trail, seeming impassable to anything but a goat, a Western
horse will negotiate easily; while others, not particularly terrifying
in appearance, offer complications of abrupt turn or a single bit of
unstable, leg-breaking footing which renders them exceedingly
dangerous. You must, moreover, be able to manage your animals to the
best advantage in such bad places. Of course you must in the beginning
have been wise as to the selection of the horses.

Fourth, you must know good horse-feed when you see it. Your animals
are depending entirely on the country; for of course you are carrying
no dry feed for them. Their pasturage will present itself under a
variety of aspects, all of which you must recognize with certainty.
Some of the greenest, lushest, most satisfying-looking meadows grow
nothing but water-grasses of large bulk but small nutrition; while
apparently barren tracts often conceal small but strong growths of
great value. You must differentiate these.

Fifth, you must possess the ability to pare a hoof, fit a shoe cold,
nail it in place. A bare hoof does not last long on the granite, and
you are far from the nearest blacksmith. Directly in line with this,
you must have the trick of picking up and holding a hoof without being
kicked, and you must be able to throw and tie without injuring him any
horse that declines to be shod in any other way.

Last, you must of course be able to pack a horse well, and must know
four or five of the most essential pack-"hitches."

With this personal equipment you ought to be able to get through the
country. It comprises the absolutely essential.

But further, for the sake of the highest efficiency, you should add, as
finish to your mountaineer's education, certain other items. A
knowledge of the habits of deer and the ability to catch trout with
fair certainty are almost a necessity when far from the base of
supplies. Occasionally the trail goes to pieces entirely: there you
must know something of the handling of an axe and pick. Learn how to
swim a horse. You will have to take lessons in camp-fire cookery.
Otherwise employ a guide. Of course your lungs, heart, and legs must
be in good condition.

As to outfit, certain especial conditions will differentiate your needs
from those of forest and canoe travel.

You will in the changing altitudes be exposed to greater variations in
temperature. At morning you may travel in the hot arid foot-hills; at
noon you will be