ten o'clock before
There had been some debate as to the way they should go ; but they determined at last to take the valley through the cliff wall , and to strike to the right whenever they came upon a likely spot for crossing . Two such attempts were made in vain , the upper slopes of snow being found too steep for the horses to climb ; but at the third , which was made just after morning broke , they succeeded in getting up the hill to their right , and , after great difficulty , descended into another valley . This they had little doubt was the one that led to the pass , for from the hill they could see the great peak along whose foot the trail ran . It was ten o'clock before they got down into the valley . The snow was beginning to be soft on the surface , and the horses were tired out . They therefore halted , made a fire with two or three of the logs they had brought with them for the purpose , boiled water and had breakfast , and gave half a bucket of gruel to each of the animals . Then wrapping themselves in their buffalo robes they lay down and slept till late in the afternoon .