Exploration in the Canadian Rockies 



63 



the latter being covered by a light 

 growth of the beautiful larch, which 

 resembles the eastern tamarack. Be- 

 tween these ridges were lanes of green 

 meadows and. Alpine flowers in their 

 prime. The plumy heads of the great 

 white anemone, which blooms near melt- 

 ing snow banks in early spring, were 

 mingled with innumerable painted-cups, 

 showing every possible shade of orange, 

 yellow, crimson, and purple, and several 

 species of yellow and purple composite 

 flowers. Jim Wood came back from a 

 trip into the other valley and reported 

 the trail rather dim and apparently but 

 little used. 



It would be natural to inquire why 

 trails exist in an unexplored wilderness. 

 Though somewhat difficult to explain, 

 the fact remains that almost every ac- 

 cessible valley in these mountains has 

 some kind of narrow pathway running 

 through them. Successful exploration 

 depends in a large measure on finding 

 and keeping to them, as they are cer- 

 tain guides out of precarious situations 

 or impassable forests. No doubt the 

 Indians, in their hunting and trading 

 expeditions between the Kootenai River 

 and the northwestern plains, made these 

 trails long before the first approach of 

 his white conqueror. Once made, they 

 are used by wild animals, and are only 

 obliterated by forest fires, snow-slides, 

 or the caving in of river banks. I feel 

 convinced that the most frequent cause 

 of forest fires is carelessness on the part 

 of white men ; the next cause is light- 

 ning, and, last of all, the Indian, who is 

 careful of his game preserves and his 

 routes of travel. 



The next morning, August 10, was 

 so cold that ice formed half an inch 

 thick in our water buckets. The day's 

 march was very interesting. The as- 

 cent and crossing of the pass is easy, as 

 the pitch is comparatively gentle on 

 either side. The trail has been used by 

 mountain goats and elk, the tracks of 

 which were very abundant. Upon 



reaching timber on the other side we 

 were shielded from the cold west wind, 

 and in full glare of the sun the air grew 

 rapidly warmer, and the frost and ice 

 of early morning were replaced by dew 

 sparkling on the grass. From one point 

 we had a magnificent view of the new 

 valley for at least 1 5 miles. We thought 

 it was either the head of the mysterious 

 Bull River or some tributary to the Elk. 

 After an hour of descent we lost the 

 trail in very thick woods on the top of 

 a ridge, and were nearly forced to re- 

 trace our steps, as the fallen trees were 

 of immense size and very much crossed. 

 Natural decay and wind storms were 

 the causes of this blockade, as no forest 

 fire had ever apparently run through 

 this region. 



After a very trying search the trail 

 was located in a ravine below. This 

 valley, like most others in these moun- 

 tains, has a very steep slope in its upper 

 part, for we had descended 2,000 feet 

 in the first three miles, and then a grad- 

 ual descent where the valley opens out 

 and becomes, wider. By the union of 

 small tributaries which the trail crossed 

 several times the stream becomes quite 

 large, and as the valley is nearly level 

 there are many swampy places. After 

 two hours of hard work finding a way 

 through fallen timber and miry places, a 

 gradual change took place for the bet- 

 ter. At length the trail became clear 

 and the traveling so easy that we had 

 an opportunity to admire our surround- 

 ings. It would be difficult, indeed, to 

 describe the beauty of this valley. The 

 lower of the two ranges of mountains 

 on the east side, which we had seen the 

 previous day on our mountain climb, 

 was now alone visible, and made an 

 almost unbroken line of cliffs rising 

 from 1,500 to 3,000 feet above us in 

 vertical precipices Above the narrow 

 valley, covered with pines and spruce, 

 this imposing wall of blue-gray lime- 

 stone towered in supreme grandeur. 

 Meanwhile the trail followed the river, 



