Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/140

Rh porcupines coming in. It was a good thing we did so, as I heard them walking round several times during the night, their quills scratching against the canvas. They and the gophers are very destructive, especially to leather, and we had always to be very careful to leave nothing out at night where they could get at it. The next morning we were up at five o'clock, as breaking up camp, fetching and packing the horses, etc., usually takes some time, to say nothing of cooking and eating breakfast, and it was generally eight o'clock before we got started on our day's march. The first part of our second day's journey was through pine forests, where, however, there was a good trail, though somewhat steep in places. We climbed up to Simpson's pass, and about eleven o'clock reached a wide, grassy plateau surrounded by hills with patches of snow here and there. About mid-day we made a short halt for lunch, but did not stop to unsaddle the horses, as we wanted to reach the camping-place at the foot of Burnt Timber hill, that night if possible. Our luncheon place was in a garden of purple asters and other mountain flowers, which added beauty to the scene, but we did not stay longer than was necessary, and soon continued our journey over the summit of the pass to Burnt Timber hill. This hill, as its name implies, is covered with the remains of trees all charred and dead by some long-ago fire, many of them fallen to the ground, often several one on another, while others are so unsteady that it would not need much to make them fall also; so that, in addition to the hill being very steep, it is very bad going, especially for the horses. However, we all arrived at the bottom, without any mishap, and were soon busy fixing our camp for the night. After supper, Jimmy amused himself by catching a gopher, with a noose of string which he placed outside its hole, and then when it put its head out, he drew the string and the gopher was