Saturday July 25

This morning everything was so wet that we didn’t leave camp till ten.  The sky was clear and the sun soon dried things.  A little squirrel had had a good feed on our flour during the night. 

We followed the creek then started to climb. Isabel’s horse lost a shoe. We climbed through alder stretches which were very thick. The wild parsnips were growing so high that you were hidden in them while on foot. Some places were very steep and we had to get off and hang on to the horses’ tails to help us along. Tony refused to let me grab his tail so old Frank often had a double burden.

We reached the top in about two hours and found ourselves facing a very strong cold wind which was a complete change to the heat of the valley below.  We stopped and got out our sweaters and warm things but we were still frozen.  The mountain is a flat plateau and for over eight miles we rode along the edge. The path is sometimes no more than a half a foot from sheer cliffs. 

Down below was a wonderful scene—stretches of valleys and hills, with patches of green amongst the darker shades of the trees. These patches look like smooth lawns with daisies on them.  The daisies were the huge blossoms of the wild parsnips, some of these clusters being over a foot across the top.  While going around the edge we looked down and there in full view was a large moose with immense horns. We saw him standing there fully a minute before he located us and was off with a bound. Later we saw two beautiful deer feed on the green patch away down in the valley.  They only looked about two inches long and there was a young hurricane of a wind blowing against us, but when we shouted they heard us, showing their keen sense of hearing. They floated away as if on air.  After that we saw no more game.  We came to a stump carved out as a head and some Indian writing o it.  Then we turned inland and came to a spruce forest and later reached the lake.

Nose Mountain

It covers about 150 acres and is surrounded by huge pine trees. The river flowing out is very still and deep.  We found a fine spring under the trees and tonight we sleep on deep moss under pine trees.  We tried fishing. Leslie and I had no luck but John caught two.  There is a deserted Indian encampment near, with teepee poles, a pail up in the tree and a suspicious looking mound where there are evidently things hidden.  There are four huge logs, each shaped at the end down but the lake, two large paddles shaped out of trees, own down by the lake the other hidden in a tree.  Then there are small flat paddles about two feet long evidently used as floaters for there are poles stuck slanting in the ground at the edge of the lake which must be where they dry their nets.  There are also night lines with huge hooks.  We couldn’t decide what they would catch till  baited them with large pieces of meat and we decided he was out after whale, there was also some talk of a sea serpent. 

"at the top of the mountain"

We ate late around the camp fire, pine makes a bright hot fire and after the cold winds of the cliff’s edge we appreciated it.  Before going to bed we had onion sandwiches which is one way of keeping the mosquitos from bothering you.  The woodpeckers were making a hollow rapping across the lake and everything was still except that John wanted to know, just as we had about got to sleep , if it were proper to wear his hat to bed, but nobody was interested if it was or not so be was left to decide for himself and as he was up long before any of us in the morning we never found out.