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AND PACIFIC

COAST GUIDE. 63

 

found in Colorado. They raise their snow-

élad peaks far above their compeers, ris-
ing proudly and defiantly into the clear
blue sky; their gray sides and white crests
being visible through this clear atmosphere
for many, many miles,

In the pure air of this country, objects
like these are visible fora great distance,
so great indeed, that were it named, those
who have never been in these regions, we
fear, would doubt the statement.

The altitude of the principal mountains,
according to Prof. Whitney, are: Mt. Lin-
coln, 16,190 feet; Pike’s Peak, 14,336;
Gray’s Peak, 14,251; Sopri’s Peak, 14,200;
Mt. Cameron, 14,000; Mt. Guizot, 18,228
feet; Vealie’s Peak, 13,456 feet; Parry’s
Peak, 18,214 feet; Argentine Pass, 13,000
feet; Laguna Alta, 12,000 feet; Mt. Flora,
12,878 feet; Snowy Range, 11,700 feet;
Boulder Pass, 11,700 feet; Georgia Pass,
11,487 feet; Berthoud’s Pass, 11,371 feet;
Note Pass, 11,200 feet; Long’s Peak,
14,271 feet. There are other peaks, less
high, but none the less grand and
majestic. The Alps—storied monu-
ments of poetical, legendary fame—cannot
compare with these mountains in scenes of
sublime beauty and awful grandeur.
Here, all of the vast scene is before you,
the pure air bringing the distant moun-
tains within your vision, as though anxious
that the whole grand beauty of the scene
should be visible at one and the same time.
The mind drinks in the inspiration of
the glorious vision at one draught, and
filled with awe, wonder and admiration,
the bounding heart almost stands still,
while the eager eyes gaze on the grandest
panorama in nature. From the top of
Grey’s Peaks, either of them, a morning
scene of glorious beauty is unfolded to
the visitor, such as one rarely sees in any
clime; for nature, in her wildest moods,
has never excelled her handiwork in the
panoramic view spread out in every di-
rection. European travelers tell us that
nowhere within the range of European
travel can such scenes be found—scenes
so full of beauty, sublimity and inspira-
tion.

Nowhere on the old continent do we as-
cend so high; from no pointis the view so
wide and comprehensive. From Alpine
summits, the tourist’s gaze extends over
one petty province to rest upon another.
Here, the eye fails to reach the extent of
even one portion of our country, and the
far distant horizon closes in the scene by

dropping an airy curtain, whose fleecy
fringes rest on mountain peaks and vast
plains in far distant portions of the same
fair land.

Tax SuMMIT oF THE Rooky Mountarns
—from one side cf which the waters of
numerous little springs ripple softly away,
as though afraid te venture on the vast
distance which lies between them and the
waters of the Atlantic Ocean, their final des-
tination—rears far heavenward its serried
peaks. On the other side of the crest the
scene is repeated, with this difference, that
the waters stealing away through beds of
tiny, delicately tinted mountain flowers,
are destined to reach the Pacific Ocean, on
the other side of the continent—so close
together in their infancy, so far apart in
their prime, or at their final grave—the
ocean. This point is the apex, the centre
of the North American Continent, the
crowning peak ot that great backbone,
whose iron ribs are represented by the
many spurs that branch away in earnest
support of the whole grand system.

From this point, range on range, gorge
after gorge, can be seen, interspersed with
rugged peaks, which lend a peculiar wild-
ness to the scene. Away to the east, lies
the ‘vast, grayish expanse of the plains,
looking like some great ocean, its breast
unstirred by the passing breeze, or rippled
by a single prow. Nearer, still, among
the bordering mountains nestling in the
hollows and between the brown heights,
lie miniature prairies, patches of green,
on which the rays of the morning sun fall
in folds of yellow light, enveloping them
in a flood of golden beauty. Small and
insignificant as they appear when com-
pared with the vast sea of plains beyond,
they are really large valleys, in which are
found the farming lands of Colorado.

These little valleys, as seen from the
mountain tops, prove, on entering them, to
be both wide and long. They consist of
the Norrs, Mrppun, Sourm and San
Luis Parks, which lie along, on either
sideof the line of Central Colorado. Each is
a great central park or valley in itself, shut
out from its neighbors by dividing ranges
of rugged hills, the only entrances being
along the numerous water courses, which
have their origin in the valleys, and cut
their way through the surrounding moun-
tains in their passage tothe sea. The
extent of these parks varies, the largest be-
ing about 80 miles long, with an average
width of 40 miles. The smallest of the