THE EAGLE PEAK TRAIL

A record of animals seen was made by the Nature Guide on a recent trip to Eagle Peak which is a refutation of the remark quite often heard that there are no animals in the Park.

The Douglas squirrel scolded and chattered at us in the woods and here and there a chipmunk scurried to cover. When the first rock slide was reached the cony was observed busily making hay. Several of these were observed, one pursued by a weasel. The weasel upon seeing us quit his pursuit but a moment later was seen pouncing upon a mouse which he carried into his den. Farther up the shrill whistle of the marmot denoted he had seen us coming but by close observation we found him sitting quietly observing us.

As we climbed the last crag of the peak we found a marmot evidently a mountain climber also and bent on the same mission as ourselves, but he had chosen a poor place to climb almost a perpendicular wall and we approached to within a few feet of him. He seemed quite unperturbed by our presence and quietly faced us without in any way showing any signs of fear. We left him there and went on to the top.

We also heard the booming of the sooty grouse but were unable to locate his hiding place. We collected several species of butterflies which were very abundant in the Alpine flower-zone. Several species of birds were also noted; among them the following; Stellar Jay, Camp Robber or Oregon Jay, Junco, Robin, Varied Thrush and several others not identified.

The flowers are also very plentiful in the Alpine region near the top and the Indian Basket-grass is found there in larger quantities than in most regions of the Park. There are still to be found some very fine fields of Avalanche lily and the flowers are still quite fresh as the snow has just left the more protected slopes.