On the road to the Caves—Ross Peak in centre. DOMINION PARKS BRANCH Department of the Interior OTTAWA 1914 Near the summit of the Selkirk range of mountains in British Columbia is one of the most curious series of subterranean caves in the world. Being of recent discovery and, up to the present, almost inaccessible except to the most agile and daring they remain practically unknown to the world at large, but to those bold spirits who have dared their black depths they have offered an experience,

“The valley of Cougar creek is divided into two parts of distinctly different characteristics. The upper valley, a great spoon-shaped basin extending from Lookout point to Cougar pass, is a most pronounced form of the type known as ‘hanging valley,’ or one that has been carved out in a U-shaped cross section by the eroding power of a glacier at one time filling up its bottom. This glacier has now shrunk to very small proportions at the extreme head of the valley. The floor is on a comparatively

“On the morning of May 30, the entire party entered the cave by the opening which I have designated on the map as ‘Entrance No. 1.’ Pools of water more or less filled with ice were encountered, which greatly impeded our progress, and finally a very deep one, at a distance of 237 feet from the surface, barred further progress until a raft could be prepared. Retracing our steps to the surface we sought an entrance in ‘The Canyon’ by means of a rope. This passage was about 70 feet below the natural

“Up to this time, only the Gopher Bridge series and the Mill Bridge series (see map ) had been explored. It was not until a day or two before the close of the survey, August 4, that an attempt was made to penetrate the huge opening seen at the north end of the bottom of the gorge. On the date named, the writer descended by means of a knotted rope, and was followed by Deutschman. The stream was then at high water, and pouring into the opening with a tremendous rush and swirl of waters. Although t

“On leaving the lake-bed above mentioned, Cougar creek flows in a series of cascades for a little more than half a mile through open alpine meadowland, broken here and there by knolls crowned with scrubby spruce. Suddenly, without warning, it drops into a cavity and, 450 feet farther down, quietly issues from its underground way. During this disappearance the stream has only dropped 30 feet. The intervening space between the entry into and exit from the ground has been named ‘Gopher Bridge’ by t

“On making its exit at the eastern end of Gopher Bridge, Cougar creek pours down a narrow rock-cut for a distance of 350 feet, when it again disappears in a whirl of flying spray below the surface of the valley. It reappears, 300 feet farther on at the bottom of a deep gorge, having dropped 85 feet while underground. The interval between the exit and entrance has been named Mill bridge by the party previously mentioned, on account of the roar of the water as it rushes underground through the cho

“As stated above, the exit of Cougar creek from Mill bridge takes place at the bottom of a narrow crack, or gorge, running at right angles to the general direction of the stream. The Gorge is 300 feet in length, about 50 feet wide, and is spanned by two natural rock bridges. The sides are composed of badly shattered limestone. On emerging from its subterranean course beneath Mill bridge, the creek flows through the Gorge 80 feet below the floor of the valley. At the lower or north end is the ope

Mr. Ayres thinks that the Caves have been formed entirely by water erosion, but Mr. Wheeler differs from him in this respect. Mr. Ayres says:— “The rocks in which the Cave occurs are of very hard crystalline limestone, dipping about 30 degrees to the east. In ‘Entrance No. 1’ these beds are very thick and are made up of alternate bands of white, mottled and grey marble. Some of the bands are very highly impregnated with fine sharp sand, so much so, in fact, that excellent whetstones can be made

Nakimu Caves may be reached by travelling to Glacier, in Glacier Park, B.C., on the Canadian Pacific railway, and from that point either by walking or riding on a pony a distance of about seven miles along excellent road and trail. A pic-nic party at the Caves. The distance to the Nakimu Caves from Glacier House by way of the wagon road—Illecillewaet river and Cougar creek, is 7 miles; by horse trail, via Rogers pass over the summit of Baloo pass to the Caves, the distance is 3 miles farther. Ba