It Is About 4.5 Miles From The DeWeese’s, And Chris Is Showing Severe Fatigue.

Start of Chapter 17: …. “It’s looking bad for Chris. For a while he was way ahead of me and now he sits under a tree and rests. He doesn’t look at me, and that’s how I know it’s bad. .. I sit down next to him and his expression is distant. His face is flushed and I can see he’s exhausted. We sit and listen to the wind through the pines. .. I know eventually he’ll get up and keep going but he doesn’t know this, and is afraid to face the possibility that his fear creates: that he may not be able to climb the mountain at all. I remember something Phædrus had written about these mountains and tell it to Chris now.“ [Here, Chris hears the story about the moose. This takes his mind off his troubles.]
.
Fox Creek Canyon, After Turnoff From Upper Cottonwood Canyon, Gallatin National Forest, MT.
As already mentioned in a previous photo => At first I thought WayPt = N+C 05 or 06, might be where the Narrator turns into the smaller, seldom entered canyon. But this route did not fit the Narrator's overall story.
…However, further study of Topo Maps, found that Fox Creek Canyon is large enough, that it well fits the ZMM Narrator’s Climb Trail into "a seldom entered canyon."
,,,Indeed, Fox Creek Canyon well fits the Narrator’s much earlier statement => "Just up above the top of the ridge the snow can be seen now. On foot it’s many days away though. The rocks below it are too steep for a direct hiking climb, particularly with the heavy loads we are carrying, and Chris is way too young for any kind of ropes-and- pitons stuff. We must cross over the forested ridge we are now approaching, enter another canyon, follow it to its end and then come back at an upward angle along to the ridge. Three days hard to the snow. Four days easy. If we don’t show up in nine, DeWeese will start looking for us."


…But intensive study of both Topo Maps and GoogleEarth, forces realization that => The Narrator statement =>. "We must cross over the forested ridge we are now approaching, .... ", can NOT be literally true, because the " the forested ridge ", which is seen below the snow, would be far too difficult to " cross over", especially considering, there woud be much steep climbing & descending, without any existing easily traveled trail. And it would far easier to follow the well traveled NF Trail along Cottonwood Creek, until they are far enough along to " enter another canyon, follow it to its end."
…For these reasons, the last part of the above Narrator’s passage is AMENDED to => “ We must follow a well-traveled trail, until we are well beyond the forested ridge we are now approaching, enter another canyon, follow it to its end and then come back at an upward angle along to the ridge, getting close to snow."
….And after they reach a crest on that ridge, there will be visible, a somewhat straight path to the snow! All excellent “clues” for field verification!!


BOTTOM LINE:
…Here we can see in these Narrator’s statements, specific identifiable clues for parts of their route up!
…Important clue to find for this => The Most Likely Gallatin National Forest Mountain Route That => Fits The ZMM Book’s Narrator + Chris Climb Narrative.
…These trail clues will be further discussed in the next ~26 Photos, where will be illustrated => The Most Likely Gallatin National Forest Mountain Route That => Fits The ZMM Book’s Narrator + Chris Climb Narrative.
********************

(Photo = IMG_0045 Resize 3355x1000.JPG ...... ZMM Page = 179 ...... Photo Simulate WayPt = N+C 10c ~6920ft = 4.5 mi fm DeWeese. )