IL benign ut times and often
extends a genial welcome to the summer visitor.
There Is n trail that winds and twists by Boulder
Field and Keyhole and The Trough and The Mar
rows md The Homestretch to The Summit. And
every foot OF II Is grnndly scenic. us II the king"
Ind made this trail to show or his records of earth
In the making. For ancient glaciers have left
their impressive records on all sides In gigantic
chasms, gorges and MORNINGS and In beautiful deep
valleys with forests. lakes and streams.
The Register on The summit shows that one
quarter Of the successful climbers are women and
the names Of many boys aud girls are there. Yet
the ascent Is only for the nble-bodied and the
level-headed-and when Nature smiles on the en-.
deavor. one of the small pictures shows how the
climbers are perched between heaven and earth
on The Narrows. But the View from The Summit.
one Of the great sights Of earth. is their reward.
Longs Peak is the browning scenic fenture OF
Rocky Mountain National Park. by far the most
popular OF the nineteen national parks. with m
attendance In 1921 OF 273. 73T-npproximately TINT
~ Yellowstone, Yosemite. Mount Rainier and Cha.