10 
in a mile or two upstream are replaced by a single channel. The mountains 
on either side of the valley rise to 4,000 to 5,000 feet in sharp, angular 
peaks. The valley bends sharply to the northeast and the walls in places 
rise nearly vertically for 1,000 feet or more. Ice-fields occupy many of 
the tributary valleys and are visible high up in basins. After an hour’s 
travel, the foot of another moraine was reached. The river bed here rises 
300 feet in half a mile. At the edge of the moraine, the ascent is abrupt 
and it was necessary to unload the sleds, and to backpack the equipment. 
Three hours were spent making the ascent. A short distance beyond the 
edge of the moraine, the river is expanded into a long, narrow lake. While 
traversing the lake, a strong wind was encountered, the first since leaving 
Pangnirtung post. The Eskimo state that this and Kingnait pass are 
the windiest places known to them. The ice on the lake was bare except 
for wind-blown sand. Camp was made a mile up a small stream 
draining into the upper part of the lake. 
Next day, February 8, the journey was continued along the stream 
bed by which camp had been made. For a mile or so the rise is undulatory. 
This stretch was succeeded by a steep rise in the form of three ice-covered, 
steep slopes. The first rise was 80 feet and the slope a comparatively 
gentle incline. The two succeeding rises were steep and in order to scale 
them it was necessary to cut steps in the ice. The sleds were hauled up 
the sharp rises by using long rope traces, which permitted the combined 
dog teams pulling while on the gentler slopes beyond the brow of the steep 
rises. The altitude of the valley bottom beyond the three abrupt ascents 
is 1,200 feet. The second Eskimo with his dog team turned back at this 
point. Beyond, the stream winds through a comparatively flat stretch 
and takes its rise in Summit lake, a narrow body 6 miles long. The snow 
was hard from the action of the wind. Numerous caribou trails were seen 
on the lake. The lake at its head divides and the western bay is the one 
to follow. The valley at the head of the lake is filled with a moraine 
formed by a glacier coming from the west, which in places forms a 20-foot 
high ice front along the west bay at the head of the ice. Camp was made 
at the foot of the moraine. 
On February 9, about two hours were required to backpack the bulk 
of the equipment and food up the edge and over the worst part of the 
moraine. A small stream issuing from the glacier on the far side of the 
moraine was reached. Its smooth, ice-covered surface provided a good 
route to a lake, Glacier lake, 4 miles long. A branch of the glacier debouches 
into the lake. The surface on the lake was hard and undulatory, and 
near the shore was covered with pebbles and sands. Evidently violent 
winds sweep this district. The outlet of Glacier lake was followed. The 
stream drops 200 to 300 feet through a gorge, boulders protrude through 
the ice, and the descent, in places, is abrupt. Beyond this stretch a wide, 
ice-covered flat was entered which extended a considerable distance along 
the valley with a gradual northward decline. The ice-sheet in places was 
several feet thick. To the north it was succeeded by a sandy flat on the 
edge of which camp was made. 
On February 10, by following along ice-covered patches, the sand- 
covered flat was crossed. A stream course was then followed to a wide 
flat, covered with hard, but hummocky snow. Beyond this, the route to 
the seacoast led along the bed of the river draining the district. The river 
course is cut in an accumulation of sand, gravel, and boulders and falls 
