134 SO UR CES OF THE SASKA TCHE WA N 



fallen trees passed over, swamps and rivers crossed, the close-set 

 mazes of deep forests penetrated, and a pathway carefully selected 

 over the treacherous holes of loose rock-slides. To seize the 

 exact hour or day, amid the changes of fickle weather, the veil- 

 ing smoke of forest fires, and blinding snowstorms, that a par- 

 ticular journey or mountain ascent may be accomplished rests 

 in no small measure on the experience of the pack-horse, and it 

 is a cause for little wonder that the traveler soon learns to take 

 a certain pride in the faithful beasts which often do service at 

 the sacrifice of their lives. 



Speaking generally of the headwaters of the Saskatchewan, the 

 valleys are well wooded, the mountains very high for this part 

 of the Rockies, and large areas are covered by snow-fields or gla- 

 ciers. The general character of the scenery is remarkably grand 

 and unfailing in variety of mountain forms, so long as the val- 

 leys are the point of view. When viewed, however, from high 

 summits it is somewhat monotonous, due to the fact that thou- 

 sands of mountains are visible in the grand panorama, all quite 

 uniform in height, among which the higher peaks that are 11,000 

 or 12,000 feet above sea-level are apparently lost. 



All the larger streams come from glaciers, and consequently 

 reach their highest stage during the hottest weather. Their 

 waters are turbid with glacial mud, and they undergo a rise by 

 day, when the sun melts the ice, and a fall at night, when freez- 

 ing commences. The region of the Middle Fork, especially near 

 Glacier lake and the base of Mt Forbes, is one of the grandest 

 and most imposing, not only in the Rockies, but possibly in any 

 mountain region of the world, even under gloomy skies and in 

 the desolate garb of winter. In this region are some of the highest 

 mountains between Montana and the Athabasca pass. 



The forests which clothe all the mountains up to a height of 

 7,000 feet above sea-level 1 are chiefly of Engelmann's spruce and 

 balsam fir, with occasional areas of jack pine. The beautiful 

 Lyall's larch, characteristic of the mountains farther south, was 

 never seen in these valleys. 



The summer season, which usually begins in June and lasts 

 till September, is too short for extensive geographical work, so 

 that much remains to be done in the way of exact measurement 

 of mountains and glaciers. However, the very fact that travel 

 among these mountains is still for the most part purely explora- 

 tory adds not a little to the pleasure of visiting a region of such 

 exceptional grandeur. 



