At the time of this conversation the young men were riding through a pass or cañon, which had a varying width of two or three hundred yards to two or more times that space. During the spring thaw, or when there was a cloudburst, it must have been swept by a tumultuous torrent which carried everything before it. Enormous boulders, scattered here and there, had been rolled from considerable distances, while others had been carried still farther down the ravine.