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Steep Trails-Part27_John Muir(1838-1914)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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The lofty volcanic peaks are yet more heavily snow-laden. To their

upper zones no summer comes. They are white always. From the steep



slopes of the summit the new-fallen snow, while yet dry and loose,

descends in magnificent avalanches to feed the glaciers, making



meanwhile the most glorious manifestations of power. Happy is the man

who may get near them to see and hear. In some sheltered camp nest on



the edge of the timberline one may lie snug and warm, but after the

long shuffle on snowshoes we may have to wait more than a month ere



the heavens open and the grand show is unveiled. In the mean time,

bread may be scarce, unless with careful forecast a sufficient supply



has been provided and securely placed during the summer.

Nevertheless, to be thus deeply snowbound high in the sky is not



without generouscompensation for all the cost. And when we at length

go down the long white slopes to the levels of civilization, the pains



vanish like snow in sunshine, while the noble and exalting pleasures

we have gained remain with us to enrich our lives forever.



The fate of the high-flying mountain snow-flowers is a fascinating

study, though little may we see of their works and ways while their



storms go on. The glinting, swirling swarms fairly thicken the blast,

and all the air, as well as the rocks and trees, is as one smothering



mass of bloom, through the midst of which at close intervals come the

low, intensethunder-tones of the avalanches as they speed on their



way to fill the vast fountain hollows. Here they seem at last to have

found rest. But this rest is only apparent. Gradually the loose



crystals by the pressure of their own weight are welded together into

clear ice, and, as glaciers, march steadily, silently on, with



invisible motion, in broad, deep currents, grinding their way with

irresistible energy to the warmer lowlands, where they vanish in glad,



rejoicing streams.

In the sober weather of Oregon lightning makes but little show. Those



magnificentthunderstorms that so frequently adorn and glorify the sky

of the Mississippi Valley are wanting here. Dull thunder and



lightning may occasionally be seen and heard, but the imposing

grandeur of great storms marching over the landscape with streaming



banners and a network of fire is almost wholly unknown.

Crossing the Cascade Range, we pass from a green to a gray country,



from a wilderness of trees to a wilderness of open plains, level or

rolling or rising here and there into hills and short mountain spurs.



Though well supplied with rivers in most of its main sections, it is

generally dry. The annualrainfall is only from about five to fifteen



inches, and the thin winter garment of snow seldom lasts more than a

month or two, though the temperature in many places falls from five to



twenty-five degrees below zero for a short time. That the snow is

light over eastern Oregon, and the average temperature not intolerably



severe, is shown by the fact that large droves of sheep, cattle, and

horses live there through the winter without other food or shelter



than they find for themselves on the open plains or down in the sunken

valleys and gorges along the streams.



When we read of the mountain ranges of Oregon and Washington with

detailed descriptions of their old volcanoes towering snow-laden and



glacier-laden above the clouds, one may be led to imagine that the

country is far icier and whiter and more mountainous than it is. Only



in winter are the Coast and Cascade Mountains covered with snow. Then

as seen from the main interiorvalleys they appear as comparatively



low, bossy walls stretching along the horizon and making a magnificent

display of their white wealth. The Coast Range in Oregon does not



perhaps average more than three thousand feet in height. Its snow

does not last long, most of its soil is fertile all the way to the



summits, and the greater part of the range may at some time be brought

under cultivation. The immense deposits on the great central uplift



of the Cascade Range are mostly melted off before the middle of summer

by the comparatively warm winds and rains from the coast, leaving only






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