Topography of the and Northern Selkirks, Author(s): Howard Palmer Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Jan., 1921), pp. 21-29 Published by: geographicalj Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1781201 Accessed: 27-06-2016 12:10 UTC

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This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE 21 in the expedition, and, as Captain LongstafF has said, clothed well and shod well. If these matters are looked after, I am certain amongst these Himalayan people there can be got together a party of well-trained men who will form a carrying party for the expedition. As regards survey. One would very much hope that a member of the Survey of India should be the first to climb Mount Everest. There is no reason why that hope should not be combined with the President of the Alpine Club's suggestion that the climber of Everest should be a member of the Club. As Captain LongstafF has said, there are two very fine Alpine Club climbers already in the Survey of India, and the more members of the Survey of India who join the Alpine Club the better. Lastly, I should like to corroborate all General Bruce has said as to the Duke of the Abruzzi's expedition having been a model one. We could not do better than model our own expedition for Everest upon the model of the Duke of the Abruzzi's K2 expedition. Now I will ask you to join with me in giving a very hearty vote of thanks to General Bruce for his valuable paper. General Bruce is one of those men who have explored most in the Himalayas, and all his observations upon the treatment of the people are of special value because he belongs to a Gurkha regiment, and no man knows how to handle people of the Himalayas better than he does. It is known probably to most of you that in the Gallipoli campaign his presence alone was considered worth a whole Brigade.

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE AND NORTHERN SELKIRKS, BRITISH COLUMBIA Howard Palmer

ALTHOUGH British Columbia, the valley has ofbeen the a routeColumbia of travel River for north a century, of Revelstoke, and fifty years ago it was the scene of a full-fledged " gold rush," there is available no adequate account of its physical features. Bordered on the east by the outlying foothills of the Selkirks and on the west by the Gold Range, both of which occupied practically unmapped territory, it promised to well repay geographical investigation. The present paper aims to report briefly the results of a month's reconnaissance of the region made by the late Major Robert H. Chapman and the writer. From Revelstoke on the there extends northerly along the river for 117 miles "The Big Bend Trail." This is maintained by the Government for fire patrol purposes, and affords practically the only land communication with the district embraced within the great northerly loop of the Columbia. A ferry near the tip of the Bend enables connection to be made with another section of the Government trail that strikes the railway again at Donald. We were told that branch trails gave access to some of the lateral valleys, and by these we planned to penetrate into the Selkirks and make a plane-table survey of as much of the new ground as we could. We expected to extend the author's earlier surveys of the lofty district westerly

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 22 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE AND over the lower intervening mountains, utilizing his stations to obtain the plane-table locations.* With two men and three pack-horses, we set out from Revelstoke on June 22. Although south of the town the valley floor is more than a mile wide all the way to the Arrow Lakes, to the north it disappears altogether and the river rushes rapidly through a narrow and steep-sided valley for most of the distance to the "Big Bend." Dense luxuriant evergreen forests fill the entire landscape, so that until Carnes Creek, 20 miles distant, is reached, only the rough lower slopes of the mountains can be seen. Over these along the easterly bank the trail winds in a haphazard way, with many an up and down, keeping closely to the river. Cut-banks and the gorges of side torrents present oft-recurring obstacles. Near Carnes Creek the valley bends to the west and the Gold Range takes on a more imposing aspect, supporting glaciers here and there. The most conspicuous peak is " The Frenchman's Cap," a Sir Donald-like prong of dark rock which rises 7000 feet abruptly from the Columbia to a height of 8500 feet above the sea. Farther back from the river a group of serrate peaks is possibly a little higher. The general arrangement of the Gold Range for 100 miles north of Revelstoke may be compared to the bones of a fish?the water-parting, from io to 20 miles west of the river, serving as the backbone, while roughly parallel spurs and subsidiary ranges branch off diagonally in an easterly or south-easterly direction. The valleys between these lateral ridges are deep and U-shaped, often becoming actual gorges as they debouch into the Columbia. In the other direction they generally open out into spacious upland basins and snowy plateaus. Several are typical hanging valleys. The mountains rise to heights between 8000 and 9000 feet, and as the Columbia averages only a little more than 1500 feet above the sea, the terrain displays a by no means insignificant relief. For convenient description, this 100-mile section of the range naturally falls into two parts: the first, extending from Eagle Pass on the raiiroad 50 miles to the pass at the headwaters of Gaffney Creek, where a wide low saddle opens through into the basin of the Seymour River on the west; the second, from Gaffney Creek Pass northerly to the valley of Canoe River. In the first division, the mountain ridges are characterized over great distances by even crests and long sweeping lines, with flattish slopes dipping towards the north-east. On these the principal glaciers are to be found, a few being several square miles in area. For fully 8 miles south-easterly from Gaffney Creek Pass an almost continuous glacier mantle covers the northerly slopes. Towards the west and south-west the gradients are more abrupt, oftentimes breaking out in lofty cliffs.

* See " Explorations about Mount Sir Sandford," Geographical Joutnal, vol. 38, pp. 170-179 (1911), with map ; and * Mountaineering and Exploration in the Selkirks5 (1914), by Howard Palmer, pp. I39~393f maps and illustrations.

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A few of the outlying spurs exhibit a fretted topography, apparently due to the action of local glaciers. The " Frenchman's Cap " group mentioned above is typical of this sculpture and appears to contain the dominating elevations in the section. Between Gaffney Creek Pass and Canoe River the Gold Range takes on a more rugged character, although preserving the arrangement already noted. The general uplift increases, and both the main axis of the system and its offshoots display more individual peaks. A sub-equality of elevation is noticeable here as well as in the Selkirks and the Rockies. There are fewer of the broad, slightly tilted slopes, so favourable for the alimentation of glaciers, and we find a corresponding decrease in the number as well as in the size of the latter, although in the neighbourhood of the pass there are some extensive neves. The most prominent elevation hereabouts is the Gordonhorne (about 9500 feet). This is well seen from the trail when approaching Goldstream, and apart from the " Frenchman's Cap" is the only mountain of note visible fronj the depths of the valley. We obtained a splendid view of this entire section from a peak between the head of McCulloch Creek, a small northerly tributary of Goldstream, and the Columbia. Although only 7950 feet high, it commanded the whole range from Mount Begbie near Revelstoke at the south, to the high mountains along Canoe River at the north, a clean sweep of 100 miles. It was somewhat of a surprise to note a pronounced scarcity of important and really prominent peaks for so extended an array. It is a question whether any exceed an elevation of 10,500 feet, but there are three and possibly four that are entitled to be ranked in the 10,000-foot class. The chief of these appeared to be on the westerly facade of the range about 30 miles distant, well beyond the westerly source of Horne Creek. It displayed a remarkably long even-topped summit, whose easterly face is entirely covered with glaciers. Later on we saw it frequently from the heights about Mica Creek, and it certainly will rank among the biggest peaks of the range. Proceeding northerly, the next two elevations of prominence were too far off to be accurately described. They must lie fully 25 miles back from the Columbia, and evidently mark the vicinity of the backbone of the range, which here commences to trend more sharply towards the north-west The fourth summit rises between Foster Creek and Canoe River. We were able to plot this approximately later, and estimate that it approaches an altitude of 10,500 feet. Turning to the Selkirks, the geography of the extremity of the range which had so long remained terra ignota, baffling observation even from the top of Mount Sir Sandford itself, now yielded up its treasured secrets most accommodatingly. We saw that the orographic key to the puzzle was Bigmouth River, whose three branches spreading out like the fingers of a hand received the drainage from two-thirds of the region beyond the Windy River Range, including all from Mount Argonaut (to be referred

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 24 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE AND to presently). The length of this torrent was a surprise?the trunk stream cutting easterly almost to the Columbia on the easterly side of the Bend. Between the trunk stream and its northerly affluent rose a splendid new peak covered with snow which dominated its entire neighbourhood. Later on we learned more about it. Mount Palmer, Mount Guardsman, Belvedere Peak, and many others near Sir Sandford were in full view, not to mention Iconoclast, Sorcerer, and Holway towards the south. Our peak, therefore, offers a rare opportunity to the surveyor who desires to extend triangulation across the range. From another station (7330 feet) to the north-east of McCulloch Creek we viewed the entire valley of French Creek. A fine glacier constitutes its principal source. The valley is deep and straight, and through it the stream meanders for miles between swamps and small lakes. The position of the water-parting of the Selkirks, however, eluded us, so another day was spent in occupying a third station towards the north, distant about 5 miles. The pastoral character of these outlying spurS of the range (6000-8000 feet) was very favourable to our work; they resembled the White Mountains of New Hampshire, with smooth rounded slopes carpeted with grass and flowers and whitened here and there with snow banks. It was possible to travel about almost as one willed, without the obstruction of deep timbered valleys. Towering cliffs and jagged outcropping rocks do not, as in the eastern Selkirks, sound the emphatic keynote of the scenery. From our station (7750 feet) we had a good view of Mount Argonaut and its approaches. This mountain, named and located by the writer in previous years from the Mount Sir Sandford district, it had been part of our present programme to ascend. In those days we dubbed it " The Big Tooth Peak," by reason of its prominence and striking form. It was the most conspicuous peak on the westerly horizon, and seemed by its isolation to promise a panorama of the entire Bend. Now when we were actually face to face with it, our anticipations were not realized. The altitude worked out something less than 10,000 feet, and the aspect of the mountain from this (the south) side lacked dignity and impressiveness. It was further off than we had expected, and with the lower slopes fire- scarred and strewn with piles of down timber, heaped up like giant jack straws, we concluded that the ascent would not repay the time and effort needed. Having now completed the necessary plane-table work from our headquarters here in Groundhog Basin, it was a question whither to move next. The high peaks of the range clearly lay well over towards the Columbia above the Bend, so we naturally felt drawn thither. On the other hand, we would have to travel up the Columbia valley half as far again from the railroad as we had already come, with no positive assurance that we could get up into open country above timber-line, which is essential to the conduct of a rapid survey. Failing in this, our efforts

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This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NORTH FACE OF THE FRENCHMAN'S CAP FROM THE COLUMBIA RIVER

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GLACIAL ERRATIC NEAR HEADWATERS OF McCULLOCH CREEK

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NORTHERN SELKIRKS, BRITISH COLUMBIA 25 would go for nothing. However, our men seemed confident that an old trail up Mica Creek, north of Bigmouth River, would prove suitable for our purposes, and that our provisions could be made to hold out, so we finally decided to venture it. Accordingly, on July 4 we dropped down into the torrid Columbia valley and continued northward on the "Big Bend Trail" through unbroken forest. Only occasionally did we catch glimpses of the heights. The evening of the sixth found us encamped at Mica Creek (100 miles from Revelstoke), so named on account of the millions of tiny mica flakes that sparkle in the water. Rain held us prisoners here for a week. So incessantly did it fall that we could scarcely stir from camp, and it began to look as though exhaustion of supplies would drive us back without further accomplishment. Curiously enough, we had no mosquitoes. Their role was taken by minute " sand-flies," whose attacks came without warning and against whose needle-like stings there seemed to be no defence. Finally, however, the storm moderated, and we forced our way up a disused trail to timber-line on the north side of the valley (5900 feet). From here in the course of five days of broken weather we managed to visit three commanding summits (7800-8300 feet) and to extend the plane-table work over most of the locality. We found that we were on the main axis of the Selkirk range and very near its northerly terminus. The Big Bend, the most northerly point reached by the Columbia river, was in full view, a sweeping ox-bow of muddy water, whitened in places by rapids?and it gave us a thrill of satisfaction to realize that here at last was the fulfilment of a long-felt desire. Considered solely as scenery, the Bend might easily be held commonplace; certainly as we saw it under heavy skies it possessed little of the spectacular. To the physiographer, however, it constitutes a locality of unusual interest, for there two major features of the great cordillera make a junction: the Rocky Mountain trench and the Selkirk valley. These separate the Rocky Mountains, the Selkirks, and the Gold Range from one another. The Rocky Mountain trench is one of the longest continuous depressions in the world, stretching no less than 800 miles in almost a straight line along the westerly base of these mountains. The Columbia river has its source in the trench at lat. 500 15', and occupies it for something less than 200 miles towards the north-west. At the junction of the Selkirk valley, however, the river bends abruptly into the latter and follows it southerly to the United States. The next 60 miles of the trench is occupied by Canoe River, which flows in exactly the opposite direction, thus meeting the Columbia head on, and, strangely enough, just at the latter's Bend. But this is not all. At almost the very point of confluence of the Columbia and Canoe still another river pours in its turgid stream. This is Wood River, draining the country about Athabasca Pass and Fortress Lake towards the north-east. Thus we have the some? what extraordinary instance of three considerable rivers and three

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 26 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE AND

considerable mountain systems all meeting at one place?the Big Bend.* It may be remarked in passing that the term " Big Bend," as commonly employed, is not to be taken literally, but as referring broadly to the whole vicinity and sometimes even to the entire northerly end of the which fill it. As regards the mountains of the Big Bend region, it may be said at once that there are none of outstanding importance within a radius of 10 miles. In general, they lack distinctive form. They consist principally of long slightly fretted ridges from 8000 to 9000 feet high, spotted here and there with patches of snow and glaciers. Further off, however, loftier summits are to be found. East of Canoe River, and about 12 miles from the mouth, we noticed a fine rock dome with exceedingly steep sides. Our observations with the clinometer assigned it an altitude of 10,300 feet. Several other peaks near by were but little lower. In the Gold Range about the same distance away appeared a long row of rugged summits, striped with snow and glaciers. The highest?an impressive massif seen previously from Groundhog basin?is in the neighbourhood of 10,500 feet. From here to the northerly end of the range in the narrowing angle between the Canoe and North Thompson rivers, a distance of about 50 miles, many fine peaks and glaciers occur, but the country has hitherto been so inaccessible that practically nothing is known about them. The recent completion of the Canadian Northern Railway through Albreda Pass and the valley of the North Thomson River, however, will doubtless soon lead to their exploration, as the axis of elevation is much nearer that side and several alluring ice peaks are in full view of the passing trains. In the Selkirks near us the elevations were lower. The loftiest peak of the final group of the range, a characterless dual-topped massif rising a few miles to the east, did not surpass 9000 feet, so we definitely settled that the region of high uplift in these mountains does not extend west of the valleys of the forks of Bigmouth River. Between these streams rose the fine snow mountain seen before, roughly pyramidal in shape and suggestive of a lion couchant. Its elevation is about 10,200 feet.f Facing it across the valley to the east stretches the Windy River range, a continuous even-topped wall, half a dozen miles long and 10,000 feet high, which serves as a pedestal for several attractive peaks that reach considerably higher. Next to the Adamant range, this is the most important group of the extreme northern Selkirks. As a whole it extends roughly from Kinbasket Lake to Mount Argonaut, a distance of 10 miles, although midway between the crest-line sags into what may turn

* See in this connection " The Nomenclature of the North American Cordillera," by R. A. Daly, Geographical Journai', vol. 27, pp. 586-696 (1906), with map. t Since this was written the peak has been named by the Geographic Board ot Canada "Mount Chapman," in honour of Major Robert H. Chapman, deceased.

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out to be a timbered pass. The range is mantled with magnificent glaciers on both sides and would well repay exploration. Having reached the end of our provisions, it now behoved us to turn our steps homewards. We would have liked to have crossed the range to Kinbasket Lake in order to examine the high peaks and glaciers in the Selkirks from that side, but the lack of food left no alternative. Accord- ingly on the eighteenth we started back, covering the 100 miles to Revelstoke in six days without halts. At Downie River we were tempted to make a raft and let the swift, smooth Columbia waft us comfortably to Revelstoke instead of plodding painfully along its banks on foot. But when we came to look around for the needful timber, we discovered that every tree which would have served our purpose had been used up years ago, and that we should have had to go miles and spend more time on the raft than it would take to walk. In conclusion a few random observations may be presented. Gold? stream is the largest easterly affluent of the Columbia north of Revelstoke. Downie River ranks next, and then Bigmouth. The other tributaries are small. A very interesting fall occurs in Goldstream a mile or two above its confluence with the Columbia. Being invisible from the trail and rather difficult to reach, it is practically unknown. The final leap of the water is some 70 feet, but including the cascades in the canyon above, the total drop is some 300 feet in a distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile. The unusual feature of the fall is the point of its occurrence. In the ordinary type of " hanging valley," the waterfall is always found very close to the point of junction of the lateral valley with the trunk valley. But in the case of Goldstream the fall is situated in the trunk valley itself several miles from the opening of the lateral valley. The structure is not due to subsidence, for a canyon extends below the fall for some distance towards the Columbia. Neither of the large streams similarly situated with respect to the Columbia?Bigmouth River and Downie River?has falls or even canyons near its mouth. On the face of it local uplift appears to be the explanation, for well-incised meanders occur in Goldstream for 15 miles above McCulloch Creek. It was regretted that time was lacking for study of this peculiar phenomenon. Between Goldstream and Downie River the Columbia runs in a notch through the hills, and in this are to be found its worst rapids north of the United States boundary. For many years a hardy steamboat plied the treacherous currents north from Revelstoke to the foot of the rapids, but it never tempted fate beyond. A little hamlet called La Porte grew up at the terminus just above Downie River, and a good road leads thence to Goldstream, where the former mining activity centred.* The

* McCulloch Creek, a small tributary of Goldstream only 4 miles long, yielded $2700 in gold in 1865. In 1866 the yield was $100,000 as reported to the Gold Commissioner, but this is estimated to be no more than half the trnth owing to the tax levied on export gold.

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 28 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE GOLD RANGE place is now deserted, but the name still lingers on most maps, masquerad- ing in big type like a metropolis. The rapids occur in a deep gorge which drives the road high up on the mountain side, so that at one point it is 500 feet above the river. The roaring of the water is plainly heard, but the rapids are invisible. The largest are Death and Priest rapids, both impassable to canoes at high water and hazardous at low. It is possible then, however, to let a boat down with a rope, while the boatman clambers along the rocky bank left uncovered by the shrunken river. Death rapids, on account of its deceptive situation, has been responsible for many a disaster. Coming downstream, the place is hidden by a bend in the canyon until within 100 feet of the brink, when of course it is too late to retreat. The fall is a dozen feet, with huge waves and broken water that extend 150 yards or more. In addition the river takes a zigzag course, which makes destruction doubly sure once within the vortex. Priest rapids lie less than a mile downstream, and though they have an equal amount of fall they present merely a straight run over boulders, and are not feared to the same degree. Walter Moberly, in his * Rocks and Rivers of British Columbia' (1882), states that the name "Death Rapids" arose from the following incident, which occurred in the days of the fur trade: " One of the Hudson Bay Company's boats was running the Columbia from 'The Boat Encampment, to Colville. They were always accustomed to take out the cargoes and passengers, and drop the boats with a line over the* bad rapid known as the ' Dalle de Mort.' A person in the boat who did not know the river accused the crew of cowardice, and seizing the steering- oar, forced the boat into the river and swamped her, only one man ever being known to have escaped. After long wandering he reached Fort Colville in a half-insane state, and from his ravings it was feared he had been guilty of cannibalism." Father De Smet, in his i Oregon Missions,' gives a vivid description of his passage of the rapids on 10 May 1846, as follows: " Some hours of descent (from Boat Encampment) brought us to Martin's Rapid, where a Canadian of that name and his son were killed. The roar of the waters is dreadful, and the agitation resembles that of an ocean in a storm. The bed of the river is there sprinkled with enormous fragments of rock. Our Iroquois guide, a fearless and skilful pilot, shot the boat through the menacing breakers. Dancing and leaping from wave to wave and helped by ten oars, we passed the great rapid of the Columbia with the quickness of lightning. At sunset we found ourselves at the entrance to the ' Dalles of the Dead.' [Dalle is an old French word meaning ' a trough/ and the name is given by the Canadian voyageurs to all con- tracted running waters hemmed in by walls of rocks.] Here, in 1S38, twelve unfortunate travellers were buried in the river. The waters are compressed between a series of perpendicular rocks, presenting innumer-

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms GOLD RANGE AND COLUMBIA RIVER FROM MOUTH OF MICA CREEK

MOUNT ARGONAUT FROM THE SOUTH: VALLEY OF BIGMOUTH RIVER ON LEFT

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VALLEY OF D0WNIE RIVER

THE FALLS OF GOLDSTREAM

This content downloaded from 178.250.250.21 on Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:10:27 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms MODERN EXPLORATION IN THE OASIS OF SIWA 29 able crags, fissures, and cliffs, through which the Columbia leaps with irresistible impetuosity, forming as it dashes along frightful whirlpools, where every passing object is swallowed up and disappears. By means of two long ropes we dropped down our boat through the Dalles, and encamped for the night at its outlet."

AN OUTLINE OF MODERN EXPLORATION IN THE OASIS OF SIWA W. Seymour Walker

IN first 1797 Europeanan Englishman, of modern John times Browne, to accomplishreached the such Oasis a feat.of Siwa?the He was attempting the through journey to Darfur vid Siwa, and after more than the customary share of those hardships which are the lot of the explorer, he succeeded. An account of his journey, written in an entertaining and discursive style, was published on his return to England. From a scientific point of view, his narrative is of little value, particularly as regards Siwa, for during his brief stay in the oasis he was a close prisoner, fortunate to escape with his life. His description of the village might have been written yesterday, except that in his time the old citadel was intact and there were no houses built on the open plain around its base. He was lucky enough to obtain a glimpse of the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the most interesting pages of his book refer to this decayed relic of one of the most famous Oracles of the ancient world. At the time of his visit the temple was in a fair state of preservation, and a considerable portion of it was still intact, occtipying a large ground area. At the moment, owing to the depredations of the Siwani, and, at a later period and on a larger scale, of the ex-Khedive Abbas Hilmi, the temple can hardly be said to be other than a very fragmentary ruin. It consists of nothing but a small piece of one wall and a number of fallen columns lying round about. The surrounding ground bears unmistakable traces of the temple foundations, and indicates the original size and former magnificence of the building. Before proceeding to outline what has been accomplished by later explorers and the gaps which they have left for their successors to fill, it will be well to give some general description, necessarily brief, of the Oasis itself. The Oasis of Siwa lies at the southern edge of the great plateau of Cyrenaica, in Lybian North Africa, 200 miles due south of Sollum on the Mediterranean, and nearly 400 miles west-south-west of Alexandria. Territorially, the oasis is in the Western Desert Province of Egypt, although the boundary between Tripoli and Egypt passes within a few miles of its western end. The oasis itself is 80 miles by 5, this area being made up of smalier oases, consisting in their turn of groves of

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