RECENT EXPLORATION IN 

 CANADIAN ROCKIES* 



THE 



By Walter D. Wilcox 



PART II 



WE decided to spend August 13 

 in an attempt to learn more 

 about the surrounding region 

 and for this purpose selected a high 

 mountain north of our camp for ascent. 

 Fortunately the weather was perfect. 

 The entire forenoon was spent in climb- 

 ing this peak, which turned out very 

 interesting. The heavy bush was wet 

 from the previous day's rain, and we 

 were soaked in the first hour. On the 

 higher slopes some very interesting fos- 

 sil corals and shells were found. The 

 summit, 8,780 feet high, was reached 

 before noon. Both Bryant and I took 

 angles and made complete photographic 

 panoramas of the view, which was su- 

 perb. The result of this climb made us 

 more certain that we were approaching 

 the Elk River, as the mountains toward 

 the east resembled Dawson's description 

 of them and ran in the right direction 

 The valley below our camp appaiently 

 enters the Elk ten miles or so to the 

 southeast, but a better route appeared 

 over a pass to the north. On the open 

 and flat summit of this mountain two 

 species of butterflies were seen and sev- 

 eral flowers, among them a bright yel- 

 low erigeron and a leguminous plant 

 closely resembling a violet in general 

 outline. 



Lusk and Wood had been sent to 

 explore the lower part of the valley 

 and were back when we reached camp. 

 They said they had gone down to where 

 a large stream comes in from the north, 

 and had found a good trail ascending 

 the latter. They brought in a canvas- 

 back duck, which proved very tender 



and fine-flavored. In the afternoon, 

 with the assistance of Woodworth, our 

 best axeman, I laid out a base line half 

 a mile above our camp to triangulate my 

 survey stations. At night I changed 

 two dozen plates for my cameras under 

 a dark-room teepee made of blankets 

 thrown over poles. The rapidity of 

 our movements and the continuous fine 

 weather, of which we took advantage, 

 gave no time for rest or repose. 



The next day we made a rapid and 

 uninterrupted march of four hours. 

 After five miles through green timber 

 we reached a wide meadow, much used 

 by the Indians as a camping ground. 

 Here we turned at right angles, to the 

 left, and marched four miles upstream 

 and camped near the base of what we 

 thought was a pass to the north. 



Tom L,usk went up the valley to lo- 

 cate the trail for the next day's march, 

 but came back an hour later and said 

 there was only the faintest kind of a 

 trail a mile above camp, while a little 

 farther on it totally disappeared. With 

 our field-glasses we could see no sign of 

 a trail on the pass ahead, and, as we 

 knew from the previous day's climb 

 that this was the only possible outlet, it 

 seemed that we had marched into a 

 " blind valley," or cul-de-sac. Indian 

 trails rarely ascend such valleys unless 

 the region is exceptionally good for 

 game. After this discouraging news I 

 set out to learn a little more, if possi- 

 ble, and, instead of following the val- 

 ley, commenced a gradual ascent of the 

 slopes on the east. After an hour's 

 climb I got a fair view of one of the two 



^The first part of this very interesting paper by Mr. Wilcox appeared in the May number. 



