424 LAKE CHELAN 



With the exception of lateral moraines, Lake Chelan and its 

 tributaries present all these features peculiar to glacial erosion, 

 and owing to the fact that the ice has but recently abandoned 

 the gorge, aqueous erosion has made but little progress, the gla- 

 cial forms are but little masked and are still the most prominent 

 features in the landscape. 



Crossing Cascade pass from the west, one descends immedi- 

 diately into an amphitheater, enclosed on the west and south by 

 a mountain wall surrounded by high peaks. On the north is 

 the pass and on the east the land rises slightly, forming the 

 lower rim of the amphitheater. The hollow of this amphithe- 

 ater contains, all the } r ear around, a great snow-field a mile or 

 more in length, which gives rise to Stehekin river. The accom- 

 panying illustration is taken from the rim of the amphitheater, 

 looking toward the pass, which appears in the background, with 

 the snow-field below it. 



From the summit of the lower rim of the amphitheater there 

 is a steep descent of several hundred feet, down which the Ste- 

 hekin plunges in a series of cascades. The valle} 7 , at first nar- 

 row, broadens as it becomes deeper and the U-shaped form of a 

 glacial valley becomes more pronounced. On either side at short 

 intervals small branches join the stream. These head among 

 the high mountains and flow with gentle courses through ancient 

 glacial valleys to the edge of the glacial gorge of Stehekin river, 

 over whose walls they leap in great falls. One such stream heads 

 in Horseshoe basin, on the left-hand side of Stehekin river, where 

 its waters are derived from a small glacier. The waterfall known 

 as Gorman falls is the leap of the stream over the edge of the 

 glacial wall, which here is practically vertical. 



The walls of the gorge along Stehekin river range from 4,000 

 to 5,000 feet in altitude above the bottom of the valley, and the 

 angle ranges from near verticality at the top to 40° or 45°. 

 Near the mouth of Company creek, some 15 miles above the 

 head of the lake, the wall is fully 5,000 feet in height, descend- 

 ing in one great sweep from the summit of the mountains down 

 to the bottom. Company creek, coming in on the right, though 

 a large stream, flows on a level several hundred feet above the 

 bed of Stehekin. Bridge creek, which joins the Stehekin three 

 or four miles farther down, coming in from the right, also a 

 large branch, flows in a valley several hundred feet above that 

 of the Stehekin, descending to it b}' a series of cascades and 

 waterfalls in a waterworn gorge 200 or 300 feet deep, which it 



