k the trail, when we stopped a few
minutes to catch breath, made one more mighty effort, and, behold! we
stood on Gray's summit, looking down triumphantly at the world crouching
at our feet. Never before had we felt so much like Jupiter on Olympus.

_GRAY'S AND TORREY'S PEAKS_

_Gray's to the left, Torrey's to the right. As the lookout of the
photographer was nearer Torrey's than Gray's, the former appears the
higher in the picture, while the reverse is really the case. The trail
winds through a ravine at the right of the ridge in front; then creeps
along the farther side of the ridge above the gorge at Torrey's base;
comes to the crest of the ridge pretty well toward the left; then crawls
and zigzags back and forth along the titanic wall of Gray's to the
summit. In the vale, where some of the head waters of Clear Creek will
be seen, the white-crowned sparrows and Wilson's warblers find homes. A
little before the ascent of the ridge begins, the first pipits are seen;
thence the clamberer has pipit company to the point where the ridge
joins the main bulk of the mountain. Here the pipits stop, and the first
leucostictes are noted, which, chirping cheerily all the way, escort the
traveller to the summit._

[Illustration]

In making the ascent, some persons, even among those who ride, become
sick; others suffer with bleeding at the nose, and others are so
overcome with exhaustion and weakness that they cannot enjoy the superb
panorama spread out before them. However you may account for it, my
youthful comrade and I, in spite of our arduous climb, were in excellent
physical condition when we reached our goal, suffering no pain whatever
in eyes, head, or lungs. The bracing air, rare as it was, soon
exhilarated us, our temporary weariness disappeared, and we were in the
best of trim for scouring the summit, pursuing our natural history
hobbies, and revelling in the inspiring cyclorama that Nature had reared
for our delectation.

My pen falters when I think of describing the scene that broke upon our
vision. I sigh and wish the task were done. The summit itself is a
narrow ridge on which you may stand and look down the declivities on
both sides, scarcely having to step out of your tracks to do so. It is
quite different from the top of Pike's Peak, which is a comparatively
level plateau several acres in extent, carpeted, if one may so speak,
with immense granite rocks piled upon one another or laid side by side
in semi-sys