The Crest of the Continent: A Summer's Ramble in the Rocky Mountains and Beyond

A first-person narrative follows a summer expedition across the Rocky Mountains and into neighboring regions, recording routes, camps, and vivid landscape impressions. Along the way the author profiles towns and resorts such as Denver, Colorado Springs, Manitou and Pueblo, and describes railroads, mining, irrigation, stock-raising and other local industries. Accounts of ascents, mountain passes, canyons, mineral springs and prehistoric relics alternate with notes on New Mexican and Indigenous life and practical advice for travel and camping. Reflections on the invigorating high-altitude climate and the aesthetic power of alpine scenery accompany natural-history observations and economic commentary.