tell.



II

ON EQUIPMENT

If you would travel far in the great mountains
where the trails are few and bad, you will need
a certain unique experience and skill. Before you
dare venture forth without a guide, you must be able
to do a number of things, and to do them well.

First and foremost of all, you must be possessed
of that strange sixth sense best described as the sense
of direction. By it you always know about where
you are. It is to some degree a memory for back-
tracks and landmarks, but to a greater extent an
instinct for the lay of the country, for relative
bearings, by which you are able to make your way
across-lots back to your starting-place. It is not an
uncommon faculty, yet some lack it utterly. If you
are one of the latter class, do not venture, for you
will get lost as sure as shooting, and being lost in
the mountains is no joke.

Some men possess it; others do not. The distinction
seems to be almost arbitrary. It can be largely
developed, but only in those with whom original