Travel Diaries of R.V. Bing
1921
1921
1923
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Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
We were up by sunrise and L. who had been appointed head cook by an overwhelming majority, soon had breakfast ready. The Kid had difficulty deciding which was more attractive, bed or breakfast, but - after the bed had been removed - developed an enthusiastic preference for breakfast. It was a glorious morning and we took our time over breaking camp, but finally got under way by 8:30, prepared to enjoy to the utmost the next stage of the journey. Very soon after the start a distant view of the Frank Slide, with the Crow's Nest Peak in the distance, was obtained, and a little further on we again stopped while the official photographers secured pictures of the debris thrown up by the slide. Although the slide took place about 10 years ago, there is no vegetation to hide or even tone down its rugged barrenness. A winding road had been cut or blasted across it and the railway rebuilt but to all appearance the rocks, many of them of enormous size, are just as raw and clean cut as when they first fell or were thrown up. It is hardly conceivable that the term "slide" correctly describes what occurred, as the force that would be required to drive the huge masses of rock such a distance across the valley and up the opposite slope would at the same time have ground the rock to powder. The debris is piled far up the hill, opposite the point from which it came and is of the least depth at the foot of the cliff, in fact a small stream or brook runs at the very base: there is moreover, no large amount of talus left at the cliff foot. The impression is rather that the whole face of the cliff fell outwards, as a tree falls burying houses and railroad track many feet under solid rock. It has a most depressing effect, and we were all glad to be safely across. When passing through the next town, B. took a wrong turn, landing up at the hospital, and tried to make out that he had done so purposely for the sake of the view, including the first snow patches seen. There were a lot of clouds traveling across the sun by this time and only by great patience and good luck could any photos be taken. Perhaps this was for the best, as had there not been some drawback this day L. would probably have insisted on buying a moving picture camera and turning the crank continuously. And W. is believed to have set his camera for a time exposure and tried the experiment of moving the camera with the shutter open. He may also have bribed the person who later developed his film as no proof of the experiment can be found. We reached Blairmore after a drive of about ten miles, stopping for supplies and to buy Maudie a new spare shoe: then on through Coleman, the largest and most prosperous of the mining towns on the East side of the pass, also the last account before reaching Crows Nest ten miles further on.

Crow's Nest Peak, rising to the height of 10,000 ft., is well named and stands up in solitary majesty guarding the entrance to the pass. Unfortunately, the limited time at our disposal prevented us getting a closer view and the pictures that were obtained were subject to the vagaries of the clouds. These clouds brought with them one redeeming feature, at least, the play of light and shadow on the hills and woods being simply wonderful. It was no wonder the photographers rejoiced and lamented in the same breath and finally became so surfeited with pictures that it was almost hopeless to decide what should be taken and what should be left. Right at the top of the pass there is a chain of small, deep lakes, with sometimes a fringe of trees, at others lapping the base of a sheer rock wall towering bare and grand hundreds of feet above the water. The valley here is very narrow and the road and the railroad cross from side to side as the hills rise sheer or recede, leaving a small strip of fairly level land at their base, again creeping round some huge buttress, the cliff, often overhanging, on one hand, and water crystal clear and deep on the other. In these places the road has been widened to allow for passing every few hundred yards and the "turn out" signs posted. But the trail itself is the best preventative to fast driving, as there is always another corner just around the bend. The highest point in the pass some 5,500 feet, is passed about one mile and a half East of the British Columbia boundary, but geographically we did not "cross the Great Divide" before reaching the railroad divisional point which takes it's name from the pass, but otherwise has no claim to notoriety.

 

 

 

 

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