This cache is only available when snow levels permit - approximately April to September, but this will vary from year to year.
All vehicles stopping in a National Park require a Parks Pass. This can be bought at the Rogers Pass Discovery centre, 1km to the east of the summit of Rogers Pass and this geocache.
The highway you drove along to arrive here today was opened September 3, 1962. This completed the first continuous two-lane, all season road across Canada. The Trans Canada Highway stretches for 7,821 KM from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Long before the highway connected east and west, the railway came over this high pass starting in 1885. Deep snows and high avalanche danger eventually drove the railway underground in 1916 where it still lies today.
This Memorial Garden was made to remember those who lost their lives in Canada’s most fatal avalanche that came down right where you are now standing. On March 4, 1910, 59 men were sent here to clear snow off the railway from an avalanche that had buried it. While they dug, a second avalanche came down from the other side of the valley and killed all but one of the men. These avalanches were part of a storm cycle that hit the west coast of Canada and the US between February 24 and March 5 of that year, killing a total of 180 people in 10 different slides in both the US and Canada.
The memorial garden was created with a Japanese theme in mind to remember the 32 men of Japanese descent killed in the 1910 slide. Take time to ring the bell and rake the gravel in the garden.
To claim a find on this virtual cache please send the CO answers to the following questions. All answers can be found on the plaques in the area.
1. What is the first name of the final person on the memorial plaque?
2. One of the other signs at the rest area gives the elevation of the Rogers Pass. What is it?
3. On the Lost Highway sign, what is the name of this highway? This sign is currently missing.
4. What is the handle of the bell constructed from?
Lastly a picture of yourself or your GPS must be posted with your log. No picture means your log will be deleted.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.