The water coming from the ice caves of the main glacier flows chiefly into Berg lake and the Grand Forks, but a smaller part reaches lake Adophus and Smoky river, a tributary of the Mackenzie river, the same glacier sending tribute to the Arctic and the Pacific Oceans.
There are other striking mountains in the region, such as Mt. Geikie to the south of the Yellowhead pass and the Whitehorn to the north, though none rival Mt. Robson itself; but much remains for exploration and it will be years before this northern region of the Rockies, all the Alberta side of which is in Jasper Park, is thoroughly known and mapped. Trails are being rapidly built in the park, however, and with the erection of hotels at Jasper and other points it will soon be possible for the alpine climber and the tourist to find easy access to this delightful region.
Much of the exploration of the Canadian Rockies and Selkirks has been done by Englishmen and eastern Americans who received their training as mountaineers in the Alps, and one naturally asks why they should travel thousands of miles to our western mountains when the Alps are so much more accessible. There is, of course, the charm of a virgin and unexplored wilderness in our Rockies and Selkirks, so seductive to one who loves adventure; but there are other attractions as well which make our mountains fully the equal of the famous European range. Every type of Alpine scenery is as well illustrated in Canada as in Switzerland and the area of snow mountains in Alberta and British Columbia is several times that of the Alps. The whole length of the Alps is less than 400 miles and its breadth from 50 to 80; as compared with a length of 1,200 miles and a breadth of 140 miles for the Rockies and Selkirks, not to mention the Gold ranges, the Coast range and the Vancouver Island mountains, all of which have their snow fields and glaciers. Stuttfield and Collie in their delightful book “Climbs and Explorations in the Canadian Rockies” say of the Rockies that “they have a remarkable individuality and character in addition to special beauties of their own which Switzerland cannot rival.”
GLACIAL STREAM, MT. ROBSON, DIVIDING ITS WATERS BETWEEN THE PACIFIC AND ARCTIC OCEANS