114 SOURCES OF THE SASKATCHEWAN 



Rockies. A muddy stream descends from a glacier beyond 

 the head of the lake and pollutes its clear waters, while a trout 

 brook comes from an upland valley lying to the northwest, and 

 this latter stream is perhaps the true source of the Bow. Up the 

 valley countless springs and melting snowbanks, with large 

 tracts of swampy land, contribute their waters from every side. 

 The level of the valley rises into a gently sloping plain, the last 

 rivulet is passed, and one stands on the divide overlooking the 

 Little Fork of Saskatchewan river. 



Those who have reached this region have had an opportunity 

 of seeing one of the grandest views that the mountains offer. 

 Far to the west are the lofty peaks of the highest range of the 

 Canadian Rockies, buried in perpetual snow and discharging 

 their surplus ice by glaciers in every lateral valley. Deep set 

 amid dark precipices, such a glacier is to be seen west of the 

 pass. From two cavernous ice-tunnels a large stream issues and 

 sweeps in a devious course over a barren gravel-wash for a mile 

 or more, till it enters a lake. Then, as the clear stream leaves 

 the lake and winds away to the northwest, it is lost to view, 

 hidden amid deep forests, and only reveals its course here and 

 there where it expands into one or another of the many lakes 

 which this valley contains. Between the spurs of the summit 

 range on the west and a parallel range on the east, the great 

 trough or valley which carries the Little Fork and the North 

 Fork of the Saskatchewan draws away in a nearly straight line 

 for more than 60 miles, till it is lost in the blue haze of distance. 



The summit of the pass is a delightful region, situated at an 

 altitude of 6,700 feet, or only 300 feet below tree-line. The 

 woodland is consequently rather open and abounds in meadows, 

 while the spruce trees, many of which must be four or five cen- 

 turies old, have that symmetrical beauty of form rarely seen 

 where there is less space and light in the crowded forests of the 

 deep valleys. 



It seemed best to camp on the summit, as a forest fire had 

 broken out in the Little Fork valley some miles distant and 

 was sweeping furiously up the mountains to the east. Mr Bar- 

 rett and one of the packers spent the next day in making a 

 horseback excursion to investigate the extent of the fire and see 

 if there was a way through. They returned in the evening, after 

 a hard day's travel, without having reached the fire. It was 

 evident that the distance had been much underestimated, per- 

 haps owing to the great extent of view from the pass ; but it was 



