Then rounded mountains
rise beyond the plateau, some of the peaks reaching a height
of 4000 feet above the river. The opposite side is much the
same, but with a wider plateau. We had no idea before what a
wonderful country this is. It is a picture to tempt an
artist. High on the mountain tops is the dark blue-green of
pines and firs, reds and yellows are mixed in the quaking
aspen,--for the frost comes early enough to catch the sap in
the leaves; little openings, or parks with no trees, are
tinted a beautiful soft gray; 'brownstone fronts' are found
in the canyon walls; and a very light green in the
willow-leafed cottonwoods at the river's edge, and in all
side canyons where there is a running stream. The river
glistens in the sunlight, as it winds around the base of the
wall on which we stand, and then disappears around a bend in
the canyon. Turn where we will, we see no sign of an
opening, nothing but the rounded tops of wooded mountains,
red and green, far as the eye can reach, until they
disappear in the hazy blue. Finally Emery's keen eyes, aided
by the binoculars, discover a log cabin at the foot of a
mountain, on the plateau opposite us about three miles
away."
"We hurry back to camp and write some letters; then Jim and
I cross the river and climb out over the rocky walls to the
plateau above.
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