ome land.

These mountains mean much to the state of Washington, both for their
scenic grandeur and for the favorable influence they exert on the
climate and on the lives of the people who build their homes in the
valleys below. Their supremacy is reflected by the thermometer, the
barometer, and the aerometer; for they help regulate the temperature,
the rainfall, and the wind's velocity. They form great repositories for
the waters that feed the streams and keep full the cities' aqueducts.
Within their immeasurable depths lie buried huge deposits of precious
and useful metals, besides vast fields of bituminous coal. Their lower
zones provide fertile and safe localities for the growth of Washington's
big timber, while the alpine meadows above secure for the timid deer and
ptarmigan asylums of temporary freedom from too frequent disturbance by
prowling huntsmen. Still higher are the rugged bare prominences,
reserved for the wild goat or mountain sheep, and the snow fields
traversed by the more venturesome seeking to gain the summits.
Everywhere the true sportsman finds ample opportunity for proving his
prowess, while trailing the beast to its lair, and the sight-seeking
mountaineer is fully rewarded for all the struggle required to reach
some dizzy height.

[Illustration: A GLIMPSE FROM PACK CREEK

A CREVASSE

AT THE SUMMIT

SHUKSAN FALLS

LAKE SIX-THOUSAND FEET

MOUNT BAKER FORTY MILES EAST OF BELLINGHAM.]

Within the immense bosoms of these mountains nestle innumerable lakes,
beauteous beyond compare, near whose shady shores is many a sequestered
spot, most tempting to the camper who loves the mountain region; and
many a brook goes trickling over its stony course to join the rivers
below, pausing here and there in some shady dell to create a deep pool
for luring the fisherman, or hurling itself over some lofty precipice as
a waterfall of wonderful magnitude and magnificence.

The mountains are a link connecting us with the past. They remind us
perhaps of the period when volcanoes belched forth their fiery refuse,
or of the era when the sea covered most of what is now land.
Indestructible they stand and their rocky heights are in places
insurmountable. The works of man trespass everywhere else, but these
huge pillars of the ages rise in their majestic splendor and with
sublime dignity seem to say: "Thus far and no further! We will preserve
and guard your water and fuel supply. We will protect you from the
fur