Travel Letters: Canadian Rockies, Hiking + Painting

{Heading the page of an image. Sepia color image of two log cabins, one smaller than the other in front of tall tree and the top of a large mountain rigde in the background} {Stamp in center and bottom of top image. CANADIAN PACIFIC CHALET_BUNGALOW CAMPS WORLD'S GREATEST TRAVEL SYSTEM} {left side TELEGRAMS BANFF, ALBERTA} {right side RIDING HIKING FISHING} Castle Mountain Chalet - Bungalow Camp RAILWAY STATION AND PORT OFFICE CASTLE MOUNTAIN, ALTA. {in red 47} Sunday, 'Jun?'. 17, 1932. Dearest Mother, As you see we have gotten this far successfuly and are having a fine trip. After writing you ["Frid" struckout] Thursday night at the Bauf Spring we went to the movies with Frances and Murray [?] and took the Jonses with us. He is the manager of the Bauf there and this last winter both of theur children died and of course they are having a tough time of it and would pick a sad pathetic movie with a little child dying and so we all left in the middle of it and really it was a rather

{center top} 2 difficlut time. We took them down to the house and tried to cheer them up a bit and showed them everything and then when we drove them back to the hotel the Jonses insisted we go up to their room which we did. It was [?] though because we thought even if we did go to the movie we would be home fairly early and it was nearly one when we got back still not ready for the trip. We also saw some San Francisco boys up at the hotel when we went up [?] was showing them pictures of the springs and Pete took the movies up the next morning. They are terribly interesting in [?] and say there is nothing in the states like the high country we have.

We seemed to get their [?] up Friday morning and after a bite of [?] early Jackie brought us 11 miles out of Bauff to Massive? where at 1,30 we started in to Shadow Lake Victor? is with us to help pack the sketch parrels and the food and small tent. Pete has some food his sleeping bag and sketching materials

{center top} 3. and I have 5 pound sleeping bag Cliff used coming from [?] [?] [?]. My [?] got [?] clothes, we each have the poncho and though my pack sack doesn't weight more than 50 pounds. Victors is over 50 and Pete's almost as much. Our [?] are to go up into the high country and carry a day or two in a place and then Victor can go down to the nearest place and get us more food. We have 36 lbs with us, bread butter, tea, honey, bulley beef which is like canned beef. Norsel? soup which is in a powder form but new? concentrated. [?] essence of beef broth, cheese and crackers. [?] which is like chocolate malted milk but in powder form, and some bacon. Its all very concentrated stuff but nourishing. It took us 4 1/2 hours to reach the [?] at Shadow Lake and it must be 11 or 12 miles and steady gradual uphill work. Not very steep any of the way. It was like walking

{top center} 4 through a {struckout "flower"} strawberry patch the first few miles. I've never seen so many [?] [?] large strawberrys as there were all [?] the trail. The flowers we lovely took. Whole fields of wild larkspur. The mosquitoes were thich as well but we only noticed them when we sat down to rest. It was our first real exercise since rhe [?] so we felt rather weary when we reached the cabin. The C.PRnhave a hut there very near lake our hall way cabin with bunks and some food. However we used our own food. We lit a fire and hand some hot soup, bread and honey and teat and it tasted fine. We had hoped to sketch that evening but it started to rain just as we reached the cabin, and it settled in to rain all night. It was just as well we had a cabin the [?] night out. We went to bed early and slept [?] [?] late the next morning with a great many interruptions from humming? mosquitoes which are awfully bad this year. Also some deer kept wandering round

{Heading the page of an image. Sepia color image of two log cabins, one smaller than the other in front of tall tree and the top of a large mountain rigde in the background} {Stamp in center and bottom of top image. CANADIAN PACIFIC CHALET_BUNGALOW CAMPS WORLD'S GREATEST TRAVEL SYSTEM} {left side TELEGRAMS BANFF, ALBERTA} {right side RIDING HIKING FISHING} Castle Mountain Chalet - Bungalow Camp RAILWAY STATION AND PORT OFFICE CASTLE MOUNTAIN, ALTA.

the cabin. We had [?]. bacon and bread and butter for breakfast next morning and left the cabin at quarter of ten. It was a lovely day with beautiful lands. We had told FRances and Murray that we would be at Castle camp Saturday night for a party they were having to celebrate their wedding anniversary. People were coming from Lake [?] as well as form Bauff and they seemed very anxious we should be there too. We planned to walk to [?] Lakes in the moring paint there in the afternoon ad get there in the evening