284 CAMP-FIRES IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



" On account of the wet and heavy condition of the 

 snow, the wet slide has the greatest force, carrying before 

 it everything that offers any resistance, except solid rock. 

 These descend chiefly in the spring, the time varying 

 according to the weather. After repeated freezing and 

 thawing, the snow becomes granulated and coarse, so 

 much so that it has little or no adhesive qualities, even 

 under slight pressure. When in this condition, it is ex- 

 tremely dangerous to disturb it, as the slightest jar, or 

 anything touching it, often will set thousands of tons of 

 it in motion. Once it is under way it runs like water, 

 at least as long as the ground is steep, and it meets with 

 no firm resistance. But once it reaches flat ground it 

 stops, and the pressure from behind quickly becomes so 

 heavy that it is at once formed into solid ice, and any- 

 thing caught in it is instantly frozen. 



" One would naturally suppose that large standing 

 trees could withstand a few feet of this moving snow, 

 but such is not the case. Four or five feet is sufficient to 

 break the largest trees, or tear them out by the roots, 

 brushing them from the mountain-sides like so many 

 straws. If the roots hold firmly, the tree is broken off 

 near the ground. 



" In some respects the wet slides are not so dangerous 

 as the dry slides, for the reason that they do not travel so 

 fast, and do not spread out over so much ground. They 

 follow ,more closely the bottoms of the ravines, never 

 leaving their beds except in very short turns. On a sharp 

 curve, the snow will leave the bed of a ravine and spread 

 out on the long side of the turn for a height of from fifty 



