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 THE 
 
 NORTH FORK V/ LLEY OF THiE WAPTA 
 
 (BRITISH COLUMBIA) 
 By JEAN HABEL 
 
 
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 The North Fork of the Wapta. 
 
 By Jean Habbl. 
 Read January 19, 1898, 
 
 Travelling westward in the Rocky Mountains on the 
 Canadian Pacific Railroad, and after having passed the Great 
 Divide at Stephen (5296 feet) and the Wapta Lake at Hector 
 (6190 feet), a wild valley is visible to the right, the ent -ice 
 
328 
 
 THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 to which seems to be barred by precipitous, forest-clad moun- 
 tain walls ; its upper terraces are covered by extensive ice-fields. 
 This is the so-called North Fork Valley, — the stream emerging 
 from the same being considered as the right fork of thb Wapta 
 or Kicking Horse Kiver, although from a geographical point of 
 view it seems rather to be one of the different affluents of the 
 latter river, the source of which is formed by the Wapta Lake 
 and a few creeks emptying into it. In the background of this 
 hitherto untrodden valley a high, glacier-clad peak is visible 
 from the railway, and to explore the region to a point as high 
 as possible upon this peak was the purpose of the journey 
 which these pages report. This object was attained only par- 
 tially, the greatest drawback being that, once in the valley, 
 the mountain was lost from sight, and the way leading to its 
 ascent was discovered too late to be made use of. No other 
 name being known to me, I have called the peak " Hidden 
 Mountain." ^ 
 
 After having passed the North Fork Valley, the station at 
 Field (4050 feet) is soon reached, where the railway company 
 manages a little hotel and tries to make the traveller as com- 
 fortable as possible, — an endeavor which, during my stay, was 
 not always seconded by the persons employed in the house. 
 Making Field my starting point, I left the place on the morn- 
 ing of July 15, 1897, accompanied by Fred Stephens, Ralph 
 Edwards and the cook, Frank Wellman, all three on horseback. 
 Our outfit was carried by four pack-horses, everything having 
 been provided by Mr. T. E. Wilson of Banff, to my great satis- 
 faction. Abstaining from taking a saddie-horse for myself, as 
 the nature of the valley seemed too unfavorable for equestrian 
 exercise, I made the whole trip on foot. After the first day the 
 men had to walk nearly continuously as well. For crossing the 
 rivers, however, one or two saddle-horses are necessary. 
 
 As the entrance to the North Fork Valley could hardly be 
 worse from the west, by way of Emerald Lake,^ than it appeared 
 
 ^ This IS the peak mistakenly identified as " Mt. Balfour " in Plates VI. and 
 VIII. of this volume of Appalachia. — Ed. 'if ^ > ^j, 9^ ,? V . . -'^ ' C- . 
 
 2 A visit to this lake and the Natural Bridge ; a walk to the western Ottertail 
 bridge, affording a most beautiful view of the Ottertail Range and the mountains 
 north of Emerald Lake, which fitly may be called Emerald Range ; and a walk to 
 an eastern point, opposite the North Fork Valley, or to Hector are three excursions 
 
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THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA, 
 
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 to be from the south, I decided to attempt it first from that 
 side. In one hour from Field the " Natural Bridge " is reached, 
 where a bar of eambrian slate stretches from one side of the 
 Wapta to the other, with an outflow for the stream in the 
 centre, but easily traversed by homo Hapiens. The railway com- 
 pany had a bridge built this year over the bar, and our horses 
 were the first to cross it. From the Natural Bridge to the creek 
 flowing from the lake, where another bridge would be con- 
 venient, requires another hour, and then, after a third hour's 
 walk from Field on a good trail, leading through a fine forest. 
 Emerald Lake (about 4220 feet i) is reachetl. Our outfit was 
 shipped on board the little craft stationed there, and rowed over 
 by Fred to the northern shore, where we pitched our tents, the 
 horses having been driven around the western side. The lake 
 had a temperature of 55° F. ; the numerous little springs rising 
 near its shore and emptying into it, of 42°. 
 
 The next morning was a very damp one. To beguile the 
 weary hours I made myself waterproof and entered the narrow 
 valley, which opens to the northwest of the lake. Two hours' 
 walk brought me over the debris of an avalanche to its upper 
 end, a precipitous cirque, with high tilted strata to the west and 
 a hanging glacier to the north, the right side of the latter de- 
 scending in a narrow ribbon pretty far down. On my way 
 back I met a porcupine on its way up, which passed within a 
 yard of my feet. The morning of July 17 was also damp 
 and cold (5 A. m. 38° F.) With Fred and Ralph I left the 
 camp at eight o'clock to ascertain whether it would be possible 
 to take our horses to a higher camp and find there the necessary 
 feed for them. We traversed the little plain behind Emerald 
 Lake to the northeast, crossed the creeks without difficulty, and 
 moved up the iinwooded slopes of the Emerald Range, skirting 
 its perpendicular walls. Coming into forest again, we tui*ned 
 further north and found, after three hours' walk from our 
 
 ivhich may be easily made and which will give great satisfaction to any visitor at 
 Field. 
 
 ^ This and the following heights have been determined by two aneroids, con- 
 trolled by the boiling point of the water. The little sketch map, attached to the 
 paper, has been compiled by aid of numerous bearings, taken on the road. It 
 will no doubt be found incorrect and can ouly be considered as a finger-post for the 
 reader. 
 
330 
 
 THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 camp 1, a good camping ground with two or three days' feed for 
 our horses and water about twenty minutes higher up. Ascend- 
 ing the Emerald Range still fui ';her and turning to our right 
 towards tlie North Fork Valley, we reached in one hour a point 
 (7110 feet) from which a good part of the latter valley could 
 be overlooked. We were here standing on the rim of the 
 extensive hanging glaciers, which cover the northern Hanks of 
 Emerald Range. In tlie background of North Fork Valley a 
 so-called " valley glacier " was visible, descending into it in 
 a fine ice-fall. 
 
 The torrent from the hanging glaciers, which cover the 
 eastern terraces of the valley, descended directly opposite to 
 us in a very powerful waterfall. Rushing from imder the ice 
 at about the height of our standpoint, this fall plunges over a 
 nearly perpendicular wall down to the very level of the valley 
 bottom in beauty and grandeur hardly to be excelled by any 
 other on our globe. An entire view of the fall can only be 
 got from a point like that at which we stood, and not from the 
 lower parts of the valley. The difference between the height 
 of our standpoint and the foot of the fall is over 2100 feet. 
 From this figure much must be deducted as not of the fall 
 proper, yet it seems no exaggeration to say that the fall is one 
 of the highest in the world, although it certainly does not go 
 down in so vertical a leap as the Yosemite Fall in California. 
 The latter, the height of which is given at 2600 feet, has a first 
 vertical descent of 1500 feet ; of the remainder, 600 feet are 
 cascades, and then comes a final plunge of 400 feet. But it is 
 fed by temporary snow-fields, and while in spring it carrier a 
 large volume of water, it is greatly reduced in sumpier, after 
 the snow has melted away. So, too, the fall which is sometimes 
 quoted as the highest in Europe descends for over 1400 feet 
 from the glaciers on the Pic du Marborc into the Cirque de 
 Gavarnie, near the French village of the same name in the 
 Dcpartement des Hautes Pyrenees ; but its volume is so slight 
 that it reaches the bottom only in spray. The fall in the North 
 Fork Valley, draining parts of the extensive glacier-fields on 
 the western slope of the ridge stretching south from Mt. Bal- 
 four, will always have a large supply of water. 
 
 On the way back to camp I shot a very fine mountain 
 
 « 
 
THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 :}:]i 
 
 goat, which, after the fatal wound, following the peculiar habit 
 of its race, went down over a precipice ; wo found it quite near 
 to our intended camp 2. The meat of this very lusavy buck, 
 which the united force of our six arms was unable to lift, proved 
 later on to be very good indeed, in taste like beef. It enjiblud 
 us to remain longer in the valley than we had iinticipated. 
 
 As the weather was uncertain, I stopped another day at camp 
 1, and then, on the 19th, we achieved the difKcult task of get- 
 ting the horses and outfit up to camp 2. The i nst diffi<vdt i)art 
 of the way was in the wood, where we came ujton an old trail. 
 This we left to our right, ascending the ; '(^ep slope in a zigzag 
 through fallen timber and along the riui of a narrow field of 
 bouiUers on our left. Crossing the latter, we emerged into a 
 more open space, studded with small fir-tre<'s, on the other 
 side of which we camped (6320 feet). The situation here wa,! 
 most delightful. To the north rose the steep buttresses of the 
 Emerald Range ; to the south, Mt. Field, and to the southeast 
 its neighbor, the massive mountain, carrying a small glacier on 
 the platform under its summit, — apeak visible from all our 
 later camps in North Fork Valley and called in the lack of 
 other information, " Mt. Wapta." Over Emerald Lake we 
 looked far down the valley of tiie Kicking Horse Kiver, flanked 
 on one side by the Ottertail Mountains, on the other by the 
 Van Ilorne Range, and the Selkirks with Sir Donald (1G9|°) 
 in the far distance. 
 
 From camp 2 the unsuccessful attem])t was made to penetrate 
 further up into the Emerald Range. We left our camp for this 
 purpose at five o'clock in the morning, but were driven back by 
 a severe thunderstorm, after two hours' climbing over difficult 
 ground. The descent on the slippery rocks had to be made very 
 carefully, and at nine o'clock I was glad to be back at camp, 
 though wet through. Next day I started with Ralph to recon- 
 noitre the way down to the North Fcvk Valley, while Fred 
 looked for the horses, which had wandered away. Both parties 
 returned successful. And so, on July 22, at 7.30 a. m., we left 
 this delightful camp, sorry not to have been favored here by 
 better weather. We managed to get our horses safe and sound 
 down to the old trail, mentioned above. This we followed, reach- 
 ing at ten o'clock a point (6030 feet) which may be considered 
 
 APPALACHIA VIII 23 
 
 iz^bb 
 
332 
 
 THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 as the divide between Emerald Lake and North Fork Valley, 
 and half an hour later a small lake (5940 feet; temperature 
 52.7°), along which we skirted by its southwestern shore to the 
 outlet. Following for a while this stream, which turns from a 
 northeasterly to a northwesterly course and soon plunges over 
 a precipice, we reached at noon another lake (5570 feet) in 
 shape similar to figure 8. From this lake we descended in 
 forty.five minutes to the level of the North Fork Valley, where 
 not far from the foot of the great waterfall and close to the 
 river we established our third camp (4930 feet). 
 
 At eight o'clock the next morning I left the camp, but after 
 an hour's walk decided to wait for the horses at the river. We 
 crossed over to its lower left bank, passed two glacier-streams, 
 and then had to cross back again to its right bank, as the river 
 comes plunging through a narrow gorge. We ascended the 
 steep slope this side of it, through a dripping wood, to a little 
 opening just large enough for our camp 4 (5150 feet), where 
 we arrived at 11.30 A. M., thoroughly wet, of course. Our horses 
 were confined here to a small place between the beginning of 
 the gorge and our camp, and much exposed to wind and weather. 
 At eight o'clock in the evening they bolted, but did not get very 
 far. On this occasion the cook, Wellman, distinguished himself, 
 but came back so perfectly soaked through that I had to have 
 recourse to my own wardrobe to get him dry again. There was 
 fresh snow on the higher parts of the mountains next morning, 
 the temperature being 39° at 5.3C o'clock. After an hour's 
 walk from our camp, I was drenched again by the wet under- 
 brush in the forest. Emerging from the latter, a fine view of 
 the gorge was attained. I was now able to walk, unmolested 
 by wet shrubs, in the open, and to follow the right bank of 
 the river. After another hour I came to a fine fall, very pic- 
 turesque but of no great height. I was just able to cross the 
 creek forming the fall, but a few yards further on had to wait 
 an hour and a half for the horses to take me over another 
 glacier-stream which here joined the river. The horses arrived 
 at ten o'clock, having found and enjoyed a good feed on the 
 way, and half an hour later we got to another gorge, at the 
 beginning of which (5310 feet) we established our camp 5. 
 With Ralph I started at 12.40 p. m. to see whether it would 
 
THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 333 
 
 be possible to take the horses along the right bank of the gorge. 
 At 2.30 we got to an open place, where horse-feed would have 
 permitted to camp for a night. From here to the southwest 
 another very fine waterfall was visible, — a twin fall of consider- 
 able height : two glacier-streams approach close to each other, 
 and, going down separately over a perpendicular precipice, unite 
 at its foot. Here we turned to the northeast, and stood at 3.10 
 beyond the gorge (5770 feet), on the high bank of the river, 
 overlooking its opposite bank and part of the glacier, from 
 which the former originates. We returned from here to our 
 camp, keeping close to river and gorge, and arrived there at 
 5.45, convinced that it would be very difficult to get our horses 
 further up on this side. So we decided to try the other side of 
 the river, and left at ten o'clock next morning. Starting ahead 
 of the horses, I climbed a little too high. Travelling closer to 
 gorge and river, they passed me, and at 12.30 P. M. I found 
 camp 6 (5650 feet) already established on a small elevation 
 close to the stream, and in view of the beautiful glacier which, 
 as source of the North Fork of the Wapta, may fitly be called 
 " Wapta Glacier." The river emerges from a fine ice cave, at 
 the foot of which (5680 feet) I determined the boiling point ^ 
 of the water to be 95.545° C. = 623.43 mm. = 24.545 inches. 
 
 After a very cold night, during which the thermometer, 
 moistened by heavy dew, went down to freezing point, we 
 started at 7.30 A. M., ascended the tongue of the glacier, and 
 crossed over to its right bank. At 9.30 we passed the entrance 
 to a -vestern side valley, marked by a green island with some 
 trees on it, and reached at 10.30 the highest point of the lateral 
 moraine (7670 feet). From here we descended a few feet down 
 to the glacier, which we soon found covered with soft snow, 
 obliging us to take the rope. We were now on the great ice- 
 field, which in this i>art of the Rockies is said to stretch far to 
 the north, and in this direction perpendicular ridges of rock, 
 several hundred feet in height, emerge froni the same. We 
 turned to the western part of the basin, which perhaps sends 
 down another valley glacier (292°), towards the so-called North 
 Branch of the Kicking Horse River, and halted there at 1.15 
 p. M. (8840 feet), lunching, observing, photographing. Fine, 
 1 July 25, four p. M. Temperature of the air, 8° C. (46.4° F.). 
 
334 
 
 THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 glacier-slad mountains stood near to us, two to the south (164° 
 and 207°), one to the northwest (308|°), united to a rocky 
 wall ; and to the east stretched the three peaks which border 
 the left bunk of the Wapta Glacier, the highest (100°) more to 
 the north, the eastern part of the great glacier basin descending 
 between them into the main stream. To the southeast the chain 
 of the Rockies south of the Kicking Horse River was visible : 
 the Ottertail peaks of Mt. Goodsir (141|°-140°), Mt. Stephen 
 (134°), Cathedral, Biddle, Hungabee, Huber, Victoria, and 
 Lefroy, a most wonderful view, which reminded me of the 
 Dolomites in the Alps. At 3.30 we retraced our steps, reach- 
 ing camp at 6.45 p. m. 
 
 The next day was spent in the environs of our camp, and on 
 the 28th the eastern slope of the valley was ascended. A steep 
 climb of an hour and a half brought us to a point (7170 ft.) 
 where the whole western side of the North Fork Valley was 
 visible, includingj Hidden Mountain. The ascent to the latter 
 would perhaps be easily achieved through the side valley, the 
 entrance of which we passed on our way to the glacier basin. 
 This mountain and its glacier-clad neighbors is drained by the 
 stream which forms the above-mentioned Twin Fall and the 
 little picturesque fall we passed before camp 5. We had a 
 very fine view of the former from here, and above it part of 
 another fall formed by the same torrent was visible. To the 
 south of tills " Waterfall Valley " the whole northern side of 
 Emerald Range, Mt. Wapta, and the Mt. Stephen group were 
 visible. To the east, not far from us, stood the perpendicular 
 walls '^f Mt. Balfour and, separated from it by a small glacier, 
 a characteristic mountain, to all appearance quite inaccessible 
 from this side, resembling somewhat a well known mountain 
 in the Norwegian valley of Romsdalen, and which I therefore 
 called " Trolltinder." Ascending further east, we got in two 
 hours to the highest point (9370 feet) of the ridge which here 
 borders the southern part of the great glacier basin at the foot 
 of Mt. Balfour. Tlie weather, in the morning cloudy and rainy, 
 had cleared up, and we could even see, to the right of the 
 Ottertails, something of the distant Selkirk Range. A descent 
 of two hours brought us back to the camp. The evening was 
 a most glorious one. At sunset Mt. Stephen appeared from 
 
 fm6^ysy ^y,y/kPJ. 
 
Sketch Map op- rwE Valley 
 o^ the morth fobk of th 
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THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 335 
 
 foot to top clad in a bright purple, and the weather promised 
 to be fair next day. 
 
 But we, and still more our horses, began to run short of pro- 
 visions ; for them scarcely anything was left in the neighbor- 
 hood of the camp to live upon. They always kept close to the 
 latter, begging for salt and perhaps something more, which we 
 were unable to provide. So we decided to turn back and to 
 leave the place on the morning of July 29. I started at seven 
 o'clock, and in fifteen minutes reached the beginning of the 
 gorge, the right bank of which I followed as closely as possible, 
 enjoying the fine views into it. At nine I found myself oppo- 
 site our camp 5 (5310 feet), where I had to wait for the horses 
 to take me over the river, which they did two hours later. Fif- 
 teen minutes further on, we crossed the two glacier streams 
 coming from the west, one of them with the picturesque fall. 
 Then we kept more to the right to a little lake, where Fred, on 
 our way up, had discovered excellent feed, and where we arrived 
 at 11.40 A. M. (5270 feet). We unpacked the horses here, and 
 rested north of the little swampy plain leading to the lake. At 
 2.30 p. M. I walked around its rocky western shore and, mea- 
 suring the temperature of its water, found it to be 66.2° F. No 
 doubt that, as it lies at a height of 5270 feet above sea-level, 
 where even in July the thermometer during night-time often 
 goes down nearly to freezing point, this small and shallow sheet 
 of water must be fed by warm springs. Water-plants were 
 growing on its mrddy bottom, on which was strewn much rub- 
 .yish, amongst it the lower jaw of a caribou. The water was full 
 of animal life, as beetles, snails, and an animal in shape and size 
 similar to a sea-horse or a large branchipus, which I was unable 
 to catch. Numerous water-creepers were rushing about on the 
 quiet surface of the lake. Arriving at the southern end I found 
 the situation so inviting, a rich vegetation and a fine view to- 
 wards the Wapta Glacier, that, in the interest of man and beast, 
 I resolved to camp here for the night. The day had been a 
 very fine one, and we enjoyed a cloudless evening. 
 
 Starting at 7.45 next morning, we remained on the right 
 bank of the river, without crossing to the left and back again, 
 as we did on our way up. Over pretty even ground, only once 
 being obliged to climb a steeper slope, we reached, at 9.30, our 
 
336 
 
 THE NORTH FORK OF THE WAPTA. 
 
 camp 3 (4930 feet). Shortly below this camp the river de- 
 scends through another gorge, and, as far as I could ascertain, it 
 would be impossible to follow closely along the right bank from 
 here to the confluence with the left fork of the Wapta. We 
 turned a litth to the west, and with many ups and downs, over 
 most difficult ground, through a labyrinth of fallen timber, we 
 worked our way to an open space, cleared by the avalanches 
 from the slopes of Mt. Wapta. At noon we established here 
 our last camp 8 (5100 feet). There was no water in the neigh- 
 borhood of this camp, and we had to melt for our teapot the 
 snow of an avalanche, still resting here close by. Our horses 
 had likewise to apply to the frozen element ; they were used to 
 it, being accustomed to quench their thirst on the plains east of 
 the Rockies, during winter-time, by licking snow. At four p. m. 
 a thunderstorm swept over Mt. Stephen and Mt. Cathedral, 
 which were in full view from our camp and presented a most 
 striking appearance with the heavily loaded clouds hovering 
 above and behind them. At five o'clock the storm came down 
 upon our camp in full force, the rain nearly penetrating the 
 tent. There was another shower at seven o'clock. Then the 
 evening was quiet. My men, the jolly triplet, as a " good-by " 
 to the mountains for this timt, built a fire as big as I ever saw 
 at this height above sea-level. 
 
 It was raining again next morning, but we were able to start 
 at half past eight. First descending, we passed a swampy 
 plain, and then climbed through dense shrubbery in two hours 
 and a half to the pass (5420 feet) west of a little wooded moun- 
 tain and seen from the railway. The descent from this pass 
 and the ascent from Emerald Lake to camp 2 were perhaps the 
 most difiicult parts of the road traversed by our animals on this 
 journey. But all the difficulties which rocky inclines and fallen 
 timber opposed to them were most skilfully conquered, ^t 
 1.40 P. M. we found ourselves on the left bank of the Wapta, 
 at the foot of Mt. Stephen. An hour'? walk brought me back 
 to Field. 
 
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