Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 2.djvu/178

289 streams had united. The original explorer had chosen the south and more "muskeggy" ground, where we ourselves were forced to travel to avoid the arduous labor of chopping a trail. This was the only section of the eight or nine hundred miles we travelled where there was a doubt that Indians had gone; at least, it had never been a highway.

From the Athabasca we turned our attention to the sources of the Saskatchewan and Brazeau Rivers, to the "Valley of the Lakes," a branch of the North Fork of the former stream, and to the West Branch, a tributary of the Saskatchewan flowing from the Lyell group. This valley alone is worth a trip, an article to itself, and a more ready pen. It is a valley of gorges and glaciers, magnificent peaks and tumbling waterfalls, and holds a charming lake which we have named "Nashanesen." The climax is reached at the Thompson Pass, where the traveller who has stuck to it through pretty rough "going" is at last rewarded by his first glimpse of Mt. Bryce, and from a shoulder of the mountain the vast ice-fields of Mt. Columbia.

From the West Branch we crossed by Nigel Pass to the Brazeau country lying to the north-east of the Wilcox Pass. Roughly speaking, Brazeau Lake lies in latitude 53° and longitude 117°. It is about six miles long, is wooded round its shores, and at its head stands a fine peak—Mt. Brazeau. Low mountains hem it in on all sides, and. on a calm morning, before the sun has risen or the wind has cast a ripple on its blue-green surface, the sight is one of exquisite beauty.

We no sooner reached the southern shore of the lake than a whole volume was opened for us to read. In a perfect grove among the spruces stood comparatively fresh teepee-poles, while tossed here and there, in every stage of decay, were those which had served their purpose many, many years before. An old trail was beaten deep within the forest, and from this path sprang ancient trees which held their proud boughs to the blue sky above, their lower bark scarred and gashed by hands long laid beneath the sod.