Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/45

Rh horizontal branches are interlaced in a way that makes following the "trail" a rather perplexing combination of climbing over, creeping beneath and squeezing between the dripping, moss-covered trunks and branches. These experiences are varied, however, on other parts of the ascent, by slipping down, while attempting to creep up, the steep, grass or fern-covered slope of a particularly lubricous clay. New forms, appear with increasing altitude, many of them rarities. The tops of these peaks are occupied by low, gnarled trees of Podocarpus Urbanii, and by head-high, mistleto-covered bushes of Vaccinium meridionale and Clethra alexandri, or by wide stretches of the fern Gleichenia or the grass Danthonia shrevei. The northern slopes of these Blue Mountains, down to the 2,000-foot level, are practically unexplored territory, with no trails, except that skirting the Mabess Valley.

All the points here mentioned, except Blue Mountain Peak, are