Here  one  meets  tourists  from  Columbia  Falls,  Kalispell,  possi-
bly Spokane.  The  daily  news  comes  from  the  west ;  Great  Falls
and  the  eastern  plains  generally  are  not  known.  Mountains  and
gaps  which  you  have  learned  to  know  by  certain  names  from
the  east  side  of  the  range  are  here  pointed  out  to  you  under  a
wholly  different  nomenclature.  The  prevailing  impression  seems
to  be  that  those  heights  are  visible  from  the  west  side  only,  and
that  the  Continentfd  Divide  itself  lies,  as  a  matter  of  course,
a  long  way  beyond  them,  a  myth,  more  than  a  reality.
From  the  hotel  a  few  trips  may  be  taken  that  no  lover  of
scenery  and  mountaineering  should  miss.    One  of  these  is  to  the


266  THB  ALPS  OF  MONTAITA.
summit  of  Mt  Brown  (8541  ft),  the  neaiest  moontain,  and  per-
hftps  one  of  the  least  difficult  to  climb.  It  stands  5400  feet
above  the  hike,  and  commands  a  fine  panoramic  view  of  the  two
ranges  and  the  TaUeys  of  the  branches  of  Flathead  Biver.  To
the  northwest,  across  the  mile-deep  valley  of  McDonald  Creek,
arise  Heavens  Peak  (8994  ft),  Mt  McPartland  (8840  ft),
and  Mt  Stanton  (7744  ft),  successively  descending  southward
and  finally  breaking  off  into  a  low  undulating  country,  almost
uniformly  timbered,  stretching  from  Lake  McDonald  westward
to  the  North  Fork  of  the  Flathead.  East  of  the  lake,  the  relief
is  more  pronounced,  yet  its  individual  features,  often  a  thousand
feet  or  more  in  height,  appear  like  mere  hills  alongside  of  the
ponderous  mountains  of  the  Lewis  Kange  and  the  other,  less
jagged  ranges  south  of  the  Middle  Fork.
Turning  east  we  behold  a  bewildering  array  of  lofty,  boldly
sculptured  peaks,  all  descending  to  the  south  in  long  rocky  spurs.
