Trees, Fjords, 

 and Salmon 



British Columbia and the Yukon 



The outstanding feature of this province is its trees. We remarked 

 earlier the impression that the first paltry and isolated specimens 

 that we encountered on coming down from the Arctic made upon 

 us, and in the Canadian Lakes province we have already seen 

 trees in as great a mass as anywhere on earth. But these were 

 really very modest plants, having trunks of only a foot or so in 

 diameter at the base; and few, even in the deeper and more 

 sheltered valleys, topped more than fifty feet in height. As soon 

 as we enter this province, however, we see many changes, most 

 notably in the variety, size, and height of the trees. 



In order to understand this province properly one should 

 probably attempt to see it both by sailing down the coast and by 

 traveling overland. On land the ideal would be to start from a 

 point east of Lake Mayo and travel straight south over the great 

 Pelly Range to the region of Lake Teslin, cross the Alaska High- 

 way there, and then proceed somewhat east of south over the 

 Cassiar, Stikine. and Skeena mountains to Hazelton on the west- 

 to-east road from Prince Rupert to Prince George (the only one 

 that crosses the province apart from the Alaska Highway). From 

 there it would be best to turn slightly to the east again along 

 the Bulkley Mountains to Tweedsmuir National Park, and then 

 go straight ahead via Lake Chilko to Vancouver. But you cannot 

 do this today unless you organize a fairly large and expensive 

 expedition because there are no roads, or even paths or hunting 

 trails, anywhere along this line, while the country goes up and 

 down like a mammoth roller coaster and is mostly unmapped 

 and unexplored. Further, though the climate except in deep 

 winter is comparatively mild, the country is exceedingly rugged 

 in other respects, especially in the deep valleys, which are 

 choked with vegetation great and small, and littered with rotting 

 logs, boulders, and botanical debris. There is game here ample 

 to support active humans, but it is very hard to see and for 

 travelers bent on making a lengthy passage it takes too long to 

 hunt. 



There is, however, an alternative journey which can be under- 

 taken in perfect comfort by automobile but on which one sees 

 little of the country, and not only on account of the trees that 



The coast of Alaska from Kodiak Island to the panhandle 

 and south to Vancouver Island and the Olympic Range is 

 clothed in "rain forest" resulting from warm ocean currents. 



68 



