THE FRESHFIELD GLACIER, CANADIAN ROCKIES ' 



By HOWARD PALMER 



(With 9 Plates) 



To the student of the phenomena of active glaciers the Canadian 

 Rockies offer an advantageous and ahnost untouched field. Three of 

 the most accessible ice tongues along the Canadian Pacific Railway 

 have been made the subject of detailed investigation, but on the 

 remoter and larger ice systems almost no work has yet been done. 

 During recent years, the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Survey 

 has produced a series of admirable contour maps (scale i : 62500) 

 which delineate the continental divide, together with its adjacent 

 mountains and glaciers. Thus there is now available to the glacialist 

 an excellent groundwork for the prosecution of his particular 

 researches. 



Of the newly mapped glaciers, the Freshiield is the most attractive. 

 Size, ease of access, and majesty of scenery all commend it. Lying in 

 a direct line 40 miles northwest of Lake Louise, five days of com- 

 fortable traveling will take one to its tongue. The trail distance is 

 about 65 miles, all the way through wild mountain valleys with peaks, 

 glaciers, torrents and lakes in plenty to beguile the march. A good 

 camp ground is to be had not far from the tongue and there is 

 ample feed for the horses. 



The Freshfield massif is a well-defined group of peaks about 12 

 miles square situated in a semicircular loop of the continental divide 

 between tributaries of the North Saskatchewan and Columbia rivers. 

 Its drainage is principally to the former. It is separated from the 

 Yoho-\\'aputik group on the southeast by Howse Pass (5,010 feet) 

 of historic fame, and from the Forbes-Lyell group on the north by 

 Bush Pass (7,860 feet). There are 25 peaks in the group surpassing 

 10.000 feet in elevation, Mt. Barnard (10,955 feet) being the loftiest. 

 Eleven of them exceed 10.500 feet. 



The Freshfield glacier and tributaries occupy an elliptic,':il basin 

 in the midst of the group, nine miles long from southeast to north- 

 west, and four miles wide. Around the periphery the peaks stand in 



* A summary of glacier measurements and observations in the Canadian 

 Alps, with references will be found at the end of this paper, page 13. 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 76, No, 11 



