Canadian Rockies

“ A fact of great importance, which goes far to make up the ensemble of the surroundings of Lake Louise, is the perfect condition of the forests, which rise in uniform, swelling slopes of dark-green verdure from the rocky shores of the lake far up the mountain sides to those high altitudes where the cold air suggests an eternal winter and dwarfs the struggling trees into mere bushes. The frequent forest fires, which have wrought so much destruction throughout the entire Canadian Rockies, have not as yet swept through this valley. ”

“ The trail, too, was hard to follow, and kept the lad on the alert, which was as well perhaps, for it kept him from thinking of the solitude of the mountain side. No one who has not penetrated the vast solitudes of the Canadian Rockies can picture just what the boding silence, the utter solitude of the untrodden woods is like. And yet the life in the wilds grows upon men till they love it, as witness the solitary prospectors, packers and trappers to be met in all the wilder parts of the American continent. ”

“ The highest peaks of the Canadian Rockies rise from 5000 to 7000 feet above the valleys, and rarely surpass 11,000 or 12,000 feet altitude above sea-level. Thus they cannot compare in magnitude 264 with the Himalayas, the Andes, or even the Swiss Alps. They, however, are more accessible than the Himalayas, are far more attractive than the Andes, and afford much greater variety of scenery, together with more beauty of vegetation, than the Alps. ”

“ Bright and early the next day they set out once more, traveling now off the beaten track and making for their destination, the Big Bend of the Columbia River. The professor was on the lookout for what he called metamorphic specimens of rock, which, in plain English, means bits of stone and so forth that show traces of the new world in the making. For, as he had explained to the boys, the Canadian Rockies are, from a geologist’s standpoint, of recent formation. Unlike many chains of like character, they are not supposed to be volcanic in formation. ”

“ The Canadian Rocky Mountains offer exceptional attractions to those who enjoy natural scenery, sport, and camp life. Few regions of the world combining mountain, lake, and forest scenery possess the additional advantage of a delightful summer climate, such as obtains in the Canadian Rockies. ”

“ Those who have spent a few weeks or months in a mountain region, such as that of the Canadian Rockies, must soon come to feel an interest in those more striking features of the wilderness which have been constantly revealed. The special character of the mountains, which have given so much pleasure; the climate, on which, in a great measure, every action depends ”

“ The vegetation of the Canadian Rockies deserves a few remarks. The principal trees are all conifers. There are about six or seven species of these in the eastern range, and several more in the Selkirks. The paucity in the variety of deciduous trees in the Rocky Mountains, and the great number of conifers on the Pacific slope of North America, are in striking contrast to the wonderful number of deciduous species in the forests east of the Mississippi River. In the latter region, the number of species of forest trees is nowhere exceeded in the world, outside of tropical regions. ”

“ While the lake itself must be considered the focal point of this region, and is indeed wonderfully attractive by reason of its rare setting, the encircling mountains are so rough and high, the valleys separating them so deep and gloomy, yet withal so beautiful, that the scenery approaches perfection. The forces of nature have here wrought to their utmost and thrown together in apparently wild confusion some of the highest mountains in Canada and carved out gloomy gorge and rocky precipice till the eye becomes lost in the complexity of it all. ”

“ THE CANADIAN ROCKIES, A FIELD FOR AN ALPINE CLUB
By Arthur O. Wheeler
The first question is: What constitutes a field for an Alpine Club? The second question, and one of primary importance, is: Do the Rocky mountains of Canada fill the required conditions? ”

“ The Rocky Mountains are composed chiefly of palaeozoic sediments ranging in age from the Cambrian to the Carboniferous, with subordinate infolded areas of Cretaceous which hold coal. The average height of the range along the United States boundary is 8000 ft., but the range culminates between the latitudes of 51° and 53°, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies being Mount Robson, 13,700 ft., although the highest peak in British Columbia is Mount Fairweather on the International Boundary, which rises to 15,287 ft. Other high peaks in the Rocky Mountains of Canada are Columbia, 12,740 ft. ”

“ Let us hear it in their own words (Alpine Club Journal, 1910) , only premising that this first ascent of the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies was made in August, 1909, after two unsuccessful attempts in 1907 and 1908, and that the final ascent was only accomplished after twenty days of continuous struggle, during which they were repeatedly [Pg 204] driven back from the peak by impossible conditions. ”

“ Much has been said and written about the Alps of Switzerland and about other great mountain ranges of the earth, but when the Canadian Rockies become widely known as these other ranges, I am confident that they will not be found second in the regard of all lovers of mountains and mountain-climbing, and I may say that the best method of advertising our mountains is first to have our young Canadians gain a thorough knowledge and appreciation of their heritage. ”

“ Most people, I suppose, come upon the Rockies first from the east, and they seem tremendous if only for the reason that one has come upon them after days spent in those plains which, even while they rise, rise imperceptibly. But tremendous as they seem from the east, they must be far more so from the north, and far more beautiful from the west. On the east the mountains have less height than on the north. Their timber is poor by comparison with the trees that grow further west; their valleys have little of the luxuriance of the Pacific valleys. ”

“ Ascents: In Canadian Rockies—Mt. Vice-President.
*Otto, W. J. Golden, British Columbia.
Ascents: In Canadian Rockies—Mts. Vaux, Hunter and Yoho peak.
*Paget, Very Rev. Dean, M.A., D.D. Calgary, Alberta.
Ascents: In Switzerland—Piz Languard, Gorner-grat, etc. In Canadian Rockies—Paget peak.
†Parker, H. C., Ph.B. 21 Fort Green Place, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A.
Topographical investigations in Bow Valley, Alberta (1903) . Explorations in Mt. McKinley region, Alaska (1906) .
First ascents in Canadian Rockies: Mts. Hungabee, Deltaform, Goodsir, Biddle, Lefroy, Dawson and Gordon. ”

“ In the Canadian Rockies, trees cease to grow at altitudes above 7500 feet, under the most favorable circumstances, and the average tree line is in reality about 7000 feet. Bushes of the heath family and Alpine plants, however, reach much higher, while dwarfed flowering herbs may be found in blossom as high as 8700 or 8800 feet. I once found a small mat of bright yellow sedums on the summit of a mountain, 9100 feet above sea-level, but this was an exceptional case. Above this altitude, various stone-gray, bright yellow, or red lichens, are the only sign of vegetable life. ”

“ This is the effect that camp life has on the character. In the first place, one learns the value of perseverance, for without this quality nothing can be accomplished in such a region as the Canadian Rockies. The explorer will realize this when he comes to a long 274 stretch of burnt timber, where his horses flounder in a maze of prostrate trees; and the climber will feel the need of continued resolution when, after a long and arduous climb to an apparent summit, he reaches it only to find the slope extending indefinitely upwards. ”

“ The Rocky Mountains form the backbone of the North-American Continent, and the Canadian Rockies extend from the United States frontier in a north-westerly direction for some hundreds of miles. Of the regions which are of interest to mountaineers, the northern limit is marked by Mount Sir Alexander, a peak which rises a few miles to the west of the continental divide or watershed, a little over 400 miles, as the crow flies (very roughly speaking) , from the frontier, and from 60 to 80 miles beyond Mount Robson. ”

“ It is like the Alps of Switzerland and the Black Forest combined. There are snow-clad peaks, large glaciers, and névé regions of vast extent in the higher altitudes, while the valleys below are dark and sombre in their covering of deep, cool forests. The main range of the Rockies presents no such rankness of vegetable growth—mosses, ferns, and lichens covering every available surface on tree trunks and boulders—nor such huge trees as those found everywhere in the Selkirks. ”

“ Up to this time the Rocky Mountains, with their awful array of saw-edged peaks covered with a dazzling white mantle of perpetual snow, had stood as the western limit of overland exploration, beyond which no European had ever passed. The Pacific Coast had already been explored by Captain Cook in 1778, and a few years later so accurately charted by Vancouver, that his work is still standard among navigators. ”

“ The history of the early explorations in the Canadian Rockies centres about the fur trade. From the date of the very earliest settlements in Canada, the quest of furs had occupied a position of chief importance, to which the pursuits of agriculture, grazing, or manufacture had been subordinate. The search for gold, which throughout the history of the world has ever been one of the most powerful incentives to hardy adventure and daring exploit, did not at first occupy the attention of those who were ready to hazard their lives for the sake of possible wealth quickly acquired. ”

“ The Alpine Club of Canada will always be glad to give information to parties desirous of visiting the Canadian Rockies for the purpose of camping, hunting, fishing, exploring, or viewing the scenic splendors of the region. It will also place such parties in communication with reliable outfitters and guides, a number of whom are connected with the Club. ”

“ The finest view I ever had of the Rockies was from a mountain in the Selkirks, at a height of over ten thousand feet, and over a hundred miles from the nearest railway. There I forgot to make comparisons, which after all are somewhat useless. It is easy to say that the Alps are softer and more pictorial—showing that deep blue sky above their snows, which is rarely if ever to be seen in the Rockies. The Canadian skies are too lofty and distant ever to seem to be resting even on the topmost snowfields. The Himalayas again have giants unparalleled. ”

“ He alone will realize that here is a land of greater power, larger measures, and bigger horizons.
And yet with Kintla comes climax. Crossing the border the mountains subside, the glaciers disappear. Canada's Waterton Lakes Park begins at our climax and merges in half a dozen miles into the great prairies of Alberta. It is many miles northwest before the Canadian Rockies assume proportions of superlative scenic grandeur.
The Belly River Valleys
To realize the growing bigness of the land northward one has only to cross the wall from Iceberg Lake into the Belly River canyon. "Only," indeed! ”

“ But it was not to be, and so, when young Ware and Percy Simmons both begged to [20] be “let off” from Bar Harbor and Newport, Professor Wintergreen had, on their parents’ request, decided to allow them to come along. The professor’s interests in the Canadian Rockies were purely scientific. His duty was to collect specimens of minerals, and also of animal life, for one of the best known scientific bodies in the east. Ralph, with his knowledge of hunting and woodcraft, was to be relied upon as a valuable aide. ”

“ The Vermilion lakes, with their low reedy shores and swarming wild fowl, offer 15 charming places for the canoe and oarsman, at least when the mosquitoes, the great pest of our western plains and mountains, temporarily disappear. Nevertheless, the climate of Banff partakes of the somewhat dryer nature of the lesser and more eastern sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains. There is not sufficient moisture to nourish the rich forests, vast snow-fields, and thundering glaciers of the higher ranges to the west, which in imagination we shall visit in the ensuing chapters. ”

“ The display of mountain scenery along the Canadian Pacific line in passing through the Rockies is the finest in North America, coming largely from two causes, each contributing to the grandeur and impressiveness of the view. The width of the Rocky Mountain ranges in Alberta and British Columbia is not much over three hundred miles, while in the United States they are scattered and spread over a thousand miles of space with intervening tameness. ”

“ One of the objects of the recently organized Alpine Club of Canada is the study of prominent glaciers of the region, with a view to obtaining information concerning the formation and flow, advance or retreat of those upon which no observations have as yet been made, and of adding to existing information where some little work in this direction has been done. Speaking generally, it is desired to add the Club's mite to scientific knowledge of glacial action by instituting yearly observations of the more prominent and accessible ice-cascades of the Canadian Rockies. ”

“ During all this time of slow growth in height the destructive forces were at work, frost and weather and running water and ice, tearing down the structures just as they do now, though the constructive forces were more than a match for them, at least in the earlier history of the mountains. The present forms of the Rockies are due then to a balance between the upbuilding and the down-tearing influences which have been at work during the past millions of years since the end of Cretaceous times. ”