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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