The climate is
healthful and the weather pleasant during most of the year. In
the near vicinity much can be found in nature that is
interesting. Never-failing mountain streams, deep canons and
dark forests wait to be visited and explored, while curiosities
in animal and vegetable life abound. Not far off is a place here
perfect geodes of chalcedony are found.
Mining and ranching are the leading industries of the country and
a visit to some neighboring mine or cattle ranch is not without
interest to the novice. But, if he starts out on such a trip he
must decide to make a day of it, as the country is sparsely
settled and the distances long between camps. If the
accommodations where he stops are not always luxurious the
welcome is cordial and the entertainment comfortable. The new
experience is also delightfully romantic.
CHAPTER X
CANON ECHOES
The Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona, is the union of the
Rocky and Sierra Nevada mountains in their southward trend, and
forms the southern rim of the Great Basin. This depression was
once a vast inland sea, of which nothing remains but the Salt
Lake of Utah, and is drained by the Colorado river. The entire
plateau region is remarkable for its grand scenery - abysmal
chasms, sculptured buttes and towering cliffs, which are
"brightly colored as if painted by artist Gods, not stained and
daubed by inharmonious hues but beautiful as flowers and gorgeous
as the clouds." The plateau is an immense woodland of pines
known as the Coconino Forest.
