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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 47

East Cascade Region

East Cascade Region.

Climate different from the climate west of Cascade Range. Heat and cold greater; almost continuously hot in summer, but not so as to destroy vegetation. Little rain; warm rains, perhaps, April and May—again, but not always, in August and September. Winter changeable; November frosty, December, January, and February cold and wintry, but generally clear and sunny; little ice; snow say a foot deep on an average of years—melts quickly, winds melt it, and often leave ground bare for weeks. March and April variable; plains then begin to show grass. Hill-sides, in some places, show green grass in March. Irrigation generally required in this region.

The above description applies to an immense territory in the southern portion of the "East Cascade region." The description must be modified as regards certain districts. Approximation to the Rocky Range, or to the rugged Cariboo and other mountains, has its natural effect; trees abound, more rain falls, snow is deeper. On the upper parts of the Fraser River, the winter is capricious; very severe cold for a few days, then fluctuating near freezing point; another interval of intense cold, and then perhaps spring comes all at once. In the south-eastern corner of the province, a re-modification takes place. The effect of approximation to the Rocky Range is there mitigated by the influence of approximation to the border of the Great American Desert which stretches south to Mexico. About the headwaters of the Columbia, the climate is delightful; extremes are rare; snow generally goes as it falls. The scenery is very grand, and it is therefore probable that, when made accessible, this region will be the resort of thousands of invalids. Again, where depressions in the Rocky Range occur, towards which we may suppose that the page 15 Pacific Ocean winds are drawn in their passage eastward, approximation to the Range does not injure the climate. For instance, near Jasper House, and for some distance in the Athabasca Valley (see map), snow never accumulates; there is constant grass; warm rains sometimes fall in January. The same may be said of other parts.