The Nakimu Caves
Glacier Dominion Park, B. C.
On the road to the Caves—Ross Peak in centre.
DOMINION PARKS BRANCH
Department of the Interior
OTTAWA
1914
THE NAKIMU CAVES
GLACIER DOMINION PARK, B.C.
Near the summit of the Selkirk range of mountains in British Columbia is one of the most curious series of subterranean caves in the world. Being of recent discovery and, up to the present, almost inaccessible except to the most agile and daring they remain practically unknown to the world at large, but to those bold spirits who have dared their black depths they have offered an experience, weird, thrilling and wonderful. Less than a thousand visitors at present make the journey to the Caves each year.
To the graphic description of Arthur O. Wheeler, president and founder of the Canadian Alpine Club, together with the report of W. S. Ayres, the mining engineer who was commissioned by this department to report on the Caves, the substance of this pamphlet is indebted.
The Dominion Government is at present having work done which will render accessible to the public this unusual and somewhat gruesome curiosity. A good road is already built between the little alplike town of Glacier to within 6,000 feet of the Caves and a trail connects this point with the entrance. The distance is about seven miles by saddle pony from the beautiful Canadian Pacific Railway hotel at Glacier to the end of the road, and the whole journey can be finished on foot in five hours. The ride is through scenes almost incomparable, perhaps even in the Rocky or Selkirk mountains.
The Yoho valley, in which flows the Cougar Creek, in the bed of which are the Caves, possesses magnificent vistas of varied mountain scenery. To quote Wheeler:—“It is difficult to express the wonder of the colour contrasts that meet the eye in the ever changing panorama of snow-clad peak, rock precipice dazzling névé, shining glacier ice and bronze-green forest of pines, midst which nestle magic lakes of changing shades of blue and green.”
Mr. Wheeler remarks that the Cougar valley, in the bed of which are the Caves, is of special interest for two reasons other than the Caves:—
1. “It is of that special type known as ‘a hanging valley,’ or one that has been carved out in a U-shaped cross-section by the action of glacial erosion, and not in the form of a V, as would have occurred through the action of water erosion alone. It is, moreover, a very pronounced form of its type. The numerous small glaciers that still line the sides and head of the valley give it exceeding great beauty and interest in summer time.”
2. “I know of no other spot in the Selkirks where alpine flora is more abundant and varied, and this fact alone is an attraction not to be despised.”
Description of the Valley of the Caves,
by A. O. Wheeler.
“The valley of Cougar creek is divided into two parts of distinctly different characteristics. The upper valley, a great spoon-shaped basin extending from Lookout point to Cougar pass, is a most pronounced form of the type known as ‘hanging valley,’ or one that has been carved out in a U-shaped cross section by the eroding power of a glacier at one time filling up its bottom. This glacier has now shrunk to very small proportions at the extreme head of the valley. The floor is on a comparatively low grade and, at one point, is covered for about half a mile by a small lake-bed in which some water lies during the summer. The entire length of the upper valley may be put at 2½ miles. It is inclosed by the rocky steeps of Mount Bagheera, Catamount peak and Mount Ursus Major, on the north, and of Cougar mountain on the south. On the sides of these massives are small glaciers, busy at work tearing down the entire structures. At the head of the valley, Cougar pass leads across the shrunken glacier to a steep ravine descending to the railway at some distance below Ross Peak station.
On the road to the Caves—Showing Cougar Valley; Mts. Ursus Major and Bagheera in distance.
Douglas Falls—Near the Caves.
“It would be difficult to find a more beautiful example of the alpine valley. In every direction silver water-falls leap down the sides from the glaciers and melting snows of the surrounding peaks. These collect at the bottom of the valley in one central stream which bounds in foaming cascades to the little lake-bed mentioned above. It leaves this, and, continually augmented by falls from above, rushes through luxurious meadow-lands in a second series of cascades that have worn down to bedrock, showing where a thin veneer of soil is overlaying it. The alpine meadows and park-lands, as well as the open mountain slopes of the valley, are throughout the spring and summer decked with a gorgeous array of flowers of varied hues which, in places, are so profuse and brilliant that it seems as though nature had spread a carpet of rainbow colours for the delight and wonder of her visitors. In early spring, the giant Adder’s Tongue (Erythronium gigantium) covers whole acres with a brilliant yellow. These flowers are the first, and may be seen pushing their heads up through the snow. Like all spring flowers in this region, they follow the melting snows, and may be found higher up in the valley as late as August. Almost coincident with them is the Globe flower (Trollius laxus), a plant of much beauty and great wealth of blossom. Next come the scarlet and crimson Painter’s Brush (Castilleia), showing everywhere in the open and on the lower slopes with a blaze of glory. Later still, the blue Larkspur (Delphinium bicolor) and purple and pink Asters replace the earlier series, the crimson and yellow Monkey-flower (Mimulus) are found in the beds of the streams and where moisture is prevalent; high up in the valley and on the alp-lands below the rocks are seen the False Heaths (Bryanthus and Cassiope) and, highest of all, the pink-flowering moss (Silene acaulis), found in magnificently flowered bunches directly below the ice. There are very many other species more rare, and just as beautiful in blossom, but of not so frequent or noticeable occurrence.
“The timber consists, in this upper valley, chiefly of spruce and balsam, trees which, at this elevation, in the Selkirks attain a grace and beauty that is not noticed in the more crowded areas of lower altitudes. Here they rise symmetrically to a great height, and their sweeping lower boughs form shaded canopies that are most inviting during the sultry summer weather.
“As the head of the valley is approached, a short climb will convey the explorer to the ice of several small glaciers where he may study with ease their formation and action, look into miniature crevasses and see how moraines of rock detritus are formed by the downward flow of the ice.
“At the site of the Caves, Cougar Creek valley turns from a northeasterly to a southeasterly direction, and falls sharply 2,000 feet from Lookout point to the tank, as compared with 1,200 feet for the upper valley in the same distance, about two miles. The lower valley is V-shaped and has, for the most part, been carved out by the action of water erosion. The sides except immediately adjacent to the railway are timbered only in patches and are for the most part covered by closely growing alders, bracken and rank grass which have replaced the timber where the slopes have been swept clear by avalanches from the heights above. Through the latter half of this section of the valley the stream flows in a narrow canyon and the fall is steep. As soon as the corner is turned and the slopes of the Illecillewaet valley reached, a magnificent forest growth of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga Douglasii), hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana), cedar (Thuga gigantea), and a few scattered trees of white pine (Pinus strobus) is passed through.
Goat Falls—Near the entrance to the Caves.
“From a natural history point of view, the upper valley is exceptional, due largely to the absence of visitors in the past. The Rocky Mountain goat (Haplocerus montanus) may be seen frequently, and his tracks are everywhere along the heights. During one of our visits a grizzly bear (Ursus ferox) was killed by Deutschman. The black bear (Ursus americana) is plentiful at the head of bear creek across Baloo pass, and it may be safely assumed that he does not fail to visit Cougar valley. Of the smaller mammals, the hoary marmot or whistler (Arctomys Columbianus) is plentiful in both the upper and lower valley, and is here found in large numbers, larger in size and giving forth a louder and more shrill whistle than in the main range of the Rockies. Its startling note is very human and resembles much the noise that delights the heart of the small boy, produced by placing the fingers between the lips. Say’s squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis) and Parry’s marmot (Spermophilus Parryi) are also found, the latter in great numbers. The Little Chief hare (Logomys princeps) is frequently seen disporting itself among the rocks, and its comical antics and quaint squeak, resembling that of a toy rabbit, are very amusing.
“The birds are few, and in the upper valley are chiefly confined to the Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus), of which a flock may nearly always be seen, the water ousel or dipper (Cinclus Mexicanus), a funny little dark grey chap who flits from stone to stone along the cascades and falls of the valley, continually bobbing and dipping as though it were the object and aim of his existence. This bird has a very sweet note. Of other birds the black-headed jay (Cyanocitta stelleri annectens) and the Rocky Mountain Whisky Jack (Perisoreus Canadensis capitalis) are the most apparent.
“Taken as a whole, this wonderful valley is worthy of a visit quite independently of the attractions offered by the Caves, and it would be difficult to find a more representative or better type of valley to illustrate the various phases of nature in the Selkirks—scenery, geology, natural history and botany.”
It was in the year 1904 that Charles Henry Deutschman of Revelstoke, a British subject, while prospecting and hunting big game, discovered the Caves in series.
The next person to enter the Caves after Deutschman was A. Johnston, editor of the Revelstoke Mail-Herald. Next, in May, 1905, a party of twelve persons, including W. S. Ayres, the mining engineer, Howard Douglas, superintendent of Rocky Mountains Park, and R. B. Bennett, the Associated Press correspondent at Vancouver and now member of the Dominion House representing Calgary, visited the Caves. Most of this party, however, returned to Glacier on the following day and left Messrs. Ayres, Deutschman, Johnston, Benson and Field to make further explorations.
On the road to the Caves—Mt. Avalanche, Eagle Peak, Mt. Sir Donald.