The continental watershed pursues a very tortuous and irregular course, and is probably at least half as long again as the ‘air-line’ length of the range. East of the watershed the mountain region extends for a comparatively short distance and ends with remarkable abruptness. Through much of its length there is a succession of minor groups and ranges situated close to the main chain, but separated from it by the upper valleys of the great rivers, which show a striking tendency to run parallel to it. These possess some extensive snow fields and considerable glaciers, and will probably receive attention from climbers in the near future, but very little is known of them at present. Beyond them is a belt of mountains, not attaining to the snow-level but often rocky and bold in outline, which reaches to the edge of the great central plain, and presents to the traveller approaching it by the railway the appearance of a solid impenetrable wall. There are no snow fields or glaciers in this outer belt so far as I am aware. (It may be as well to say here once for all that this qualification is often unavoidable in dealing with an area so extensive and little known as the mountain region of Canada; it is impossible to give any information at all without putting forward as probable statements which may turn out to be erroneous.) To the west of the watershed, on the other hand, the country is continuously mountainous all the way to the Pacific Coast, three hundred miles away, and there are several ranges, alpine in size and character, standing quite apart from and independent of the main chain. Of these the Selkirks, an immense mountain system, enclosed by the great loops of the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers, are by far the largest and most important.
The outstanding feature of all this region is that till quite modern times it was entirely uninhabited, and for the most part still remains so. Indians in old days came up into the mountains to hunt, and to some extent for purposes of trade, but they did not live among them. Two or three outposts of the Hudson Bay Company, long since abandoned, were the only permanent human habitations. This differentiates mountain travel in Canada in many ways—as soon as the immediate neighbourhood of the railway is left—from mountain travel in the Caucasus or the Himalaya, particularly with respect to food supplies, roads and methods of transport. In the high mountain region the railways have had little or no effect on the character of the country, except within a few miles of the line.
The Rockies are now accessible by two lines of railway. Of these the Grand Trunk Pacific was completed early in 1914. It enters the mountains by the valley of the Athabasca River, and at the point where it leaves the Athabasca to ascend to the Yellowhead Pass (17 miles away) stands Jasper, destined to become a tourist centre, to which we shall return later. The other line, the Canadian Pacific, which has been in existence more than thirty years, crosses the main chain at the Kicking Horse Pass, and then, after descending into the deep trench of the Columbia River, passes through the very heart of the Selkirk Range. Climbing has now been carried on continuously and systematically for nearly thirty years among the mountains adjacent to this railway both in the main chain and in the Selkirks. It will be convenient to deal at once with the region here indicated, which will be referred to as the C.P.R. district. It is the only region where at the present moment conditions prevail at all resembling those of the European Alps, and climbing within its limits is quite a different affair from climbing elsewhere in Canada.
A climber wishing to see something of the mountains of Canada, who has not ample time at his disposal after arriving among them—I should be inclined to say at the very least a month—would be well advised to confine himself to the C.P.R. district, making, perhaps, one short trip of the kind mentioned below. He would find enough, and more than enough, to occupy him.
The ‘C.P.R.’ District.
Taking the main chain first, the extent of the C.P.R. district may be taken to be the area dealt with in Baedeker’s Canada (1907), which contains about ten pages packed with accurate and highly condensed information. The alpine particulars given are mainly based on chapters i. to ix. of In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies, by the Rev. Sir James Outram, who has been over almost the whole district and has supplemented his own experiences by copious extracts from the original narratives of Dr. Collie, Mr. Wilcox, and the members of the Appalachian Mountain Club.[37]
The railway enters the mountains from the east by the valley of the Bow River, the principal constituent of the South Saskatchewan, and soon afterwards arrives at Banff. The excellent C.P.R. Banff Springs Hotel is the most frequented place in the Rockies; but Banff itself is not a mountaineering centre, though Dr. Collie discovered a good rock climb in the neighbourhood on Mount Edith, and doubtless others might be found.[38] It is, however, of interest to climbers as the site of the Club House of the Alpine Club of Canada (of which more anon), and as the starting-point for Mount Assiniboine. This peak is the highest to the south of the railway, and its ascent is a very fine expedition. Given favourable conditions it can be reached and climbed, and the return journey to Banff completed, within six days. This involves travelling with a camp outfit and pack-horses; but it would be well worth while for a climber visiting Canada for the first time to make one such trip (and this one is probably the most repaying), for, besides being pleasant and interesting in itself, it would give him much useful experience in case he contemplated returning another year, and making a more extended journey off the beaten track.
Soon after leaving Banff, the valley of the Bow River runs parallel with the main chain, passing Storm Mountain and Mount Ball, which can be reached via the Vermilion Pass in two days from Banff.[39]
Thirty-five miles beyond Banff is Laggan, where the railway leaves the Bow River, and ascends by Bath Creek to the Kicking Horse Pass. Laggan[40] is the station for Lake Louise, where there is another first-class C.P.R. hotel (3 miles from the railway), the principal centre for the mountains on the south side of the line. Several of these can be climbed from the hotel itself; and there may be a permanent summer camp for the use of climbers in the valley of the Ten Peaks. If not, it is easy to have a tent, provisions, etc., sent there from the hotel.[41] A similar arrangement could be made either at Lake Louise or Field for a camp at Lake O’Hara, and this would bring within easy reach all the other peaks which deserve attention, except those of the Ottertail Range.
The last-mentioned group is best attacked from Field, 16 miles beyond Laggan and 8 miles to the west of the Kicking Horse Pass, where there is another C.P.R. hotel, the Mount Stephen House, the best centre for visiting the mountains on the north side of the railway. Besides the hotel at Field there are a chalet hotel on Emerald Lake and two permanent summer camps, one at the Takakkaw Falls; the other, Camp Warren, I have not been able to locate. It is, of course, also possible to approach the mountains of the Waputik Range by making a short trip up the Bow River, but the Yoho and Emerald Valleys seem to be more attractive. From the climber’s point of view these mountains are distinctly inferior in interest to those on the south side of the line, and the same may be said of Mount Hector, the highest summit between the Bow and Pipestone Valleys. East of the Pipestone the mountains of the Ptarmigan Lake district, just opposite Laggan, should be worth a visit.[42]