to spend a day in the rain at the source of a stream was an experience i had long desired, for the behavior of the waters in collecting and hurrying down slopes would doubtless show some of nature's interesting ways. on the rockies no spot seemed quite so promising as the watershed on which the st. vrain made its start to the sea. this had steep and moderate slopes, rock ledges, and deep soil; and about one half of its five thousand acres was covered with primeval forest, while the remainder had been burned almost to barrenness by a fierce forest fire. here were varied and contrasting conditions to give many moods to the waters, and all this display could easily be seen during one active day.
june was the month chosen, since in the region of the st. vrain that is the rainiest part of the year. after thoroughly exploring the ground[pg 268] i concluded to go down the river a few miles and make headquarters in a new sawmill. there i spent delightful days in gathering information concerning tree-growth and in making biographical studies of several veteran logs, as the saw ripped open and revealed their life-scrolls.
one morning i was awakened by the pelting and thumping of large, widely scattered raindrops on the roof of the mill. tree stories were forgotten, and i rushed outdoors. the sky was filled with the structureless gloom of storm-cloud, and the heavy, calm air suggested rain. "we'll get a wetting such as you read of, to-day!" declared the sawmill foreman, as i made haste to start for the wilds.
i plunged into the woods and went eagerly up the dim, steep mountain trail which kept close company with the river st. vrain. any doubts concerning the strength of the storm were quickly washed away. my dry-weather clothes were swiftly soaked, but with notebook safe under my hat, i hastened to gain the "forks" as soon as possible, enjoying the gen[pg 269]eral downpour and the softened noise that it made through the woods. i had often been out in rains on the rockies, but this one was wetting the earth with less effort than any i had ever experienced. for half an hour no air stirred; then, while crossing a small irregular opening in the woods, i was caught in a storm-centre of wrangling winds and waters, and now and then their weight would almost knock me over, until, like a sapling, i bowed, streaming, in the storm. the air was full of "water-dust," and, once across the open, i made haste to hug a tree, hoping to find a breath of air that was not saturated to strangulation.
neither bird nor beast had been seen, nor did i expect to come upon any, unless by chance my movements drove one from its refuge; but while i sat on a sodden log, reveling in elemental moods and sounds, a water-ouzel came flying along. he alighted on a boulder which the on-sweeping stream at my feet seemed determined to drown or dislodge, and, making his usual courtesies, he began to sing. his melody is penetrating; but so sustained was the combined[pg 270] roar of the stream and the storm that there came to me only a few notes of his energetic nesting-time song. his expressive attitudes and gestures were so harmoniously united with these, however, that i could not help feeling that he was singing with all his might to the water, the woods, and me.
keeping close to the stream, i continued my climb. my ear now caught the feeble note of a robin, who was making discouraged and disconsolate efforts at song, and it seemed to issue from a throat clogged with wet cotton. plainly the world was not beautiful to him, and the attempt at music was made to kill time or cheer himself up.
the robin and the ouzel,—how i love them both, and yet how utterly unlike they are! the former usually chooses so poor a building-site, anchors its nest so carelessly, or builds so clumsily, that the precious contents are often spilled or the nest discovered by some enemy. his mental make-up is such that he is prone to predict the worst possible outcome of any new situation. the ouzel, on the other hand, is sweet[pg 271] and serene. he builds his nest upon a rock and tucks it where search and sharp eyes may not find it. he appears indifferent to the comings and goings of beast or man, enjoys all weathers, seems entranced with life, and may sing every day of the year.
up in the lower margin of the engelmann spruce forest the wind now ceased and the clouds began to conserve their waters. the territory which i was about to explore is on the eastern summit slopes of the rockies, between the altitudes of ninety-five hundred and twelve thousand feet. most of these slopes were steep, and much of the soil had a basis of disintegrated granite. the forested and the treeless slopes had approximately equal areas, and were much alike in regard to soil, inclination, and altitude, while the verdure of both areas before the forest fire had been almost identical. the st. vrain is formed by two branches flowing northeasterly and southeasterly, the former draining the treeless area and the latter the forested one. below the junction, the united waters sweep away through the woods, but at it, and a short dis[pg 272]tance above, the fire had destroyed every living thing.
among the clouds among the clouds
continental divide, near long's peak
at the forks i found many things of interest. the branch with dark waters from the barren slopes was already swollen to many times its normal volume and was thick with sediment from the fire-scarred region. the stream with white waters from the forest had risen just a trifle, and there was only a slight stain visible. these noticeable changes were produced by an hour of rain. i dipped several canfuls from the deforested drainage fork, and after each had stood half a minute the water was poured off. the average quantity of sediment remaining was one fifth of a canful, while the white water from the forested slope deposited only a thin layer on the bottom of the can. it was evident that the forest was absorbing and delaying the water clinging to its soil and sediment. in fact, both streams carried so much suggestive and alluring news concerning storm effects on the slopes above that i determined to hasten on in order to climb over and watch them while they were dashed and drenched with rain.
[pg 273]
planning to return and give more attention to the waters of both branches at this place, i started to inspect first the forested sides. the lower of these slopes were tilted with a twenty to twenty-five per cent grade, and covered with a primeval engelmann spruce forest of tall, crowding trees, the age of which, as i had learned during previous visits, was only a few years less than two centuries.
the forest floor was covered with a thick carpet of litter,—one which the years had woven out of the wreckage of limbs and leaves. this, though loosely, coarsely woven, has a firm feeling when trodden during dry weather. to-day however, the forest floor seemed recently upholstered. it is absorbent; hence the water had filled the interstices and given elasticity. i cleared away some of this litter and found that it had an average depth of fifteen inches. the upper third lay loosely, but below it the weave was more compact and much finer than that on or near the surface. i judged that two inches of rain had fallen and had soaked to an average depth of eight inches. it was interesting to[pg 274] watch the water ooze from the broken walls of this litter, or humus, on the upper sides of the holes which i dug down into it. one of these was close to a bare, tilted slope of granite. as i stood watching the water slowly dripping from the broken humus and rapidly racing down the rocks, the thought came to me that, with the same difference in speed, the run-off from the deforested land might be breaking through the levees at new orleans before the water from these woods escaped and got down as far as the sawmill.
the forest might well proclaim: "as long as i stand, my countless roots shall clutch and clasp the soil like eagles' claws and hold it on these slopes. i shall add to this soil by annually creating more. i shall heave it with my growing roots, loosen and cover it with litter rugs, and maintain a porous, sievelike surface that will catch the rain and so delay and distribute these waters that at the foot of my slope perennial springs will ever flow quietly toward the sea. destroy me, and on stormy days the waters may wash away the unanchored soil as they run[pg 275] unresisted down the slopes, to form a black, destructive flood in the home-dotted valley below."
the summit of the forested slope was comparatively smooth where i gained it, and contained a few small, ragged-edged, grassy spaces among its spruces and firs. the wind was blowing and the low clouds pressed, hurried along the ground, whirled through the grassy places, and were driven and dragged swiftly among the trees. i was in the lower margin of cloud, and it was like a wet, gray night. nothing could be seen clearly, even at a few feet, and every breath i took was like swallowing a saturated sponge.
these conditions did not last long, for a wind-surge completely rent the clouds and gave me a glimpse of the blue, sun-filled sky. i hurried along the ascending trend of the ridge, hoping to get above the clouds, but they kept rising, and after i had traveled half a mile or more i gave it up. presently i was impressed with the height of an exceptionally tall spruce that stood in the centre of a group of its companions. at[pg 276] once i decided to climb it and have a look over the country and cloud from its swaying top.
when half way up, the swift manner in which the tree was tracing seismographic lines through the air awakened my interest in the trunk that was holding me. was it sound or not? at the foot appearances gave it good standing. the exercising action of ordinary winds probably toughens the wood fibres of young trees, but this one was no longer young, and the wind was high. i held an ear against the trunk and heard a humming whisper which told only of soundness. a blow with broad side of my belt axe told me that it rang true and would stand the storm and myself.
the sound brought a spectator from a spruce with broken top that stood almost within touching distance of me. in this tree was a squirrel home, and my axe had brought the owner from his hole. what an angry, comic midget he was, this frémont squirrel! with fierce whiskers and a rattling, choppy, jerky chatter, he came out on a dead limb that pointed toward me, and made a rush as though to annihilate me or to[pg 277] cause me to take hurried flight; but as i held on he found himself more "up in the air" than i was. he stopped short, shut off his chatter, and held himself at close range facing me, a picture of furious study. this scene occurred in a brief period that was undisturbed by either wind or rain. we had a good look at each other. he was every inch alive, but for a second or two both his place and expression were fixed. he sat with eyes full of telling wonder and with face that showed intense curiosity. a dash of wind and rain ended our interview, for after his explosive introduction neither of us had uttered a sound. he fled into his hole, and from this a moment later thrust forth his head; but presently he subsided and withdrew. as i began to climb again, i heard muffled expletives from within his tree that sounded plainly like "fool, fool, fool!"
the wind had tried hard to dislodge me, but, seated on the small limbs and astride the slender top, i held on. the tree shook and danced; splendidly we charged, circled, looped, and angled; such wild, exhilarating joy i have not elsewhere experienced. at all times i could feel in[pg 278] the trunk a subdued quiver or vibration, and i half believe that a tree's greatest joys are the dances it takes with the winds.
conditions changed while i rocked there; the clouds rose, the wind calmed, and the rain ceased to fall. thunder occasionally rumbled, but i was completely unprepared for the blinding flash and explosive crash of the bolt that came. the violent concussion, the wave of air which spread from it like an enormous, invisible breaker, almost knocked me over. a tall fir that stood within fifty feet of me was struck, the top whirled off, and the trunk split in rails to the ground. i quickly went back to earth, for i was eager to see the full effect of the lightning's stroke on that tall, slender evergreen cone. with one wild, mighty stroke, in a second or less, the century-old tree tower was wrecked.
leaving this centenarian, i climbed up the incline a few hundred feet higher and started out through the woods to the deforested side. though it was the last week in june, it was not long before i was hampered with snow. ragged patches, about six feet deep, covered more than[pg 279] half of the forest floor. this was melting rapidly and was "rotten" from the rain, so that i quickly gave up the difficult task of fording it and made an abrupt descent until below the snow-line, where i again headed for the fire-cleared slopes.
as i was leaving the wood, the storm seemed to begin all over again. the rain at first fell steadily, but soon slackened, and the lower cloud-margins began to drift through the woods. just before reaching the barrens i paused to breathe in a place where the trees were well spaced, and found myself facing a large one with deeply furrowed bark and limbs plentifully covered with short, fat, blunt needles. i was at first puzzled to know what kind it was, but at last i recognized it as a douglas fir or "oregon pine." i had never before seen this species at so great an altitude,—approximately ten thousand feet. it was a long distance from home, but it stood so contentedly in the quiet rain that i half expected to hear it remark, "the traditions of my family are mostly associated with gray, growing days of this kind."[pg 280]
out on the barren slopes the few widely scattered, fire-killed, fire-preserved trees with broken arms stood partly concealed and lonely in the mists. after zigzagging for a time over the ruins, i concluded to go at once to the uppermost side and thence down to the forks. but the rain was again falling, and the clouds were so low and heavy that the standing skeleton trees could not be seen unless one was within touching distance. there was no wind or lightning, only a warm, steady rain. it was, in fact, so comfortable that i sat down to enjoy it until a slackening should enable me better to see the things i most wanted to observe.
there was no snow about, and three weeks before at the same place i had found only one small drift which was shielded and half-covered with shelving rock. the dry western air is insatiable and absorbs enormous quantities of water, and, as the indians say, "eats snow." the snowless area about me was on a similar slope and at about the same altitude as the snow-filled woods, so the forest is evidently an effective check upon the ravenous winds.[pg 281]
now the rain almost ceased, and i began to descend. the upper gentle slopes were completely covered with a filmy sheet of clear water which separated into tattered torrents and took on color. these united and grew in size as they progressed from the top, and each was separated from its companions by ridges that widened and gulches that deepened as down the sides they went. the waters carried most of the eroded material away, but here and there, where they crossed a comparatively level stretch, small deposits of gravel were made or sandbars and deltas formed.
occasionally i saw miniature landslides, and, hoping for a larger one to move, i hurried downward. knowing that the soil is often deep at the foot of crags on account of contributions from above, together with the protection from erosion which the cliffs gave, i endeavored to find such a place. while searching, i had occasion to jump from a lower ledge on a cliff to the deposit below. the distance to the slope and its real pitch were minimized by the mists. after shooting through the air for at least thrice the supposed distance[pg 282] to the slope, i struck heavily and loosened several rods of a landslide. i tumbled off the back of it, but not before its rock points had made some impressions.
i sought safety and a place of lookout on a crag, and picked bits of granite gravel from my anatomy. presently i heard a muffled creaking, and looked up to see a gigantic landslide starting. at first it moved slowly, seemed to hesitate, then slid faster, with its stone-filled front edge here and there doubling and rolling under; finally the entire mass broke into yawning, ragged fissures as it shot forward and plunged over a cliff. waiting until most of the straggling, detached riffraff had followed, i hastened to examine the place just evacuated. in getting down i disturbed a ground-hog from his rock point, and found that he was in the same attitude and position i had seen him holding just before the slide started, so that the exhibition had merely caused him to move his eyes a little.
in the cracks and crevices of the glaciated rock-slope from which this mass had slid, there[pg 283] were broken, half-decayed roots and numerous marks which showed where other roots had held. it seems probable that if the grove which sustained them had not been destroyed by fire, they in turn would have anchored and held securely the portion of land which had just slipped away.
i went over the lower slopes of the burned area and had a look at numerous new-made gullies, and near the forks i measured a large one. it was more than a hundred feet long, two to four feet wide, and, over the greater part of its length, more than four feet deep. it was eroded by the late downpour, and its misplaced material, after being deposited by the waters, would of itself almost call for an increase of the river and harbor appropriations.
late in the afternoon, with the storm breaking, i stopped and watched the largest torrent from the devastated region pour over a cliff. this waterfall more nearly represented a liquefied landslide, for it was burdened with sediment and spoils. as it rushed wildly over, it carried enormous quantities of dirt, gravel, and[pg 284] other earthy wreckage, and some of the stones were as large as a man's hat. now and then there was a slackening, but these momentary subsidences were followed by explosive outpourings with which mingled large pieces of charred or half-decayed wood, sometimes closely pursued by a small boulder or some rock-fragments. surely, these deforested slopes were heavy contributors to the millions of tons of undesirable matter that annually went in to fill the channel and vex the current of the mississippi!
these demonstrations brought to mind a remark of an army engineer to the effect that the "western forest fires had resulted in filling the missouri river channel full of dissolved rocky mountains." the action of the water on this single burned area suggested that ten thousand other fireswept heights must be rapidly diminishing. at all events, it is evident that, unless this erosion is stopped, boats before long will hardly find room to enter the mississippi. it now became easier to account for the mud-filled channel of the great river, and also for the in[pg 285]numerable bars that display their broad backs above its shallow, sluggish water. every smooth or fluted fill in this great stream tells of a ragged gulch or a roughened, soilless place somewhere on a slope at one of its sources.
what a mingling of matter makes up the mud of the mississippi,—a soil mixture from twenty states, the blended richness of ten thousand slopes! coming up the "father of waters," and noting its obstructions of sediment and sand, its embarrassment of misplaced material, its dumps and deposits of soil,—monumental ruins of wasted resources,—one may say, "here lies the lineal descendant of pike's peak; here the greater part of an ohio hill"; or, "a flood took this from a terraced cotton-field, and this from a farm in sunny tennessee." a mud flat itself might remark, "the thoughtless lumberman who caused my downfall is now in congress urging river improvement"; and the shallow waters at the big bend could add, "our once deep channel was filled with soil from a fire-scourged mountain. the minister whose vacation fire caused this ruin is now a militant[pg 286] missionary among the heathen of cherry blossom land."
full streams full streams
wondering if the ouzel's boulder had been rolled away, or if the deep hole above it, where the mill men caught trout, had been filled with wash, i decided to go at once and see, and then return for a final look about the forks. yes, the boulder was missing, apparently buried, for the hole was earth-filled and the trout gone. so it was evident that forests were helpful even to the fish in the streams. i took off my hat to the trees and started back to the junction. on the way i resolved to tell the men in the mill that a tree is the most useful thing that grows, and that floods may be checked by forests.
the storm was over and the clouds were retreating. on a fallen log that lay across the main stream i lingered and watched the dark and white waters mingle. the white stream was slowly rising, while the dark one was rapidly falling. in a few days the one from the barren slopes would be hardly alive, while the other from among the trees would be singing a song full of strength as it swept on toward the sea.
the forest-born stream is the useful and beautiful one. it has a steady flow of clear water, and fishermen cheerfully come to its green, mossy banks. the buildings along its course are safe from floods, and are steadily served with the power of its reliable flow; its channel is free from mud and full of water; it allows the busy boats of commerce freely to come and go; in countless ways it serves the activities of man. it never causes damage, and always enriches and gladdens the valley through which it flows on to the sea.
a song roused me from my revery. the sky was almost clear, and the long, ragged shadows of the nearest peaks streamed far toward the east. not a breath of air stirred. far away a hermit thrush was singing, while a thousand spruces stood and listened. in the midst of this a solitaire on the top of a pine tree burst out in marvelous melody.