THE PASSES 87 



Below this point the climate is no longer arctic. 

 Butterflies become larger and more abundant, 

 grasses with imposing spread of panicle wave 

 above your shoulders, and the summery drone of 

 the bumblebee thickens the air. The Dwarf Pine, 

 the tree-mountaineer that climbs highest and 

 braves the coldest blasts, is found scattered in 

 stormbeaten clumps from the summit of the pass 

 about half-way down the canon. Here it is suc 

 ceeded by the hardy Two-leaved Pine, which is 

 speedily joined by the taller Yellow and Mountain 

 Pines. These, with the burly juniper, and shim 

 mering aspen, rapidly grow larger as the sunshine 

 becomes richer, forming groves that block the 

 view; or they stand more apart here and there 

 in picturesque groups, that make beautiful and 

 obvious harmony with the rocks and with one 

 another. Blooming underbrush becomes abun 

 dant, azalea, spiraea, and the brier-rose weaving 

 fringes for the streams, and shaggy rugs to relieve 

 the stern, unflinching rock-bosses. 



Through this delightful wilderness, Canon Creek 

 roves without any constraining channel, throbbing 

 and wavering ; now in sunshine, now in thoughtful 

 shade ; falling, swirling, flashing from side to side 

 in weariless exuberance of energy. A glorious milky 

 way of cascades is thus developed, of which Bower 

 Cascade, though one of the smallest, is perhaps the 

 most beautiful of them all. It is situated in the 

 lower region of the pass, just where the sunshine 

 begins to mellow between the cold and warm cli 

 mates. Here the glad creek, grown strong with 

 tribute gathered from many a snowy fountain on 



