"Heading north 5/1/24"

"May 1st Well I am camping in Colorado tonight among snowbanks 6 ft thick y at abt 1000 ft elev. I was on the way at 5.30 and got to Chama abt 8.00. There I left some film y got some more Y inquired abt my intended route, but everybody said I could not get through because of the snow. Well, I got enough grub to last me for 8-9 days, then I struck out, there

was both a road y a r.r. [railroad] going in my direction for a while. The road was impassable, nothing but soft nub so I followed the R.R. (a narrow gauge line belonging to the D y R.G.W.) up to where there was lots of snow here y tried the road for a ways as it was straighter, but the snow was so soft that I sank down to my knees every step y where the ground was bare it was mud y I had to go back down to the RR which I followed to abt 11 miles from Chama. here I cut up the hillside to the north along a bare strip of ground hoping to find a sheltered spot to camp so I

could cut across the snow tomorrow morning before it got soft. Finally I got u near the top of the ridge y here I found the snow pretty solid so I keept [sic.] going about a mile more to what looks like the last ridge, here camp, but the snow is dep nearly everywhere and the bare spots are soaking wet, but I cut a lot of spruce bough y I found a lot of dry limbs for fire wood. But by the time I got pretty well fixed up it started snowing y blowing, but it quit after a while y is clearing up but it will freeze pretty hard I expect. but that will make good going tomorrow morning. My [feet] was wet y got pretty cold

before I got camp fixed but socks y shoes are drying nicely now y I got a big supper under the belt so am feeling pretty good now. This is like camping in Alaska about this time of the year. Here is quite a few wolf or coyote [illegible] up here."