Exploration in the Canadian Rockies 199 



fell victims to the baggage-smasher on 

 their eastward journey. 



After lunch I carried my camera to 

 the top of a mountain 3,000 feet above 

 our camp, or 8,700 feet above sea-level. 

 This peak lies north of the lakes and is 

 comparatively easy of ascent. The en- 

 tire east side is a steep grassy slope, 

 which ends abruptly in a jagged edge 

 of cliffs. Looking over this to the west, 

 one stands on the sharp crest of a tre- 

 mendous precipice of very unusual for- 

 mation. It is no less than a perfectly 

 smooth wall, which sweeps out of the 

 valley in a magnificent curve more than 

 2,500 feet in height to the rough edge 

 of the arete. This narrow ridge is 

 crowned, far above tree line, by scrub 

 spruce trees, gnarled and distorted by 

 wind into weird and fantastic shapes. 

 The dwarf Alpine flowers were also in- 

 teresting. I found some golden rod in 

 full blossom, with stems and flowers 

 perfectly developed, not more than one 

 and one-half inches high. Far more 

 exceptional was the discovery of some 

 epilobium (latifolium) , a beautiful plant 

 related to the fireweed of the lower val- 

 leys, at 8,500 feet altitude, which is al- 

 most 1,000 feet above previous records. 

 The last part of the climb was more 

 rugged, and involved several hundred 

 yards along a knife edge at the summit. 

 Two eagles were perched on the highest 

 crag as I approached. A vast pano- 

 rama, including the upper Kananaskis 

 and Elk Valleys, with the Opal and Mist 

 Mountains beyond and the main range 

 of the Rockies on the other side, was 

 disclosed from this peak and made a 

 fine reward for the climb. The ridge 

 crest was so narrow that I could not 

 stand behind the camera, but had to 

 focus and expose plates by a method 

 adapted to such emergencies. Fortu- 

 nately the wind, which was blowing 

 very strong in the valleys, as I could 

 see by the white caps on the lakes, was 

 only a gentle and unusually warm breeze 

 at this great height. 



We left the Kananaskis Lakes to fol- 

 low the river back to the railroad on 

 August 24. Owing to a serious error 

 in Dawson's map of this region, we 

 lost nearly two days' time by following 

 a wrong trail, which, after leading us 

 through miles of muskegs and burned 

 timber, brought us to a gap in the Mist 

 Mountains, with no sign of a trail going 

 down the Kananaskis. On the second 

 day at noon we found ourselves back at 

 our starting point, but satisfied now to 

 follow the trail which the Indians had 

 used. Our march down the Kananaskis 

 was accomplished in three long days' 

 march, the last 20 miles of which were 

 much facilitated by the now disused 

 lumber road. 



The original plan of our exploration 

 was reversed — first by the fact that the 

 upper Spray Valley does not lead di- 

 rectly to the Kananaskis Lakes, as Daw- 

 son's map surmises, and then because 

 we missed the opening to the pass itself 

 later. This in nowise defeated our ob- 

 ject, and undoubtedly the accident led 

 us into as interesting discoveries as 

 would have been otherwise possible. 



After comparing a sketch of the coun- 

 try we passed through with Dawson's 

 map of the region, on either side some 

 interesting facts are disclosed. Among 

 them it seems that the second valley we 

 had discovered east of the Palliser, and 

 which we entered on August 10, is 

 probably not a tributary to the Elk, 

 though we had first thought it was. 

 Where we left this valley the altitude is 

 5,060 feet, or nearly 300 feet lower than 

 the Elk at a corresponding point due 

 east. The Elk Valley is known to have 

 very little fall in that region, and it 

 hardly seems possible that this river* 

 which runs south eight degrees west* 

 enters the former and has a still less- 

 descent. Moreover, in case there is 

 such a gentle fall to the Elk, there 

 should be an abundance of fish, which 

 is not the case. I am inclined to think 

 this is the source of the Bull River. 



