snout of the Asulkan Glacier first comes in sight, partly buried in the piles of rock, mud, and boulders forming its terminal moraine, an accumulation borne down and deposited by the glacier through the course of ages. Above, to the right, are terraces of ice and snow, cracked and seamed in every direction by yawning crevasses; to the left rise the precipices of rock confining the Illecillewaet Neve, the snow cornices with which they are crested showing how ready is that lake of snow and ice to overflow its bounds. A feature of this upper part of the valley is the number of hoary marmots or whistlers (Arctoinys Columbianus) that make their homes here among the rocks. Their shrill whistle is very human, and startling to the unknowing, and they are oftener heard than seen.
At the head of the valley, looking down stream to the right of the central ridge, an isolated rock stands out prominently from a bed of snow. It has been named the Ichtliyosauras, not because of any resemblance of outline, but because that extinct marine monster came instantly to the mind of a visitor seeing it.
During the early spring of 1909 an avalanche came down the mountain side on the east, completely obliterating the trail and necessitating its being cut out through a wall of tangled tree-trunks. Here now lie trees more than 500 years old that have been snapped off at the roots by the force of the wind preceding the avalanche.
Asulkan Falls—Also known as The Seven Falls and Menotah Falls.
Location: On the west side of the Asulkan valley, about two-thirds of the way from Glacier House. They are nourished by the shrunken portions of the Asulkan Glacier lying below the Dome and Rampart. They fall about 300 ft.
Asulkan Glacier and Névé—Name: By W. S. Green with reference to the Asulkan Vallev.
Altitude: 6,000 to 9,000 ft.
Location: At the head of and along the west side of upper Asulkan Valley.
Area: From 3 to 5 square miles.
First Ascent: By W. S. Green and the Rev. H. Swanzy, 1888; by a lady, Mrs. Dr. Stallard, 1896. This glacier presents several spectacular groups of seracs: also a number of fine crevasses of great depth, lined with pendant icicles. They resemble cavernous jaws set with sharp, cruel teeth. The play of the sunlight on their walls of green and blue is well worth observing. Persons going on the glacier, unless skilled mountaineers, require a guide, and no person should go on the ice without being roped. The natural trough of the glacier leads to Asulkan Pass, distant one mile from its snout at the head of the valley and 5 miles from Glacier House.
Routes: (1) The west wall of the valley can be crossed from the Glacier, via Sapphire Col between Mt. Castor and the Dome. (2) A traverse of the Glacier can be made around the south end of the peak. (3) At the head of the Glacier to the right of the Asulkan Pass looking north, an ascent can be made of the "Snow Dome," returning to the hotel by the Illecillewaet Névé and Glacier. These are all-day expeditions, and unless the climber is skilled on both snow and ice, a Swiss guide is necessary.
