l to r: Frank Purschwitz, Hermann Mauthner, Brian Patton, Pat Morrow

Mt Ethelbert Interpretive Sign

Posted April 24, 2012

The Conrad Kain Centennial Society has planted another interpretive sign in the valley celebrating Canada's premiere historic mountain guide. This time, Conrad shares the stage with a Catholic nun.

Sister Ethelbert (nee Marie-Madeleine Newlen) was a member of the Order of the Sisters of Providence who visited the upper Columbia in 1894 on behalf of the Saint Mary's Hospital in New Westminster. Her mission, as with many previous in other parts of B.C., was to raise money for the support of the hospital. She travelled up the river from Golden on Captain Armstrong's sternwheeler and died in New Westminster soon after the arduous journey. Captain Armstrong subsequently named the prominent 3176-m mountain within sight of the Columbia river and Highway 95 in her honour. Conrad Kain led a party on the first ascent of the mountain in 1915.

Next time you're headed up the valley, keep an eye out for the sign just north of Brisco, placed on a viewpoint pullout to the west. Through a gap in the trees, Mt Ethelbert and other peaks can be identified with the help of a panoramic photo on the sign. CKCS member and author Brian Patton wrote the text, Frank Purschwitz created the design, Hermann Mauthner built the sign superstructure from locally sourced wood and Pat Morrow shot the panoramic photo. While you're there, you can also read the interpretive text on an existing Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners sign.

Dave Humphrey added a geocache to the site, to bring the total number of Kain Geocaches to 10.

Here are the latest visitation numbers (April 19, 2012) to the other Kain cache sites:

NW 1.6km
GC2797B
 B10: Conrad Kain – Cranbrook 43 Visits
 
 N 127.2km
GC278NZ
 B10: Conrad Kain – Radium 208 Visits
 
 N 117.6km
GC278W2
 B10: Conrad Kain -- Wilmer Cairn 47 Visits
 
 N 114km
GC278HV
 B10: Conrad Kain – Windermere 137 Visits
 
 N 186.7km
GC28KA4
 Conrad Kain – Banff 939 Visits
 
 N 178.5km
GC28KAJ
 Conrad Kain – Canmore 64 Visits
 
 NE 8242.1km
GC21MA0
 Conrad Kain - commemorative plaque / Gedenktafel 30 Visits
 
 NW 463.1km
GC2ARVG
 Mount Robson - Conrad Kain 43 Visit
 
 NW 461km
GC2ARTR
 Mount Robson Viewpoint Conrad Kain 211 Visits

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