Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/154

Rh grind, and I wanted a climb. If all mountains were long snow-grinds, there would be few keen mountaineers. It was the same story again at Field. In all the tossed sea of snow that lies around Mt. Stephen, there were no wave crests within easy reach that had not been topped. Hope had sunk very low when I reached Glacier. But here, Mr. Bell-Smith, the climber's friend, pointed out on his relief map two still unconquered summits, Mt. Tupper and the central peak of three-headed Bagheera. My holiday had only a short time to run, and there was Sir Donald still waiting as an absolute necessity. Everyone was talking of the wonders of the newly-discovered Caves of Cheops. That settled it. On the morrow, Edouard Feuz, Jr., and I started for Deutschmann's camp at the caves. We followed the railway and found the trestles across the Illecillewaet very unpleasant. The trail to the caves gave a glimpse into the beauties of the forests of the Selkirks. The cool shadows were delicious after the blazing sunshine on the rails. A family of grouse, tamer than barnyard fowl, squatted resolutely in our path. Leaving the trees, ferns and devil's-club were exchanged for flower carpets of lovely hues. The trail descended to the banks of the Cougar brook, which is crossed several times by convenient ice bridges, the remains of winter snows. We camped for the night at the Caves, where Deutschmann received us most hospitably and showed us some of the wonders of the place, discovered by himself the preceding autumn.

In the morning we made a somewhat tardy start along the bank of the upper Cougar brook, till we neared the foot of Mt. Bagheera. There we made our first mistake. We began by ascending the brush-covered bank lying almost directly under Catamount peak. The going soon began to get boggy, the farther we went, the wetter it became, till we were actually