Photo: The high, open meadows of Jonas Pass (courtesy Steve Howes)
Jonas Pass
- 2301 m (7550ft)
- Naming History
- Peaks and Rivers
Province: Alberta
Park: Jasper
Named by: Arthur Coleman
Named for: Good Stoney, Jonas (A Stoney chief at Morley who signed Treaty #7, Jonas Good Stoney provided Arthur Coleman with information regarding trails between the North Saskatachewan River and the Athabasca River.
Mountain (SE): Waterfall Peaks
Headwaters (NE): Brazeau River
Headwaters (SW): Jonas Creek
JONAS PASS
The Jonas Pass area features a thirteen km stretch of trail that is entirely above timberline.
One of the first non-native party to cross the pass was likely Arthur Coleman's in 1893. Coleman late wrote, "Soon after starting we found a well-beaten and blazed trail, the one Jonas had told us of, winding up a very steep slope for horses to the mouth of a hanging valley far above the Brazeau, and for the greater part above the trees.
"We left the flowery slopes of forget-me-nots and gentians where he snow had melted, and rose upon barren fields of small stones and patches of turf clammy with softening massses of snow at about 7,700 feet. The trail ceased, as usual on passes, and for seven or eight miles we plodded through slush and mire, until the valley dipped down to timber-line on the other side, where we were glad to camp beside a small creek, among the highest trees. We named the pass and creek for Chief Jonas.."