What the day would bring forth very few could have any idea.
Go on they must, and this direction seemed most promising.

If the snow should prove hard enough to hold up the oxen they could probably cross before night, but if compelled to camp in the snow it was a doubtful case for them.
The snow held them as they advanced on it, but grew a little softer as the sun got higher.

The tracks of both men and animals were stained with blood from their worn-out feet.

When they turned the summit they found more timber and the ravine they followed was so shaded that the force of the sun was broken, and they really did not suffer very much from slumping through the snow, and so got safely over.

Not far below the snow they found a running brook of clear, sweet water, with willows along the banks and trees on the hills, the first really good water for a month or two.