Exploration in the Canadian Rockies 153 



main valley and turned sharply to the 

 southeast. A good Indian trail led us 

 through deep spruce woods for two 

 miles and then entered a very beautiful 

 valley. The lower levels are too wet 

 for forest growth, so that splendid views 

 were to be enjoyed in every direction. 

 The mountains on the east are from 

 eight to nine thousand feet high, with 

 very rough outlines and vertical preci- 

 pices toward the north. Those on the 

 other side are higher and have small 

 glaciers on their upper parts. The 

 wooded slopes and open glades of the 

 valley, thick with clumps of dwarf birch 

 and willow, together with the winding 

 and picturesque stream, made our intro- 

 duction to the new region most inviting. 

 About one o'clock a vallej' opened to 

 the south which seemed worthy of ex- 

 ploration, and we accordingly made 

 camp on a wooded ridge between the 



confluent streams. Later in the day 

 Bryant and I started on foot to investi- 

 gate this opening. The small size of 

 the stream indicated a summit or pass 

 not far distant. We found the walking 

 very rough over a succession of small, 

 wall-like ridges covered with thick 

 woods and charming meadows between 

 crowded with wild flowers. A foamy- 

 stream led us to a green pool, the upper 

 end of which was overhung by vertical 

 cliffs of limestone. These cliffs made 

 the end of a small canyon, which led us 

 in half a mile to a blue-green lake three- 

 fourths of a mile long. This we de- 

 cided to skirt, fortunately by the right 

 shore, where we soon found a good 

 Indian trail which traversed the steep, 

 open slopes above the lake, covered 

 with mountain flowers in the height of 

 perfection. A rank growth of false 

 hellebore and cow parsnip rose above 



Photo by Wilcox 



Canyon Lake 



