The First Ascent of âNettie Lâ Mountain
T h e F irst A sc e n t o f “ N e t t ie L ” M o u n ta in H
ow ard
P
alm er
I
N spite of the fact th a t m ore than forty years have elapsed since the opening of the C anadian Pacific R ailw ay across the Sel kirks, the m ountains beyond a belt 20 m iles south of the railroad are still largely unknow n, and of only a few lim ited areas are ade quate maps available. T h e B a ttle R ange, about this distance south of G lacier H ouse, lies ju st beyond the lim its of the W h e eler map. South of the B attle R ange again about 20 miles, one comes to inhabited country, in the region of T r o u t Lake. T h is is a beau tifu l body of w ater, 18 miles long, half a mile w ide, and 765 ft. deep, resting at an elevation of 2400 ft. I t occurred to the w rite r th a t it w ould be interesting to visit this p a rt of the range, climb one of the higher sum m its, and see w h a t the co u n try w as like. A ccordingly, A ugust 9, 1915, found him a t the ham let of A rrow head (elevation 1400 ft.) on upper A rro w Lake. F ro m here, a m otor boat plies across the head of the lake eight miles, to B eaton, w hence a m o to r stage takes one on to T r o u t L ake C ity, about ten miles distant. In the first three miles from Beaton the road climbs a 2 1 % grade, to a broad saddle (25 0 0 ft.) w ith a gentle slope on the fa rth e r side, extending to the village of T r o u t L ake, w hich is situated at the lake shore on the delta of L ard eau Creek. L ard eau C reek flows from a valley to the northeast, and as w e neared T r o u t L ake a prom inent m ountain could be seen in the distance up this valley. N o m ountains w ere nam ed on the P rovincial map of th at period, but I a t once selected this as exactly suited to my purpose. U pon inquiry a t T r o u t Lake, I w as delighted to find th a t a good road led to its base, w here the tow n of F erguson w as situated. A fte r lunching a t T r o u t L ake H otel, the stage continued th ith er, and I arrived at 5 p . m ., the elevation being 3050 ft. Ferguson is a m ining tow n w hich has seen b etter days. T h e m ain street is w ell laid out, w ith substantial buildings lining it on both sides, b u t they w ere all boarded up, and only a h an d fu l of people w ere still living there. I p u t up a t a n eat little hotel, w here I obtained the w elcom e new s th a t a m ine w as located high up on the m ountain in w hich I w as interested and th a t a w agon road leading directly from the to w n w ould take me th ith er. T h is w ould be a
g reat help, as the m ountain sides w ere heavily tim bered and sup ported the characteristically dense und erg ro w th of the Selkirks. U pon inquiring for a guide, I was fo rtu n a te in procuring one E. W . G a rre tt, a red-haired youth of pleasing appearance, w ho agreed to pilot me up to the mine, p u t m e up for the nig h t in the m ine bu ild ings, and clim b w herever I w ished on the follow ing day. A s the w eath er w as settled, I suggested th a t we make an im m e diate s ta r t; so, afte r laying in a stock of provisions, we set fo rth a t 6.45 p . m . T h e road crossed the north branch of Ferguson C reek on a substantial bridge and continued to a ham let called “ Five M ile ,” w here stood an ore concen trato r for several mines of the neighborhood. A w ire rope conveyor, supported on a line of poles, stretched miles up the valley, and a second one came ab ru p tly dow n from the slopes of our m ountain to the left. T h e re w ere a hydro electric pow er plan t and a num ber of other substantial-looking b u ild ings, all deserted and ru stin g away. W e turned sharply to ou r left and com menced the ascent of a w ell-graded w agon road, w hich circled around the corner of the m ountain to its higher slopes in the valley of Ferguson Creek. W e arrived a t the upper cabins at 8.30, in the early darkness. T h e ele vation was 5000 ft. N e x t m orning, A ugust 10, daw ned auspiciously, and a fte r a hearty breakfast we got u nder w ay a t 5.30. A tra il helped us th rough the rhododendron bushes for a q u a rte r of a mile, b u t then w e had to leave it to secure a direct line for our peak. M y com panion had never been on the higher p a rt of the m ountain, and no inform ation about it w as available. F u rth e r, the valley w as so deep th a t nothing of the sum m it could be seen, so we w ere acting entirely in the dark. W ith in tw o hours w e had attained an elevation of 8000 ft., m ainly through dense bushes and scattered stu n ted tim ber. Soon a fte r this w e came out on the crest of a ridge w hich led directly to a b lu n t sum m it not far aw ay. T h e ridge w as easy, so th a t w e m ade good progress, arriv in g on this first peak a t 8.30 (elevation 8475 f t.) . H ere a surprise aw aited us. W e discovered th a t the real top w as a m ile fa rth e r on, cut off from us by a w ide glacial saddle 775 ft. below o u r level. T h is side of o u r peak broke dow n in steep cliffs, beneath w hich an ice-slope, thinly veneered w ith snow, m ade the only connection w ith the pass. W e had only one ice-ax, and no rope, not having anticipated the existence of such alpine conditions. W e quickly w orked dow n
the ledges to the final p arapet above the snow , whose consistency we had no w ay of testing. I tu rn ed to G a r re tt and inform ed him th a t this was a ticklish bit to negotiate. T a k in g off m y leath er belt, I said: “ O n e of us can get dow n if the o th er holds this. D o you w ish to go first o r shall I ? ” W ith o u t hesitation he offered to g o; so, taking a firm stand on the low est rock and a firm grip on the belt, I let him dow n to his full length. H e could ju s t reach the top of the snow -slope w ith his toes and gingerly tro d o u t a firm step. T h e n I handed him the ice-ax, w hich w as driven in, and I dropped dow n to his station. F ro m this point, held by the belt, I chipped steps dow n the h ard snow, and soon we reached b etter going w h ere the snow lay thicker on the ice. G a r re tt had never been on a glacier before, but he acted like a veteran, show ing splendid sp irit the w hole day. W h e n w e looked back from the saddle w e could scarcely believe th a t w e had traversed such an unprom ising route. T h is w as the last difficulty, and tw o hours from the first peak we stood on the real sum m it (9100 f t.) , a t 10.30. W e found no evidence th a t the peak had ever before been vis ited, so w e erected a sm all stone m an. A lth o u g h the local men w ill go alm ost anyw here fo r goats or gold, they are exceedingly loth to set foot upon a glacier. T h e n a tu ra l approach to o u r peak w as so w ell guarded by glaciers and by steep cliffs on th ree sides th a t it is very unlikely th a t anyone else has ever pen etrated th ith er. T o w a rd the n o rth and east very steep cliffs descended and the low er portions of the peak displayed long lines of sm aller cliff belts. T h e outlook in every direction w as ideal, the w ea th er being clear and w arm , w ith o u t smoke. O n e could see glacier peaks in the G o ld R ange w est of A rro w L ake and m any of the peaks of the higher Selkirks, including South A lb ert Peak, Bonney, P u rity , S ugarloaf, Beaver and D un can . T h e P u rcell M o u n ta in s w ere w ell displayed. M t. F a rn a m stood o u t nobly; also the Bugaboo Peaks. In this direction lay the m ost prom inent group of the T r o u t L ake M o u n tain s, M t. T em p lem an (10,000 ft.) being the highest, situated about nine miles aw ay alm ost due east. Especially pro m in en t w as the cu l m in atin g peak of the B a ttle Range, since none o f the in terv en in g m ountains rose to nearly its height. I t tow ered above steep, snowless precipices, but ju s t to the le ft of these a larg e glacier descended alm ost from the sum m it. A little to the rig h t, b u t nearer, lay a w ide sem icircular basin filled w ith glaciers and co n stitu tin g the
source of the w est fork of the D uncan. N e a re r still the m ountains scarcely surpassed 8500 ft. and showed practically no snow or ice. T o w a rd the south the extrem e tip of T r o u t L ake could be seen and the buildings of the tow n of Ferguson. In this direction, except for T r o u t M o u n ta in (8500 ft.) and one other snowy peak, the coun try w as filled w ith even-topped ridges of m oderate elevation to the lim it of vision. T h is snow m ountain may reach 9000 ft. I t is situ ated at the source of F ive M ile Creek, flowing into T r o u t Lake, and m ight repay a visit. W e also obtained a good view of the “ L im e D yke,” w hich is a unique feature of this locality and w ell know n am ong the inhabi tants. T h e form ation is a thin w all of grey lim estone w hich stands high up above the surro u n d in g hills and extends from the vicinity of M t. T em plem an across country in a n o rthw esterly direction per haps as fa r as the Incom appleux River. I t is w eathered through in places to form impressive blade-like tow ers, som ew hat resem bling those in the “ G ard en of the G ods” in Colorado. I t is said to con tain overhanging pinnacles 1000 ft. high.1 C onditions w ere so delightful th a t w e rem ained on o u r lofty perch for four hours, d rinking in every detail and taking compass bearings to the im p o rtan t peaks. A t 2.30 we started back, reach ing the pass three-quarters of an h o u r later. Being doubtful w h eth er w e could ascend the cliffs of the lo w er peak by o u r m o rn ing’s route, w e decided to vary the rest of the re tu rn jo u rn ey ; so, crossing the glacier m ore to the left, we traversed the entire south east face of the m ountain ju st below the sum m it cliffs, finding steep b u t fairly favorable going on this line. In m any places the route lay along the tops of funnel-shaped couloirs w hich plunged to the very bottom of the m ountain. T w o and a half hours from the top w e arriv ed a t the mine, and taking up the packs there w e descended to F erguson in an hour and a half m ore, arriv in g at 6.30. F in d in g th a t the m ail stage was on the point of leaving for T r o u t Lake, I took advantage of it to retu rn th ith er. O n A ugust 1 1 I retu rn ed to R evelstroke, thus com p leting a most enjoyable expedition and obtaining a good know ledge of the w hole belt of the Selkirks for 50 miles south of the B attle R ange. 1 A n n u a l R e p o r t o f th e M i n i s t e r o f L a n d s f o r B r itis h p p . G 7 2 -7 8 .
C o lu m b ia , 1919,
I found subsequently th a t a contour map o f the region bordering on T r o u t L ake had been issued by the G eological Survey of C anada, D ep a rtm en t of M ines, the title being “ L ard eau M a p N o. 19A .” N am es and elevations used in the foregoing paper are taken from this m ap. T h e elevations on the clim b are from aneroid readings by the w riter, w hich, ow ing to the settled w eather, are th o u g h t to be reasonably accurate. G eneral literatu re dealing w ith the T r o u t L ake region is scanty, but am ong the G ov ern m en t reports there are tw o very good papers w hich should be consulted by anyone interested. “ T h e L ard eau D is tric t,” by R . W . B rock,2 describes the m oun tains as “ big, blocky masses, term in atin g in rugged, n arro w serrated ridges whose even skyline is relieved in detail by num erous pinnacles and spires.” T h e rock of “ N ettie L ” M o u n ta in is slate and p h y llite w ith dykes of diabase schist. T h e ore is galena, blende, copper and iro n pyrites, w ith some gold. F ro m the mine, 2300 tons of ore w ere shipped. T riu n e M in e, on S ilver C up M o u n ta in , lies u nder the bed of a glacier. T h e ore is frozen w hen m ined. In w in ter, snow-slides prevent its operation. In “ T h e A rro w L akes and D uncan R iv er,” by H . H . B. A b b o tt,3 it is stated th a t the m ining excitem ent in this d istrict w as alm ost a “ rush” betw een the years 1896 and 1901. A t this tim e T r o u t L ake had a population of nearly 1000 people. T h e “ N ettie L ” m ine is the largest one in the d istrict and $250,000 w as spent upon the co n cen trato r and reducing plant. 2 A n n u a l R e p o rt G eological S u r v e y o f C a n a d a , 1903, Vol. X V, P a r t A A , pp. 4 2 A -8 1A . 3 A n n u a l R e p o rt o f th e M in is te r o f L a n d s fo r B ritish C o lu m b ia , 1919, pp. G 72-78.
ow ard
P
alm er
I
N spite of the fact th a t m ore than forty years have elapsed since the opening of the C anadian Pacific R ailw ay across the Sel kirks, the m ountains beyond a belt 20 m iles south of the railroad are still largely unknow n, and of only a few lim ited areas are ade quate maps available. T h e B a ttle R ange, about this distance south of G lacier H ouse, lies ju st beyond the lim its of the W h e eler map. South of the B attle R ange again about 20 miles, one comes to inhabited country, in the region of T r o u t Lake. T h is is a beau tifu l body of w ater, 18 miles long, half a mile w ide, and 765 ft. deep, resting at an elevation of 2400 ft. I t occurred to the w rite r th a t it w ould be interesting to visit this p a rt of the range, climb one of the higher sum m its, and see w h a t the co u n try w as like. A ccordingly, A ugust 9, 1915, found him a t the ham let of A rrow head (elevation 1400 ft.) on upper A rro w Lake. F ro m here, a m otor boat plies across the head of the lake eight miles, to B eaton, w hence a m o to r stage takes one on to T r o u t L ake C ity, about ten miles distant. In the first three miles from Beaton the road climbs a 2 1 % grade, to a broad saddle (25 0 0 ft.) w ith a gentle slope on the fa rth e r side, extending to the village of T r o u t L ake, w hich is situated at the lake shore on the delta of L ard eau Creek. L ard eau C reek flows from a valley to the northeast, and as w e neared T r o u t L ake a prom inent m ountain could be seen in the distance up this valley. N o m ountains w ere nam ed on the P rovincial map of th at period, but I a t once selected this as exactly suited to my purpose. U pon inquiry a t T r o u t Lake, I w as delighted to find th a t a good road led to its base, w here the tow n of F erguson w as situated. A fte r lunching a t T r o u t L ake H otel, the stage continued th ith er, and I arrived at 5 p . m ., the elevation being 3050 ft. Ferguson is a m ining tow n w hich has seen b etter days. T h e m ain street is w ell laid out, w ith substantial buildings lining it on both sides, b u t they w ere all boarded up, and only a h an d fu l of people w ere still living there. I p u t up a t a n eat little hotel, w here I obtained the w elcom e new s th a t a m ine w as located high up on the m ountain in w hich I w as interested and th a t a w agon road leading directly from the to w n w ould take me th ith er. T h is w ould be a
g reat help, as the m ountain sides w ere heavily tim bered and sup ported the characteristically dense und erg ro w th of the Selkirks. U pon inquiring for a guide, I was fo rtu n a te in procuring one E. W . G a rre tt, a red-haired youth of pleasing appearance, w ho agreed to pilot me up to the mine, p u t m e up for the nig h t in the m ine bu ild ings, and clim b w herever I w ished on the follow ing day. A s the w eath er w as settled, I suggested th a t we make an im m e diate s ta r t; so, afte r laying in a stock of provisions, we set fo rth a t 6.45 p . m . T h e road crossed the north branch of Ferguson C reek on a substantial bridge and continued to a ham let called “ Five M ile ,” w here stood an ore concen trato r for several mines of the neighborhood. A w ire rope conveyor, supported on a line of poles, stretched miles up the valley, and a second one came ab ru p tly dow n from the slopes of our m ountain to the left. T h e re w ere a hydro electric pow er plan t and a num ber of other substantial-looking b u ild ings, all deserted and ru stin g away. W e turned sharply to ou r left and com menced the ascent of a w ell-graded w agon road, w hich circled around the corner of the m ountain to its higher slopes in the valley of Ferguson Creek. W e arrived a t the upper cabins at 8.30, in the early darkness. T h e ele vation was 5000 ft. N e x t m orning, A ugust 10, daw ned auspiciously, and a fte r a hearty breakfast we got u nder w ay a t 5.30. A tra il helped us th rough the rhododendron bushes for a q u a rte r of a mile, b u t then w e had to leave it to secure a direct line for our peak. M y com panion had never been on the higher p a rt of the m ountain, and no inform ation about it w as available. F u rth e r, the valley w as so deep th a t nothing of the sum m it could be seen, so we w ere acting entirely in the dark. W ith in tw o hours w e had attained an elevation of 8000 ft., m ainly through dense bushes and scattered stu n ted tim ber. Soon a fte r this w e came out on the crest of a ridge w hich led directly to a b lu n t sum m it not far aw ay. T h e ridge w as easy, so th a t w e m ade good progress, arriv in g on this first peak a t 8.30 (elevation 8475 f t.) . H ere a surprise aw aited us. W e discovered th a t the real top w as a m ile fa rth e r on, cut off from us by a w ide glacial saddle 775 ft. below o u r level. T h is side of o u r peak broke dow n in steep cliffs, beneath w hich an ice-slope, thinly veneered w ith snow, m ade the only connection w ith the pass. W e had only one ice-ax, and no rope, not having anticipated the existence of such alpine conditions. W e quickly w orked dow n
the ledges to the final p arapet above the snow , whose consistency we had no w ay of testing. I tu rn ed to G a r re tt and inform ed him th a t this was a ticklish bit to negotiate. T a k in g off m y leath er belt, I said: “ O n e of us can get dow n if the o th er holds this. D o you w ish to go first o r shall I ? ” W ith o u t hesitation he offered to g o; so, taking a firm stand on the low est rock and a firm grip on the belt, I let him dow n to his full length. H e could ju s t reach the top of the snow -slope w ith his toes and gingerly tro d o u t a firm step. T h e n I handed him the ice-ax, w hich w as driven in, and I dropped dow n to his station. F ro m this point, held by the belt, I chipped steps dow n the h ard snow, and soon we reached b etter going w h ere the snow lay thicker on the ice. G a r re tt had never been on a glacier before, but he acted like a veteran, show ing splendid sp irit the w hole day. W h e n w e looked back from the saddle w e could scarcely believe th a t w e had traversed such an unprom ising route. T h is w as the last difficulty, and tw o hours from the first peak we stood on the real sum m it (9100 f t.) , a t 10.30. W e found no evidence th a t the peak had ever before been vis ited, so w e erected a sm all stone m an. A lth o u g h the local men w ill go alm ost anyw here fo r goats or gold, they are exceedingly loth to set foot upon a glacier. T h e n a tu ra l approach to o u r peak w as so w ell guarded by glaciers and by steep cliffs on th ree sides th a t it is very unlikely th a t anyone else has ever pen etrated th ith er. T o w a rd the n o rth and east very steep cliffs descended and the low er portions of the peak displayed long lines of sm aller cliff belts. T h e outlook in every direction w as ideal, the w ea th er being clear and w arm , w ith o u t smoke. O n e could see glacier peaks in the G o ld R ange w est of A rro w L ake and m any of the peaks of the higher Selkirks, including South A lb ert Peak, Bonney, P u rity , S ugarloaf, Beaver and D un can . T h e P u rcell M o u n ta in s w ere w ell displayed. M t. F a rn a m stood o u t nobly; also the Bugaboo Peaks. In this direction lay the m ost prom inent group of the T r o u t L ake M o u n tain s, M t. T em p lem an (10,000 ft.) being the highest, situated about nine miles aw ay alm ost due east. Especially pro m in en t w as the cu l m in atin g peak of the B a ttle Range, since none o f the in terv en in g m ountains rose to nearly its height. I t tow ered above steep, snowless precipices, but ju s t to the le ft of these a larg e glacier descended alm ost from the sum m it. A little to the rig h t, b u t nearer, lay a w ide sem icircular basin filled w ith glaciers and co n stitu tin g the
source of the w est fork of the D uncan. N e a re r still the m ountains scarcely surpassed 8500 ft. and showed practically no snow or ice. T o w a rd the south the extrem e tip of T r o u t L ake could be seen and the buildings of the tow n of Ferguson. In this direction, except for T r o u t M o u n ta in (8500 ft.) and one other snowy peak, the coun try w as filled w ith even-topped ridges of m oderate elevation to the lim it of vision. T h is snow m ountain may reach 9000 ft. I t is situ ated at the source of F ive M ile Creek, flowing into T r o u t Lake, and m ight repay a visit. W e also obtained a good view of the “ L im e D yke,” w hich is a unique feature of this locality and w ell know n am ong the inhabi tants. T h e form ation is a thin w all of grey lim estone w hich stands high up above the surro u n d in g hills and extends from the vicinity of M t. T em plem an across country in a n o rthw esterly direction per haps as fa r as the Incom appleux River. I t is w eathered through in places to form impressive blade-like tow ers, som ew hat resem bling those in the “ G ard en of the G ods” in Colorado. I t is said to con tain overhanging pinnacles 1000 ft. high.1 C onditions w ere so delightful th a t w e rem ained on o u r lofty perch for four hours, d rinking in every detail and taking compass bearings to the im p o rtan t peaks. A t 2.30 we started back, reach ing the pass three-quarters of an h o u r later. Being doubtful w h eth er w e could ascend the cliffs of the lo w er peak by o u r m o rn ing’s route, w e decided to vary the rest of the re tu rn jo u rn ey ; so, crossing the glacier m ore to the left, we traversed the entire south east face of the m ountain ju st below the sum m it cliffs, finding steep b u t fairly favorable going on this line. In m any places the route lay along the tops of funnel-shaped couloirs w hich plunged to the very bottom of the m ountain. T w o and a half hours from the top w e arriv ed a t the mine, and taking up the packs there w e descended to F erguson in an hour and a half m ore, arriv in g at 6.30. F in d in g th a t the m ail stage was on the point of leaving for T r o u t Lake, I took advantage of it to retu rn th ith er. O n A ugust 1 1 I retu rn ed to R evelstroke, thus com p leting a most enjoyable expedition and obtaining a good know ledge of the w hole belt of the Selkirks for 50 miles south of the B attle R ange. 1 A n n u a l R e p o r t o f th e M i n i s t e r o f L a n d s f o r B r itis h p p . G 7 2 -7 8 .
C o lu m b ia , 1919,
I found subsequently th a t a contour map o f the region bordering on T r o u t L ake had been issued by the G eological Survey of C anada, D ep a rtm en t of M ines, the title being “ L ard eau M a p N o. 19A .” N am es and elevations used in the foregoing paper are taken from this m ap. T h e elevations on the clim b are from aneroid readings by the w riter, w hich, ow ing to the settled w eather, are th o u g h t to be reasonably accurate. G eneral literatu re dealing w ith the T r o u t L ake region is scanty, but am ong the G ov ern m en t reports there are tw o very good papers w hich should be consulted by anyone interested. “ T h e L ard eau D is tric t,” by R . W . B rock,2 describes the m oun tains as “ big, blocky masses, term in atin g in rugged, n arro w serrated ridges whose even skyline is relieved in detail by num erous pinnacles and spires.” T h e rock of “ N ettie L ” M o u n ta in is slate and p h y llite w ith dykes of diabase schist. T h e ore is galena, blende, copper and iro n pyrites, w ith some gold. F ro m the mine, 2300 tons of ore w ere shipped. T riu n e M in e, on S ilver C up M o u n ta in , lies u nder the bed of a glacier. T h e ore is frozen w hen m ined. In w in ter, snow-slides prevent its operation. In “ T h e A rro w L akes and D uncan R iv er,” by H . H . B. A b b o tt,3 it is stated th a t the m ining excitem ent in this d istrict w as alm ost a “ rush” betw een the years 1896 and 1901. A t this tim e T r o u t L ake had a population of nearly 1000 people. T h e “ N ettie L ” m ine is the largest one in the d istrict and $250,000 w as spent upon the co n cen trato r and reducing plant. 2 A n n u a l R e p o rt G eological S u r v e y o f C a n a d a , 1903, Vol. X V, P a r t A A , pp. 4 2 A -8 1A . 3 A n n u a l R e p o rt o f th e M in is te r o f L a n d s fo r B ritish C o lu m b ia , 1919, pp. G 72-78.
