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Show I few Ks 3 W W T$sg a X) lsaa IE Mil Nations IfonderJand Seen 3om $te furrearie j Deck, of a: Pair of fcjs J Transformations Produce a Glorious Picture Which Is Never Forgotten. YEI-LOWST0XE- park, the nation "b greatest playground and the world "e greatest wonderland, each summer entertains its thousands of visitors from, every corner of the ylobe. Delight and awfl follow each other in rapid succession in the minds of the visitors, each superseding its predecessor, according to the moods displayed by the wonderful forms of nature in which the park abounds. "Each successive day and each successive visit onlv augment the sensations of: delieht and awe, and more forcibly emphasize em-phasize the punmess of man. i To nature lovers the summer sojourn ! conjures visions of the exquisite beauty which muirt clothe this nature won-rWla-nd io. the colder season, and impels the desire for a winter visit. But to f he average tourist the gates of the great national playground are closed during the winter' pes son. Not arbitrarily, arbi-trarily, of course, but because of the I heavy snows and the severity of the I weather, coupled wirh the lack of ac- commodations, the trip through the j park in winter is extremely hazardous. 1 However, a few parties, composed of persons more or less familiar with Yellowstone Yel-lowstone park when clothed in its summer sum-mer raiment, have braved the cold and the privations for a glimpse of it when covered with winter 's ice and snow. Of the comparatively few persons who have made the trip" Howard H. Hays i of Salt Lake is one. ; Makes Trip on Skis. i Of this trip he gives the following I graphic description: For years I had wanted to see ; Yellowstone national park in mid-! mid-! winter from the hurricane deck of . a pair of skis. Each summer, as I wandered across the reservation In quest of new views aud new experience?, expe-rience?, all nature, in the roar of the geysers and the rush of the cataracts, seemed to challenge a ! winter visit. Often on a summer i day, as my eye swept the vista to j the serrated horizon, ray contem-f contem-f plRtions were not visual, but vis-i vis-i onn r v. 1 n fa n c y I saw th e verdant ver-dant landscape before me under t lie dominion of the ice king, with the I wnterj'allq fruzen, the geysers I hampered in their functions and an eternal whiteness over all. The call of the hibernal wonderland was unmistakable; my acceptance only bided my convenience. With the snow from five to seven feet deep on the level stretches and twenty foot deep in the drifts, the only fen sib In vehicle was the ski. VVder the direction of an adept of Scandinavian extraction, let us sy t.ho ski active is a creature of grace and beauty. Seemingly endowed en-dowed with intuition, it co-ordruates faultlessly with its mate and the two glide over the shimmering i snow. Alwavp tbov move lu par-nllels. par-nllels. Holiavior Is Erratic. Tndcr the direction of a chc- I chaco the ski a-'tive is the ski rum- pant. Friendly tormentors, vrith plausible pretexts, usually induce I he neophyte to take his skis to the brow ot a hill for tho first attempt. There ilm unassuming runners allow al-low themselves to be mounted and the adjustments made; without pro-tent pro-tent they permit the unsuspecting tyro to grasp his ski pole and push off. The easy gliHn becomes a meteoric- fligh t. Without apparent caupft the skis' perfect parallels become be-come diverging lines and bodily bipartition looms up rh a dire possibility. pos-sibility. By a clumsy effort to converge' con-verge' the runners iliey are overlapped over-lapped and the pilgrim shoots skyward sky-ward and lands headlong in a drift. Hut he learns by painful experience We came through the north entrance en-trance to tho park, down through the Mammoth Hot Springs district, which is easily reached at all seasons. sea-sons. As we approached .N orris Geyser Gey-ser basin, steam rose tenfold more dense than I had ever seen in summer. sum-mer. Subterranean heat kept the door of the basin free from snow, and Ihe steam venU, the pools and the small geysers displayed their forms and functions exactly as they do in summer. Changes Are Wonderful. j On the slopes around the basin, wheto in summer the siliceous formation for-mation is parched and hard, we encountered en-countered a slipperv. plastic muss I which hung on the toot like mortar. A gene nil view of tho area was j impossible on account of tho vol- j ume of vapor that poured from ev ery geyser, hot spring and fissure. Walking waa precarious and landscape land-scape photography waa impossible. J All geologists rc agreed that i " orris is the newest of the geyser I basins. The hydrothormal activity hero gains annually in area, and po-1 po-1 nicy. We were not surprised, therefore, to discover that the finest water display was that of the so-called so-called "cold-writer' ' geyser, the Valentine, which was first report-j report-j ed on February 14, 10.10. It plays irregularly to a height of from fifty I to ToM) feet in a slender symmetrical j column not unlike the Poehive, j which has been called tho most ar- i fistic treysor in the park. At each I eruption t lie preliminary upheavals Pair ofs J vv. - , . i . 4 ArKs ivCvy x -H 3'. H,:. ... .;fcivi-- I - , ?l5A,;4 5 fflNll-; -Si' " I from tlie Valentine's throat are cold, but later the calorific elements ele-ments gain the ascendancy and the liutil outpourings are highly heated. Inside the Cone. The boiling waters from all the other spoutois flow off over the formation in winter as they do in summer; not. ao tho Valentine. The cold water from its preliminary discharges dis-charges has congealed into, a great mound of ice, which, glacier -like, surrounds the geyser's aperture on three sides. During a quiescent period pe-riod we entered the chamber of tnis cone from the open side and found ourselves iu a fairyland of frozen forms. Icy nodules, singly and in clusters, simulating familiar sea forms, lined the walls and the floor of the dell. More was a marine garden, gar-den, where it took no imagination to discover coral, st a rt'ish, sea-urchius, sea-urchius, molltisks and llu li!e. The most striking spectacle at orris was the pines, hoary with their coatings ot congealed stea.m from the geysers. Travelers through the mountain country have seen the pines snow-la dcu after a heavy snowfall. Wo saw them on every hsnd while in the park. Rut the pines at Norris are different. Willi evcrv trunk, limb, twig, scale and needle coated with frosted vapor, the pines slunnuen;i with tin splendor splen-dor oi' t inselod eh rist mas trees, nfrcn several pines, bent their loads of snow, had emlirnred each other f'ir common support. An icy snow i-nvered all. oNitriating even the outlines of the tree- and giving the whole tin1 senibianee of a silver dome. IVvond the bonier of f he Imsin :i f orsr. i Manning dead I pint's. ail cu-ered with white. l'orinoil .1 labyrinth of glil torins slalagmilos. bur party was one in tlirt opinion thnt nothinjj :is M-eirl!y beaiuit'nl as these orris ioili:ta-i:itions hll'l conic within tlie rair;i' oi our vision. 1'lioM1 who havi tov.rcl tho Vol-Uavsiono Vol-Uavsiono iviil ri :tl 1 th'1 ll'V1! Iiaino ;.i:..i io' oi.io'is ' stations loi-at?it at . . intervals along the highway. There j are seven of 'these outposts on the regular tourist roads, and as many more located in remote parts of the reservation. Often, in the summer time, as I prwx-d one of llu'si1 cosy readable collar's and louke-1, in at j the squad. louiiiJi'2 in tin' shade et ' the veranda, tlie circitinaiuiueiit an I redolent with tho aroma of cigarettes cigar-ettes aud rampant with vibrations from a phonograph, J. have thought that tho picture! deserved a place in that series of flaming postern which the war department employs to lure recruits to the, ranks. Inexorable winter knocks all the poetry out of the summer stations. Exertion, exposure anil isolation abide with them for fix seemingly interminable months, and the harshest harsh-est uf these is the isolation. As the snow deepens the horses ni vo way to skis for police duty anil the arduous daily patrols. Them is peril in these patrols. The eternal whiteness of things must; bo maddening. mad-dening. TmopiM'H and st-on t s a re not f he only winter inhabitants of the park plateau. At each hotel ami at the several permanent camps is a watchman or ' ' winter Uenprr. Some of thee men live with th"ir families; others keep cats. These keoncrs must enjoy their lonely, laity li ws. since some of them return re-turn for several successive winters. Gorge Is Thrilling. As in si in in or. so in wi nter. the firaii'l ''anyou uf the VelluTine is the s'-enie cl inin x of the t i i As we t lueioi ed or, r way in si a ide file nhuiL' the rim a pn'-:i ri on-footing on-footing and the iinniireiM-e of now slides sobered us. Tin: ouly approach ap-proach to a '-oaiinaieii'.ie: prnm. into in-to rv Point Lookout- - lay i. ve i a narrow led:."' b-ss Than ten fret in width aud piled to a heigh; of fit t'vn feet with rt rift i snow. reasonable rear-l fnr life prompted ijm u a i 'and -.n th,- ;.r.d -ra t ii ,y i a a ' ' ; h .- , r,l l . . - railed point wind-swept and covered cov-ered with about three teet of snow. H ere, where t honsands of sn in :.e-r tourists have stood, we took our first comiirehensive view oi' i ho Grand canyon in the winter. never gaze into tins trn ascendant ascend-ant gorge without a thrill. Frequent Fre-quent visits only serve I o cum u late my wonder ami delight. lu summer its mighty walls are be-dec be-dec Ii i'd in el low, a in I "r, pli rp)e. violet . red. bi own and ej ee;i - i n cver )nt". in line, o.Tept j -1 . -blue. In winter the pi'-Jnro is a UHMiochrmue. Tae .losejih 's coat i-eovered i-eovered with a snow-.' shroud. With its sheer wa 1 Is and esca rpni"i; t s mantled in white, and its poiMs and piiiiia'des ron nded ami -oi'f ened bv prodigious drifts and s 1 i.l the gorge lia-i all the semblance of ( i re.c i;; n marble, a ma usoN-n m t'or all mankind. Ice linage Foims. The ('.rent Palls of the Wlh.v.-stone Wlh.v.-stone river, at. the le-ad of the canyon, can-yon, w eve three- foil l"t lis f Mien . These falls have a vertical drop of more than '"'"o feet, and ihe t r,,en mass hung like jrverte-t faead-ot' faead-ot' a -jreai catiicrira!. -iile I staia ' t it e h one h iher 1 i; a u t lo- ' central tow.-r of the !.::m ten: ! ide :;t Salt T,a!,c cite l:r!.v the I falls aarl .,i-a;. ring the :: -.as i an ice brh.ge not ic- t h.:i, : f.-et j high. j Maid by t he ra nyoii :nii the va-t i f.n list an t in 1 outlines of th" new hotel ho-tel dominate the nort iievl - la no ! scar-. At the head of ihe gorM,. j ue panned at the .;(, of a prnea- lienl -; a. reei in o. ( tea n v a .ia- ' K.m- a lem I ircd hapji;' lomisis. popuiaiing Pi-: pine-embowered tent city at this place. 'oy-, with the tents and 0 furnishings stored and tho ground yf l.uiried in six feet, of snow, the place looked primitive, save for the secluded cabins and storehouses, iu one of wh r h u winter k coper hibernated. Wo did not, .see, or expect to see, any big game on the high plateaus of the park. The only cries that, broke the in on oton y oi' tin lonely trail wore the . elpv nf coyotes, the call of uiomi t a in Id nelords and t he , ( a uad ian jay or -a m p robber. ' ' In summer, according n catadul es-tiniatcs. es-tiniatcs. :to,ii(in rk, aU(H) blaidi-tailod blaidi-tailod nnd w hite-lailed d-scr, and se era! antelope ma ke the valleys and uplands of Yellowstone park I hoi r home. As aul uien ml va nces the aniniab lenve tin' dateau and mig'ale to the s 1 1 1 1 1 b and to the north. A band ' of :jn(j antelope vvi nter near (lardimT, a litlle vil-laL'e vil-laL'e on the north boundary of the park. The-e anirnais are fed alfalfa hay daily by the troopers. IJy Order of the superintendent of the park, hay sn is s-aftered along the roadside from Gardiner to l-'orr Ye I low s( one a distaueo of j in i les - ! h roe inics a week. A long. !hi st retell of Hi- highway we eiici.unten d hundreds; of elk a ed nuuM'i on--- small ba in Is of deer, antelope and ;,e;v Mountain she-u". ! iriv ei: b t lie s,-,',,, , f neerssdy lo this common feeding ground, they ale with b 1 i !e moi e concern than doinesi ic animals. The t rip was done. Wearv a tot content, w- put ilown tlie pob" and loo-e.i the thongs ihat bound the si.i.. 'flie call .,f !!,.. cataracts had b. mi an- .. e:.... t i,e .di;,lr-ngu of u inti'i .had been accepted. V |