
T RAVEL in the mountains, after the 
first heavy snowfall, is restricted 
for months to snowshoes. Many people 
indulge in snowshoeing for sport and 
indeed it is an interesting pastime. But 
give the average man a pair of “webs” 
and leave him at the foot of a three 
thousand foot climb, at angles varying 
from fifteen to fifty degrees, and watch 
him grow pale around the gills! Boys, 
it’s work! It is nothing for a mountain 
trapper to be compelled to take off the 
snowshoes and draw himself up, by 
hook or crook, to an otherwise unattain- 
able elevation. And it’s all in the day’s 
march if you come to a place where the 
only way down is to slide! The writer 
once slammed up against a small tree 
while negotiating just such a place and 
lay there for what seemed an eternity, 
shattered with the awful fear that a 
leg was broken. 
) pays to take care, but sometimes, 
when one is almost dead with weari- 
ness, where miles may be saved by such 
a daring slide, one is apt to disregard | 
the chances taken. The idea is to slide 
from tree to tree and if the distance be- 
tween is not too great, all is well; but 
if you miss one “stopping-place” the 
rate of travel becomes terrific before 
another obstacle looms up. 
A man should never, unless he doesn’t 
care to live longer, tackle mountain 
trapping without a good partner. It is 
Page 583 
bad enough then; in case of accident, for 
often miles separate two men who work 
together in everything except actually 
doubling up on the trips over the lines. 
Sickness, except in case of accident, is 
very rare for the life is a healthy one. 
At certain times of the year snow- 
slides are a real menace to men who 
travel in the mountains and in case 
one is so unfortunate as to get in the 
path of such a terrific devastating force, 
there is little hope. In rare instances 
a man might seek the shelter of a large, 
strongly rooted tree, but in this case an 
ounce of precaution is worth a ton ‘of 
tree. One never passes the former 
townsite of Frank, British Columbia, 
without shuddering, for here a whole 
town was buried by the toppling over 
of a huge slice of mountain. The 
trapper may regard the mentioning of 
this catastrophe as a moral—never 
build your cabins or shelters where the 
least possible chance of such happen- 
ings seems imminent or even remotely 
possible. 
NLESS one is in an especially pro- 
ductive region (one, for instance, 
that has never been trapped much) he 
will be obliged to run. anywhere from 
thirty to one hundred miles of trap- 
line. And, a mile in the mountains is 
equal to four on the level, on the aver- 
age. It’s often just as hard work to go 
down a mountain side as it is to climb 
The author’s dog team in the Athabasca country 
it. So, one should have his cabins and 
shelters located in such an arrange- 
ment that he is never more than two 
or three hours’ travel from one of them. 
Perhaps, under favorable conditions, a 
man could travel twice this distance, 
but he is not safe in depending on such 
an average. 
LL these cabins must be in such a 
shape that one could spend a night 
there in passable comfort, some ar- 
rangement for heat and a two or three 
day’s supply of food being absolutely 
necessary. The mountain trapper never 
knows when a sudden storm will over- 
take him on the lines and he may be 
compelled to stay in a shelter for two 
or three days and nights before he 
dares venture out. Snowbound and 
consequent starving often results from 
neglecting to follow these simple rules. 
Never build your cabin where a 
giant tree, in falling, may smash it to 
the ground and snuff out your life if 
you happen to be inside. If you can’t 
find a suitable location otherwise, cut 
the trees down. 
Now that we have mentioned some 
of the real hazards of the mountain 
trapline we will discuss a few of the 
supposed menaces. First, and fore- 
most, is the “danger” from large wild 
animals, especially bears, wolves and 
cougars, all common to our western 
