March, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



A Timid Canadian Deer Japanese Lilies Grow Luxuriantly on Many Trails 



The Lure of the Trail 



By Katherine Louise Smith 



JOTHING can be more entrancing to the 

 mountain lover than to follow some friendly 

 trail, to ascend the lower slopes of the great 

 hills and minor mountains, or to scale some 

 height which towers its mighty head far 

 above the surrounding peaks. There is a 

 fascination about a mountain trail that 

 brings joy to the soul of the would-be Alpinist, whether he 

 wishes to win honor and glory by making a first ascent or to 

 enjoy the leisurely climbs which are safe for the ordinary 

 traveler, and can be attempted by any good walker. Thou- 

 sands of these trails, the best in the world, exist through the 

 Canadian Rockies and British Columbia, which woo with 



Kootenay Outlet, from Pilot Bay, British Columbia 



their cliffs and canons, deep, green forests, and peaks crowned 

 with eternal snows. 



The trails that penetrate the mountains are not ordinary 

 highways. Through the valleys of the Rockies they were 

 originally made by Indians, and many are supposed to date 

 from the period of prehistoric man. Who can say what 

 scenes a trail has witnessed — what stories it could tell? Long 

 before the coming of the white man these trails in the Rockies 

 were used by the Kootenay, Stoney, Blood, and other Indians 

 who took hard journeys to barter their furs for beads and 

 the gewgaws of the white man. It is a delight to follow such 

 a narrow path wherever found, whether in the States or the 

 Canadian Rockies, but it is especially so in the latter, for 



they have been little ex- 

 plored and they represent, 

 in majesty and snowy caps, 

 the sublimity of the great 

 American ranges. Many 

 a narrow pathway one can 

 follow, worn in places by 

 the hoofs of horses, clearly 

 marked in open meadows, 

 always winding to avoid 

 some obstacle and peeping 

 out when least expected on 

 some avalanche track or 

 steep cliff. Perhaps a de- 

 serted bear cave by its side 

 shows where Bruin has had 

 winter quarters, or the 

 friendly porcupine almost 

 blocks all progress. All 

 suggests the rapture of a 

 new discovery, and even a 

 well-worn trail affords de- 

 lights to those who have 

 not tried the intricacies of 

 the little used mountain 

 pathways. 



Some of the trails are 

 practicable for horses but 



