When On The Trail In Cottonwood Canyon, The ZMM Narrator Can Now See Mountain Peaks With Snow. =>
….This Is Seen Beyond a Forested Ridge, That He and Chris Will Eventually Cross Over.

…. “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.
…We stop for a rest, sit down and brace against a tree so that we don’t topple over backward from the packs. After a while I reach around over my shoulder, take the machete from the top of my pack and hand it to Chris.
…"See those two aspens over there? The straight ones? At the edge?" I point to them. "Cut those down about a foot from the ground."
…"Why?"
….."We’ll need them later for hiking sticks and tent poles."
Chris takes the machete, starts to rise but then settles back again. "You cut them," he says.
So I take the machete and go over and cut the poles. They both cut neatly in one swing, except for the final strip of bark, which I sever with the back hook of the machete.
…Up in the rocks you need the poles for balancing and the pine up above is no good for poles, and this is about the last of the aspen here. It bothers me a little though that Chris is turning down work. Not a good sign in the mountains.
…A short rest and then on we go. It’ll take a while to get used to this load. There’s a negative reaction to all the weight. “

Upper Cottonwood Canyon, Gallatin National Forest, MT.

….Here are the clues, so far, as to where the Narrator and Chris have hiked =>
...a) Not far from DeWeese Home: they are in a deep narrow canyon which has very steep sides such that you must look up to see the sky.
..b) They cannot see out the canyon sides, but at one place, looking ahead (up canyon) they can see snow, which we learn is 3 to 4 hiking days away.
….NOTE: Although not stated, we may infer that the edge of the snow is their intended goal. My study of Topo Maps, for Gallatin National Forest, shows Mt. Blackmore as one of the better candidates for Summer Snow. This is some 12 miles away from the DeWeese home depending on route.
….Considering a typical walking speed is said to be 3-4 miles/hour (and a Trail Hike WebPage says 1.5 miles/hour), we might expect these 12 miles to take 3-4 hours (or 8 hours), and thus wonder why the Narrator allows .” Three days hard to the snow. Four days easy.”
…Here, Author Robert Pirsig may be allowing for 11 year old Chris to have a slower speed, and less than 4 hours per day. ’ s
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(Photo = NC8i Resize1000x1333.JPG ...... ZMM Page = 173 ...... WayPt N+C 08 6560ft = 2.23 mi fm DeWeese.)