192 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts and Letters . 
axemen to cut a trail. Sometimes we could travel for a few rods in the 
bed of the stream. Then obstructions in the form of cascades or huge 
rocks would compel us to cut a path up the steep banks and pursue our 
course along the sloping sides of the valley. The descent grew con¬ 
stantly steeper and our progress correspondingly difficult and slow. For 
four hours we toiled along in this fashion, every hundred yards in ad¬ 
vance bringing us to greater difficulties. At last, wet to the skin, our 
teeth chattering with cold, and thoroughly worn out, we cleared a place 
large enough to put up our tents and went into camp. What a luxury a 
fire is under such circumstances! We had eaten an early breakfast at 
the foot of the lake on the other side. Since that time we had been 
working incessantly, most of the time in a pouring rain, until five o’clock 
in the afternoon found us in the condition described, two and a half 
miles down the Pacific slope in a dense tangle of fallen logs, thickly 
overgrown with brush. We had our supper, warmed ourselves, and 
were fairly comfortable in a couple of hours, but there was nothing for 
the horses to eat and we were obliged to tie them to the trees for the 
night. The next morning they were taken back a mile on the trail to 
the last grass we passed, where they were pastured for a couple of days 
while the men cut a trail two miles to the more open country in the val¬ 
ley below. 
A side trip .— Leaving the main party here to rest for a few days, Lieut. 
Ahern and myself with the prospector, Lewis Meyer, made a four days’ 
trip up MacDonald’s Creek and over the divide to the headwaters of a 
branch of the East Kootanie. Our purpose was to examine the large 
glacier described in another portion of this paper. The route lay across 
a succession of ridges, ranging in elevation from 500 to 2,700 feet above 
their respective valleys. The lower slopes are densley wooded and fallen 
timber added to the work of climbing. The summits of all except the 
highest ridges were quite level grassy parks, with borders and patches of 
pines. From any of these summits a magnificent view was to be had of 
the great backbone over which we had climbed. Fifty miles of it could 
be seen at once owing to the great bend it makes to the westward. 
On our return trip we endeavored to shorten our route by taking a 
short cut over the summit of a spur of the main range. This took us up 
8,000 feet. A rapid descent of 2,000 feet was then made, and the first 
part of the cut off had been successfuly accomplished. After a couple 
of miles of easy going we started on another descent of 2,000 feet into the 
valley of MacDonald’s Creek. We found the descent extremely difficult. 
It was so steep that we kept our feet with difficulty. Impassible ledges 
were frequently in our way and multitudes of fallen trees encumbered 
the less precipitous slopes. We were three hours making the first 
half mile. Darkness came on while we were still three miles from camp 
and we spread our blankets on the stony banks of the stream and lay 
down to wait for daylight. We had eaten the last of our rations at noon, 
