Where the sidehill touched the water he dug up a shovelful of dirt and put it into the gold-pan.

The story was simple to him: good prospects that warranted the starting of the tunnel into the sidehill; the three months' work and the getting short of money; the lay-off while the men went away and got jobs; then the return and a new stretch of work, with the "pay" ever luring and ever receding into the mountain, until, after years of hope, the men had given up and vanished.

Many of the draws separate bald knobs or rolling ridges of ground known as sidehills. These are often too steep to be farmed and remain in native grasses.

Black dots littered the distant sidehills shortly past Galbraith Lake, and many of them appeared to be bulls!

The sidehill-compensating cleaning shoe significantly increases harvesting capacity on sidehills. Operators benefit from improved access to the threshing, separating, and cleaning systems, made possible by lighter and more maneuverable concaves, and better concave access now that the entire drive system and clean grain elevator have been moved.

On a recent bird hunt we had to cross a couple of creeks on narrow planks, and work our way down some steep sidehills.

It is so demanding, there are lots of sidehills and uphills.

This becomes evident if you hunt enough out West, because you get to watch as elk and muleys pick their way through high-country bowls to choose bedding sites, or as they slip through pinon-covered sidehills and arroyos while traveling.

Avoid large basins with smooth bottoms and sidehills. I've seen plenty of these--and many loaded with big bucks--but seeing the bucks and getting close enough for a shot are two different things.

The key is to move slowly and carefully along cliff edges and rock outcroppings, watching not only what lies straight down but also what's across on sidehills and in canyons.

Trails along the ridges and sidehills connect these areas.

A good description for these areas is "cover breaks," places where the landscape transitions from shade to light, timber to open or flats to steep sidehills.