I have visited on foot every part of Colorado and have made scores of happy excursions through these mountains. These outings were in every season of the year and they brought me into contact with the wild life of the heights in every kind of weather. High peaks by the score have been climbed and hundreds of miles covered on snowshoes. I have even followed the trail by night, and by moonlight have enjoyed the solemn forests, the silent lakes, the white cascades, and the summits of the high peaks.
The greater part of this book deals with nature and with my own experiences in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Some of the chapters in slightly different form have been printed in various publications. The Saturday Evening Post published "The Grizzly Bear," "Wild Folk of the Mountain-Summits," "Wild Mountain Sheep," "Associating with Snow-Slides," "The Forest Frontier," "Bringing back the Forest," and "Going to the Top." Country Life in America published "A Mountain Pony"; The Youth's Companion, "Some Forest History"; Recreation, "Drought in Beaver World"; and Our Dumb Animals, "My Chipmunk Callers." The editors of these publications have kindly consented to the publishing of these papers in this volume.
E. A. M.
Long's Peak, Estes Park, Colorado,
January, 1915.
Contents
| Going to the Top | [1] |
| Wild Mountain Sheep | [21] |
| The Forest Frontier | [47] |
| The Chinook Wind | [67] |
| Associating with Snow-Slides | [77] |
| Wild Folk of the Mountain-Summits | [99] |
| Some Forest History | [123] |
| Mountain Lakes | [147] |
| A Mountain Pony | [167] |
| The Grizzly Bear | [185] |
| Bringing back the Forest | [209] |
| Mountain Parks | [227] |
| Drought in Beaver World | [247] |
| In the Winter Snows | [257] |
| My Chipmunk Callers | [275] |
| A Peak by the Plains | [293] |
| The Conservation of Scenery | [311] |
| The Rocky Mountain National Park | [333] |
| Index | [355] |
Illustrations
| A Wild Garden in the Wonderland, on the EasternBoundary-Line of the Rocky Mountain NationalPark | [Frontispiece] |
| The Narrows, Long's Peak Trail | [14] |
| A Wild Mountain Sheep | [40] |
| The Way of the Wind at Timber-Line | [52] |
| A Timber-Line Lake in Northwestern Colorado | [64] |
| Lizard Head Peak in the San Juan Mountains Photograph by George L. Beam. | [84] |
| Alpine Pastures above Timber-Line, near SpecimenMountain in the Rocky Mountain National Park Photograph by John K. Sherman. | [104] |
| At the Edge of the Arctic-Alpine Life Zone in the SanJuan Mountains Photograph by George L. Beam. | [116] |
| A Western Yellow Pine | [126] |
| Crystal Lake; a Typical Glacier Lake | [150] |
| Trapper's Lake | [158] |
| Cricket, the Return Horse, at the Summit of the Pass | [172] |
| Looking Eastward from Lizard Head | [180] |
| Overgrown Cones in the Heart of a Lodge-Pole Pine Photograph by Herbert W. Gleason. | [222] |
| A Mountain Park in the San Juan Mountains | [230] |
| Capitol Peak and Snow Mass Mountain from GalenaPark, Colorado Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver. | [242] |
| A Deer in Deep Snow, Rocky Mountain National Park | [260] |
| Entertaining a Chipmunk Caller Photograph by Frank C. Ervin. | [278] |
| Pike's Peak from the Top of Cascade Cañon Photograph by Photo-Craft Shop, Colorado Springs. | [296] |
| The Continental Divide near Estes Park | [314] |
| Long's Peak from Loch Vale Photograph by George C. Barnard. | [322] |
| Map of the Rocky Mountain National Park | [336] |
| Estes Park Entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park Photograph by Mrs. M. K. Sherman. | [340] |
| The Fall River Road across the Continental Divide inthe Rocky Mountain National Park Photograph by W. T. Parke. | [344] |