John Curren said he didn’t know of a
-rail, but there might be... at any rate,
he morning we left camp beside Ame-
thyst Lake the sun was warm, there was
a gentle breeze, and we really didn’t care
whether there was a trail or not.

We rode through the open Alpine
country, plunged through strips of mus-
keg, rode through bits of forest. There
was a vestige of trail and we were confi-
dent that as soon as we got into the forest
that the trail would consolidate, and we
would experience no undue difficulty.

But it didn’t. We found ourselves get-
ting deeper and deeper into difficulties.
‘We walked our horses over large, moss-
covered boulders where a misstep would
have meant a broken leg. We rode along
‘one narrow ledge about two feet wide,
‘thirty feet above the roaring stream. The
‘trail had entirely disappeared.

We came eventually to the top of a
steep incline. A stand of timber dictated

EIGHTEENTH EDITION

that we go down this or spend a couple
of days chopping. The incline was almost
sheer rock, with a few scattered trees,
and was very, very steep. My mount, Dick,
would go wherever I put him, and we
slid down successfully. One of the pack-
horses made it in good style. Ruth, fol-
lowing, was only half way down when the
pack-horse behind her slipped and started
a slithering, helpless crab-slide down the
rock, sliding down on Ruth and Peanuts.
Twenty or thirty feet they slipped, and
right on the edge of a sheer drop were
stopped by a small tree that allowed first
the pack-horse and then Peanuts, bear-
ing Ruth, to walk to safety.

In the slightly less steep territory at
the bottom of this pitch we had to resort
to chopping. Progress was woefully slow,
and the horses apathetic with the strain
and hard work we had given them.
Finally, when the shadows began to
deepen, we had to tie the horses, feedless,

—Photo Clifford R. Kopas

Lake Gloria and some of the mountains around Mownt Assimboine.

to trees, and make our camp on the steep
mountain-side.

Fatigue brought deep sleep, but the
awakening was fraught with worry. We
walked ahead, and where the stream
started a series of cascades down the
mountain-sides, we decided we couldn't
go any farther.

There weren’t even any signs of game
having travelled through the country.

ADVANCE OR RETREAT

But could we go back? Could the
horses go up that steep slope?

We were worried.

In working our way to that testing-
point, O’Hara the sceptical, tried a way
of his own, upset himself and rolled over
twice before he could regain his feet. He
carried a portable typewriter and a mir-
ror, and we had visions of them being
sinashed to bits. The tent, which we used
as a pack-mantle, held all the pieces in
place, however, and for the time being
we didn’t unpack to investigate.

It was four o’clock in the afternoon
when we got to the foot of the steep in-
cline. In the various workings-around
through the timber, Peanuts had left us.
We had let the horses have their own
heads and he had walked out.

*

With Compliments and
Good Wishes
to the
B. C. PROVINCIAL POLICE
from

A FRIEND
*

RYAN, HIBBERSON TIMBER
CoO. LTD.

Timber Brokers

Cruisers, Surveyors and Valuators
Consulting and Forest Engineers

405-410 Jones Building 723 Fort Street
VICTORIA, B.C.

KER & STEPHENSON |

LIMITED

Unusual Service in

Real Estate Insurance
Home Loans

|
| 909 Government Street Victoria, B.C.

EE

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