Monkey-flower (_Mimulus_) are found in the beds of the streams and where moisture is prevalent; high up in the valley and on the alp-lands below the rocks are seen the False Heaths (_Bryanthus_ and _Cassiope_) and, highest of all, the pink-flowering moss (_Silene acaulis_), found in magnificently flowered bunches directly below the ice. There are very many other species more rare, and just as beautiful in blossom, but of not so frequent or noticeable occurrence. “The timber consists, in this upper valley, chiefly of spruce and balsam, trees which, at this elevation, in the Selkirks attain a grace and beauty that is not noticed in the more crowded areas of lower altitudes. Here they rise symmetrically to a great height, and their sweeping lower boughs form shaded canopies that are most inviting during the sultry summer weather. “As the head of the valley is approached, a short climb will convey the explorer to the ice of several small glaciers where he may study with ease their formation and action, look into miniature crevasses and see how moraines of rock detritus are formed by the downward flow of the ice. “At the site of the Caves, Cougar Creek valley turns from a northeasterly to a southeasterly direction, and falls sharply 2,000 feet from Lookout point to the tank, as compared with 1,200 feet for the upper valley in the same distance, about two miles. The lower valley is V-shaped and has, for the most part, been carved out by the action of water erosion. The sides except immediately adjacent to the railway are timbered only in patches and are for the most part covered by closely growing alders, bracken and rank grass which have replaced the timber where the slopes have been swept clear by avalanches from the heights above. Through the latter half of this section of the valley the stream flows in a narrow canyon and the fall is steep. As soon as the corner is turned and the slopes of the Illecillewaet valley reached, a magnificent forest growth of Douglas fir (_Pseudotsuga Douglasii_), hemlock (_Tsuga Mertensiana_), cedar (_Thuga gigantea_), and a few scattered trees of white pine (_Pinus strobus_) is passed through. [Illustration: Goat Falls—Near the entrance to the Caves.]