Probably that point was the height of a divide.

There were banks of snow in some of the hollows on the north side.

Evidently the snow had very recently melted, and it was evident also that the depth of snow through here had been fully ten feet, judging from the mutilation of the juniper-trees where the deer, standing on the hard, frozen crust, had browsed upon the branches.
The quiet of the forest thrilled Slone.

And the only movement was the occasional gray flash of a deer or coyote across a glade.

No birds of any species crossed Stone's sight.