The display of mountain scenery along the Canadian Pacific line in
passing through the Rockies is the finest in North America, coming
largely from two causes, each contributing to the grandeur and
impressiveness of the view. The width of the Rocky Mountain ranges in
Alberta and British Columbia is not much over three hundred miles,
while in the United States they are scattered and spread over a
thousand miles of space with intervening tameness. The railway passes
also are lower in British Columbia, so that the adjacent peaks rise
higher above the valleys, making them really grander mountains for the
spectator, who is thus brought to the very bases of such stalwart
peaks as Mount Stephen and Mount Sir Donald, rearing their
snow-covered summits on high for a mile and a half above his head.
Both in concentration and elevation, as well as by the terrific
wildness of the Kicking Horse and Rogers Passes, by which the ranges
are crossed, the magnificence of this part of the Rockies is
displayed. Just within the eastern verge of the mountains are the
Banff Hot Springs, which, with their environment, make the "Canadian
Rocky Mountains Park." This reservation covers the Bow River Valley
and adjacent mountains. The winding river comes from its glacier
sources in the west through a broad deep fissure. This is crossed
almost at right angles by another valley, having the Spray River
coming up from the south through it to join the Bow, while to the
north the floor-level of this valley is higher, but without any
distinctive stream. These valleys and their enclosing peaks are all
formed on a scale of stupendous magnificence, yet so clear is the
atmosphere that distance is dwarfed, making the views perfect. Going
down to the river bank, where the deep, trough-like gorges come
together, it is found that the action of the waters has thoroughly
displayed the geological formation of these mountains, the enormous
rock strata standing up inclined from the perpendicular generally at
an angle of about 30°, being all tilted towards the eastward. Where
these strata-edges and ends are eroded, they are cut off almost
vertically, and thus they rise on high into sharp jagged peaks like
saw-teeth. Stunted firs cover much of the lower slopes, but the tops
are all bare, being rough, or denuded and smoothed rocks, snow-clad,
excepting where the slope is too steep to hold it.
Along the winding canyon from the northwest rushes the Bow River,
sliding in noisy turmoil, with ample spray and silvery foam, down a
series of cascades, making a most beautiful cataract, then turning
sharply at a right angle to the northeast to go around the end of a
mountain. The bright green waters in full volume swiftly glide around
the bend and away through the narrow gap formed between two towering
cliffs into a deep gorge several miles long. The smaller, but even
more swiftly-darting Spray River, dashes along rapids and joins the
Bow just at the bend. Such is the scene giving the central point of
beauty within this grand amphitheatre of high mountains, overlooked
from an elevated plateau above the waterfall, where the landscape is
finest. The Rocky Mountains Park includes about two hundred and sixty
square miles of streams, lakes and enclosing mountains, improved by
many miles of good roads and bridle-paths to develop its beauties. The
original attraction was the Banff warm sulphur springs, appearing
along the side and base of Sulphur Mountain, rising on the southern
bank of Bow River above the waterfall. The temperature of the waters
changes little from 90°, and they are extensively used for bathing,
being recommended for rheumatic troubles. One spring of copious flow
is a pool within a capacious dome-shaped cavern, hollowed out of a
mound of calcareous tufa. This is the crater of an extinct geyser, the
orifice at the top, which had been its vent, being availed of for
light and ventilation. High up among the mountains to the eastward is
the Devil's Lake, a beautiful crescent-shaped sheet of water much like
a river, eleven miles long, and enclosed by towering peaks.