AN HOUR ON KENOSHA SUMMIT

Jottings from the Rocky Mountains, mostly pencil’d during a day’s trip over the South Park RR., returning from Leadville, and especially the hour we were detain’d (much to my satisfaction), at Kenosha summit. As afternoon advances, novelties, far-reaching splendors, accumulate under the bright sun in this pure air. But I had better commence with the day.

The confronting of Platte cañon just at dawn, after a ten miles’ ride in early darkness on the rail from Denver—the seasonable stoppage at the entrance of the cañon, and good breakfast of eggs, trout, and nice griddle-cakes—then as we travel on, and get well in the gorge, all the wonders, beauty, savage power of the scene—the wild stream of water, from sources of snows, brawling continually in sight one side—the dazzling sun, and the morning lights on the rocks—such turns and grades in the track, squirming around corners, or up and down hills—far glimpses of a hundred peaks, titanic necklaces, stretching north and south—the huge rightly named Dome-rock—and as we dash along, others similar, simple, monolithic, elephantine.