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diff --git a/old/2010-01-10_7091-h.zip b/old/2010-01-10_7091-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..74d4d30 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2010-01-10_7091-h.zip diff --git a/old/yosem10.txt b/old/yosem10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e100784 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/yosem10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6315 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Yosemite, by John Muir +(#2 in our series by John Muir) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Yosemite + +Author: John Muir + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7091] +[This file was first posted on March 9, 2003] +[Date last updated: August 28, 2006] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE YOSEMITE *** + + + + + +Produced by Dan Anderson and Andrew Sly. +Thanks to the John Muir Exhibit for making this eBook available. +http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/ + + + +The Yosemite + +by John Muir + + + +Affectionately dedicated to my friend, +Robert Underwood Johnson, +faithful lover and defender of our glorious forests +and originator of the Yosemite National Park. + + +Acknowledgment + +On the early history of Yosemite the writer is indebted to Prof. J. D. +Whitney for quotations from his volume entitled "Yosemite Guide-Book," +and to Dr. Bunnell for extracts from his interesting volume entitled +"Discovery of the Yosemite." + + +Contents + + 1. The Approach to the Valley + 2. Winter Storms and Spring Floods + 3. Snow-Storms + 4. Snow Banners + 5. The Trees of the Valley + 6. The Forest Trees in General + 7. The Big Trees + 8. The Flowers + 9. The Birds + 10. The South Dome + 11. The Ancient Yosemite Glaciers: How the Valley Was Formed + 12. How Best to Spend One's Yosemite Time + 13. Early History of the Valley + 14. Lamon + 15. Galen Clark + 16. Hetch Hetchy Valley + Appendix A. Legislation About the Yosemite + Appendix B. Table of Distances + Appendix C. Maximum Rates for Transportation + + + + +Chapter 1 + +The Approach to the Valley + + +When I set out on the long excursion that finally led to California I +wandered afoot and alone, from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico, with a +plant-press on my back, holding a generally southward course, like the +birds when they are going from summer to winter. From the west coast +of Florida I crossed the gulf to Cuba, enjoyed the rich tropical flora +there for a few months, intending to go thence to the north end of South +America, make my way through the woods to the headwaters of the Amazon, +and float down that grand river to the ocean. But I was unable to find a +ship bound for South America--fortunately perhaps, for I had incredibly +little money for so long a trip and had not yet fully recovered from +a fever caught in the Florida swamps. Therefore I decided to visit +California for a year or two to see its wonderful flora and the famous +Yosemite Valley. All the world was before me and every day was a +holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the world's +wildernesses I first should wander. + +Arriving by the Panama steamer, I stopped one day in San Francisco and +then inquired for the nearest way out of town. "But where do you want to +go?" asked the man to whom I had applied for this important information. +"To any place that is wild," I said. This reply startled him. He seemed +to fear I might be crazy and therefore the sooner I was out of town the +better, so he directed me to the Oakland ferry. + +So on the first of April, 1868, I set out afoot for Yosemite. It was the +bloom-time of the year over the lowlands and coast ranges the landscapes +of the Santa Clara Valley were fairly drenched with sunshine, all the +air was quivering with the songs of the meadow-larks, and the hills were +so covered with flowers that they seemed to be painted. Slow indeed was +my progress through these glorious gardens, the first of the California +flora I had seen. Cattle and cultivation were making few scars as yet, +and I wandered enchanted in long wavering curves, knowing by my pocket +map that Yosemite Valley lay to the east and that I should surely find +it. + + +The Sierra From The West + + +Looking eastward from the summit of the Pacheco Pass one shining +morning, a landscape was displayed that after all my wanderings still +appears as the most beautiful I have ever beheld. At my feet lay the +Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of +pure sunshine, forty or fifty miles wide, five hundred miles long, one +rich furred garden of yellow Compositoe. And from the eastern boundary +of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, +and so gloriously colored and so radiant, it seemed not clothed with +light, but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city. +Along the top and extending a good way down, was a rich pearl-gray belt +of snow; below it a belt of blue and dark purple, marking the extension +of the forests; and stretching along the base of the range a broad belt +of rose-purple; all these colors, from the blue sky to the yellow +valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light +ineffably fine. Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, +not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten +years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it, rejoicing in its +glorious floods of light, the white beams of the morning streaming +through the passes, the noonday radiance on the crystal rocks, the +flush of the alpenglow, and the irised spray of countless waterfalls, +it still seems above all others the Range of Light. + +In general views no mark of man is visible upon it, nor any thing to +suggest the wonderful depth and grandeur of its sculpture. None of its +magnificent forest-crowned ridges seems to rise much above the general +level to publish its wealth. No great valley or river is seen, or group +of well-marked features of any kind standing out as distinct pictures. +Even the summit peaks, marshaled in glorious array so high in the sky, +seem comparatively regular in form. Nevertheless the whole range five +hundred miles long is furrowed with canyons 2000 to 5000 feet deep, in +which once flowed majestic glaciers, and in which now flow and sing the +bright rejoicing rivers. + + +Characteristics Of The Canyons + + +Though of such stupendous depth, these canyons are not gloom gorges, +savage and inaccessible. With rough passages here and there they are +flowery pathways conducting to the snowy, icy fountains; mountain +streets full of life and light, graded and sculptured by the ancient +glaciers, and presenting throughout all their course a rich variety of +novel and attractive scenery--the most attractive that has yet been +discovered in the mountain ranges of the world. In many places, +especially in the middle region of the western flank, the main canyons +widen into spacious valleys or parks diversified like landscape gardens +with meadows and groves and thickets of blooming bushes, while the lofty +walls, infinitely varied in form are fringed with ferns, flowering +plants, shrubs of many species and tall evergreens and oaks that find +footholds on small benches and tables, all enlivened and made glorious +with rejoicing stream that come chanting in chorus over the cliffs and +through side canyons in falls of every conceivable form, to join the +river that flow in tranquil, shining beauty down the middle of each +one of them. + + +The Incomparable Yosemite + + +The most famous and accessible of these canyon valleys, and also the one +that presents their most striking and sublime features on the grandest +scale, is the Yosemite, situated in the basin of the Merced River at an +elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It is about seven +miles long, half a mile to a mile wide, and nearly a mile deep in the +solid granite flank of the range. The walls are made up of rocks, +mountains in size, partly separated from each other by side canyons, and +they are so sheer in front, and so compactly and harmoniously arranged +on a level floor, that the Valley, comprehensively seen, looks like an +immense hall or temple lighted from above. + +But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in +its walls seems to glow with life. Some lean back in majestic repose; +others, absolutely sheer or nearly so for thousands of feet, advance +beyond their companions in thoughtful attitudes, giving welcome to +storms and calms alike, seemingly aware, yet heedless, of everything +going on about them. Awful in stern, immovable majesty, how softly these +rocks are adorned, and how fine and reassuring the company they keep: +their feet among beautiful groves and meadows, their brows in the sky, +a thousand flowers leaning confidingly against their feet, bathed in +floods of water, floods of light, while the snow and waterfalls, the +winds and avalanches and clouds shine and sing and wreathe about them +as the years go by, and myriads of small winged creatures birds, bees, +butterflies--give glad animation and help to make all the air into +music. Down through the middle of the Valley flows the crystal Merced, +River of Mercy, peacefully quiet, reflecting lilies and trees and the +onlooking rocks; things frail and fleeting and types of endurance +meeting here and blending in countless forms, as if into this one +mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, to draw +her lovers into close and confiding communion with her. + + +The Approach To The Valley + + +Sauntering up the foothills to Yosemite by any of the old trails or +roads in use before the railway was built from the town of Merced up the +river to the boundary of Yosemite Park, richer and wilder become the +forests and streams. At an elevation of 6000 feet above the level of the +sea the silver firs are 200 feet high, with branches whorled around the +colossal shafts in regular order, and every branch beautifully pinnate +like a fern frond. The Douglas spruce, the yellow and sugar pines and +brown-barked Libocedrus here reach their finest developments of beauty +and grandeur. The majestic Sequoia is here, too, the king of conifers, +the noblest of all the noble race. These colossal trees are as wonderful +in fineness of beauty and proportion as in stature--an assemblage of +conifers surpassing all that have ever yet been discovered in the +forests of the world. Here indeed is the tree-lover's paradise; the +woods, dry and wholesome, letting in the light in shimmering masses of +half sunshine, half shade; the night air as well as the day air +indescribably spicy and exhilarating; plushy fir-boughs for campers' +beds and cascades to sing us to sleep. On the highest ridges, over which +these old Yosemite ways passed, the silver fir (Abies magnifica) forms +the bulk of the woods, pressing forward in glorious array to the very +brink of the Valley walls on both sides, and beyond the Valley to a +height of from 8000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. Thus it +appears that Yosemite, presenting such stupendous faces of bare granite, +is nevertheless imbedded in magnificent forests, and the main species of +pine, fir, spruce and libocedrus are also found in the Valley itself, +but there are no "big trees" (Sequoia gigantea) in the Valley or about +the rim of it. The nearest are about ten and twenty miles beyond the +lower end of the valley on small tributaries of the Merced and Tuolumne +Rivers. + + +The First View: The Bridal Veil + + +From the margin of these glorious forests the first general view of the +Valley used to be gained--a revelation in landscape affairs that +enriches one's life forever. Entering the Valley, gazing overwhelmed +with the multitude of grand objects about us, perhaps the first to fix +our attention will be the Bridal Veil, a beautiful waterfall on our +right. Its brow, where it first leaps free from the cliff, is about 900 +feet above us; and as it sways and sings in the wind, clad in gauzy, +sun-sifted spray, half falling, half floating, it seems infinitely +gentle and fine; but the hymns it sings tell the solemn fateful power +hidden beneath its soft clothing. + +The Bridal Veil shoots free from the upper edge of the cliff by the +velocity the stream has acquired in descending a long slope above the +head of the fall. Looking from the top of the rock-avalanche talus +on the west side, about one hundred feet above the foot of the fall, +the under surface of the water arch is seen to be finely grooved and +striated; and the sky is seen through the arch between rock and water, +making a novel and beautiful effect. + +Under ordinary weather conditions the fall strikes on flat-topped slabs, +forming a kind of ledge about two-thirds of the way down from the top, +and as the fall sways back and forth with great variety of motions +among these flat-topped pillars, kissing and plashing notes as well as +thunder-like detonations are produced, like those of the Yosemite Fall, +though on a smaller scale. + +The rainbows of the Veil, or rather the spray- and foam-bows, are +superb, because the waters are dashed among angular blocks of granite +at the foot, producing abundance of spray of the best quality for iris +effects, and also for a luxuriant growth of grass and maiden-hair on +the side of the talus, which lower down is planted with oak, laurel +and willows. + + +General Features Of The Valley + + +On the other side of the Valley, almost immediately opposite the Bridal +Veil, there is another fine fall, considerably wider than the Veil when +the snow is melting fast and more than 1000 feet in height, measured +from the brow of the cliff where it first springs out into the air to +the head of the rocky talus on which it strikes and is broken up into +ragged cascades. It is called the Ribbon Fall or Virgin's Tears. During +the spring floods it is a magnificent object, but the suffocating blasts +of spray that fill the recess in the wall which it occupies prevent a +near approach. In autumn, however when its feeble current falls in a +shower, it may then pass for tear with the sentimental onlooker fresh +from a visit to the Bridal Veil. + +Just beyond this glorious flood the El Capitan Rock, regarded by many as +the most sublime feature of the Valley, is seen through the pine groves, +standing forward beyond the general line of the wall in most imposing +grandeur, a type of permanence. It is 3300 feet high, a plain, severely +simple, glacier-sculptured face of granite, the end of one of the most +compact and enduring of the mountain ridges, unrivaled in height and +breadth and flawless strength. + +Across the Valley from here, next to the Bridal Veil, are the +picturesque Cathedral Rocks, nearly 2700 feet high, making a noble +display of fine yet massive sculpture. They are closely related to El +Capitan, having been eroded from the same mountain ridge by the great +Yosemite Glacier when the Valley was in process of formation. + +Next to the Cathedral Rocks on the south side towers the Sentinel Rock +to a height of more than 3000 feet, a telling monument of the glacial +period. + +Almost immediately opposite the Sentinel are the Three Brothers, an +immense mountain mass with three gables fronting the Valley, one above +another, the topmost gable nearly 4000 feet high. They were named for +three brothers, sons of old Tenaya, the Yosemite chief, captured here +during the Indian War, at the time of the discovery of the Valley in +1852. + +Sauntering up the Valley through meadow and grove, in the company of +these majestic rocks, which seem to follow us as we advance, gazing, +admiring, looking for new wonders ahead where all about us is so +wonderful, the thunder of the Yosemite Fall is heard, and when we +arrive in front of the Sentinel Rock it is revealed in all its glory +from base to summit, half a mile in height, and seeming to spring out +into the Valley sunshine direct from the sky. But even this fall, +perhaps the most wonderful of its kind in the world, cannot at first +hold our attention, for now the wide upper portion of the Valley is +displayed to view, with the finely modeled North Dome, the Royal Arches +and Washington Column on our left; Glacier Point, with its massive, +magnificent sculpture on the right; and in the middle, directly in +front, looms Tissiack or Half Dome, the most beautiful and most sublime +of all the wonderful Yosemite rocks, rising in serene majesty from +flowery groves and meadows to a height of 4750 feet. + + +The Upper Canyons + + +Here the Valley divides into three branches, the Tenaya, Nevada, and +Illilouette Canyons, extending back into the fountains of the High +Sierra, with scenery every way worthy the relation they bear to +Yosemite. + +In the south branch, a mile or two from the main Valley, is the +Illilouette Fall, 600 feet high, one of the most beautiful of all the +Yosemite choir, but to most people inaccessible as yet on account of its +rough, steep, boulder-choked canyon. Its principal fountains of ice and +snow lie in the beautiful and interesting mountains of the Merced group, +while its broad open basin between its fountain mountains and canyon is +noted for the beauty of its lakes and forests and magnificent moraines. + +Returning to the Valley, and going up the north branch of Tenaya Canyon, +we pass between the North Dome and Half Dome, and in less than an hour +come to Mirror Lake, the Dome Cascade and Tenaya Fall. Beyond the Fall, +on the north side of the canyon is the sublime Ed Capitan-like rock +called Mount Watkins; on the south the vast granite wave of Clouds' Rest, +a mile in height; and between them the fine Tenaya Cascade with silvery +plumes outspread on smooth glacier-polished folds of granite, making a +vertical descent in all of about 700 feet. + +Just beyond the Dome Cascades, on the shoulder of Mount Watkins, there +is an old trail once used by Indians on their was across the range to +Mono, but in the canyon above this point there is no trail of any sort. +Between Mount Watkins and Clouds' Rest the canyon is accessible only to +mountaineers, and it is so dangerous that I hesitate to advise even good +climbers, anxious to test their nerve and skill, to attempt to pass +through it. Beyond the Cascades no great difficulty will be encountered. +A succession of charming lily gardens and meadows occurs in filled-up +lake basins among the rock-waves in the bottom of the canyon, and +everywhere the surface of the granite has a smooth-wiped appearance, and +in many places reflects the sunbeams like glass, a phenomenon due to +glacial action, the canyon having been the channel of one of the main +tributaries of the ancient Yosemite Glacier. + +About ten miles above the Valley we come to the beautiful Tenaya Lake, +and here the canyon terminates. A mile or two above the lake stands the +grand Sierra Cathedral, a building of one stone, sewn from the living +rock, with sides, roof, gable, spire and ornamental pinnacles, fashioned +and finished symmetrically like a work of art, and set on a well-graded +plateau about 9000 feet high, as if Nature in making so fine a building +had also been careful that it should be finely seen. From every +direction its peculiar form and graceful, majestic beauty of expression +never fail to charm. Its height from its base to the ridge of the roof +is about 2500 feet, and among the pinnacles that adorn the front grand +views may be gained of the upper basins of the Merced and Tuolumne +Rivers. + +Passing the Cathedral we descend into the delightful, spacious Tuolumne +Valley, from which excursions may be made to Mounts Dana, Lyell, Ritter, +Conness, and Mono Lake, and to the many curious peaks that rise above +the meadows on the south, and to the Big Tuolumne Canyon, with its +glorious abundance of rock and falling, gliding, tossing water. For all +these the beautiful meadows near the Soda Springs form a delightful +center. + + +Natural Features Near The Valley + + +Returning now to Yosemite and ascending the middle or Nevada branch of +the Valley, occupied by the main Merced River, we come within a few +miles to the Vernal and Nevada Falls, 400 and 600 feet high, pouring +their white, rejoicing waters in the midst of the most novel and sublime +rock scenery to be found in all the World. Tracing the river beyond the +head of the Nevada Fall we are lead into the Little Yosemite, a valley +like the great Yosemite in form, sculpture and vegetation. It is about +three miles long, with walls 1500 to 2000 feet high, cascades coming +over them, and the ever flowing through the meadows and groves of the +level bottom in tranquil, richly-embowered reaches. + +Beyond this Little Yosemite in the main canyon, there are three other +little yosemites, the highest situated a few miles below the base of +Mount Lyell, at an elevation of about 7800 feet above the sea. To +describe these, with all their wealth of Yosemite furniture, and the +wilderness of lofty peaks above them, the home of the avalanche and +treasury of the fountain snow, would take us far beyond the bounds of a +single book. Nor can we here consider the formation of these mountain +landscapes--how the crystal rock were brought to light by glaciers made +up of crystal snow, making beauty whose influence is so mysterious on +every one who sees it. + +Of the small glacier lakes so characteristic of these upper regions, +there are no fewer than sixty-seven in the basin of the main middle +branch, besides countless smaller pools. In the basin of the Illilouette +there are sixteen, in the Tenaya basin and its branches thirteen, in the +Yosemite Creek basin fourteen, and in the Pohono or Bridal Veil one, +making a grand total of one hundred and eleven lakes whose waters come +to sing at Yosemite. So glorious is the background of the great Valley, +so harmonious its relations to its widespreading fountains. + +The same harmony prevails in all the other features of the adjacent +landscapes. Climbing out of the Valley by the subordinate canyons, we +find the ground rising from the brink of the walls: on the south side to +the fountains of the Bridal Veil Creek, the basin of which is noted for +the beauty of its meadows and its superb forests of silver fir; on the +north side through the basin of the Yosemite Creek to the dividing ridge +along the Tuolumne Canyon and the fountains of the Hoffman Range. + + +Down The Yosemite Creek + + +In general views the Yosemite Creek basin seems to be paved with +domes and smooth, whaleback masses of granite in every stage of +development--some showing only their crowns; others rising high and free +above the girdling forests, singly or in groups. Others are developed +only on one side, forming bold outstanding bosses usually well fringed +with shrubs and trees, and presenting the polished surfaces given them +by the glacier that brought them into relief. On the upper portion of +the basin broad moraine beds have been deposited and on these fine, +thrifty forests are growing. Lakes and meadows and small spongy bogs +may be found hiding here and there in the woods or back in the fountain +recesses of Mount Hoffman, while a thousand gardens are planted along +the banks of the streams. + +All the wide, fan-shaped upper portion of the basin is covered with a +network of small rills that go cheerily on their way to their grand fall +in the Valley, now flowing on smooth pavements in sheets thin as glass, +now diving under willows and laving their red roots, oozing through +green, plushy bogs, plashing over small falls and dancing down slanting +cascades, calming again, gliding through patches of smooth glacier +meadows with sod of alpine agrostis mixed with blue and white violets +and daisies, breaking, tossing among rough boulders and fallen trees, +resting in calm pools, flowing together until, all united, they go to +their fate with stately, tranquil gestures like a full-grown river. At +the crossing of the Mono Trail, about two miles above the head of the +Yosemite Fall, the stream is nearly forty feet wide, and when the snow +is melting rapidly in the spring it is about four feet deep, with a +current of two and a half miles an hour. This is about the volume of +water that forms the Fall in May and June when there had been much snow +the preceding winter; but it varies greatly from month to month. The +snow rapidly vanishes from the open portion of the basin, which faces +southward, and only a few of the tributaries reach back to perennial +snow and ice fountains in the shadowy amphitheaters on the precipitous +northern slopes of Mount Hoffman. The total descent made by the stream +from its highest sources to its confluence with the Merced in the Valley +is about 6000 feet, while the distance is only about ten miles, an +average fall of 600 feet per mile. The last mile of its course lies +between the sides of sunken domes and swelling folds of the granite that +are clustered and pressed together like a mass of bossy cumulus clouds. +Through this shining way Yosemite Creek goes to its fate, swaying and +swirling with easy, graceful gestures and singing the last of its +mountain songs before it reaches the dizzy edge of Yosemite to fall 2600 +feet into another world, where climate, vegetation, inhabitants, all are +different. Emerging from this last canyon the stream glides, in flat +lace-like folds, down a smooth incline into a small pool where it seems +to rest and compose itself before taking the grand plunge. Then calmly, +as if leaving a lake, it slips over the polished lip of the pool down +another incline and out over the brow of the precipice in a magnificent +curve thick-sown with rainbow spray. + + +The Yosemite Fall + + +Long ago before I had traced this fine stream to its head back of Mount +Hoffman, I was eager to reach the extreme verge to see how it behaved in +flying so far through the air; but after enjoying this view and getting +safely away I have never advised any one to follow my steps. The last +incline down which the stream journeys so gracefully is so steep and +smooth one must slip cautiously forward on hands and feet alongside the +rushing water, which so near one's head is very exciting. But to gain a +perfect view one must go yet farther, over a curving brow to a slight +shelf on the extreme brink. This shelf, formed by the flaking off of a +fold of granite, is about three inches wide, just wide enough for a safe +rest for one's heels. To me it seemed nerve-trying to slip to this +narrow foothold and poise on the edge of such precipice so close to the +confusing whirl of the waters; and after casting longing glances over +the shining brow of the fall and listening to its sublime psalm, I +concluded not to attempt to go nearer, but, nevertheless, against +reasonable judgment, I did. Noticing some tufts of artemisia in a cleft +of rock, I filled my mouth with the leaves, hoping their bitter taste +might help to keep caution keen and prevent giddiness. In spite of +myself I reached the little ledge, got my heels well set, and worked +sidewise twenty or thirty feet to a point close to the out-plunging +current. Here the view is perfectly free down into the heart of the +bright irised throng of comet-like streamers into which the whole +ponderous volume of the fall separates, two or three hundred feet below +the brow. So glorious a display of pure wildness, acting at close range +while cut off from all the world beside, is terribly impressive. A less +nerve-trying view may be obtained from a fissured portion of the edge of +the cliff about forty yards to the eastward of the fall. Seen from this +point towards noon, in the spring, the rainbow on its brow seems to be +broken up and mingled with the rushing comets until all the fall is +stained with iris colors, leaving no white water visible. This is the +best of the safe views from above, the huge steadfast rocks, the flying +waters, and the rainbow light forming one of the most glorious pictures +conceivable. + +The Yosemite Fall is separated into an upper and a lower fall with a +series of falls and cascades between them, but when viewed in front from +the bottom of the Valley they all appear as one. + +So grandly does this magnificent fall display itself from the floor of +the Valley, few visitors take the trouble to climb the walls to gain +nearer views, unable to realize how vastly more impressive it is near by +than at a distance of one or two miles. + + +A Wonderful Ascent + + +The views developed in a walk up the zigzags of the trail leading to +the foot of the Upper Fall are about as varied and impressive as those +displayed along the favorite Glacier Point Trail. One rises as if on +wings. The groves, meadows, fern-flats and reaches of the river gain +new interest, as if never seen before; all the views changing in a most +striking manner as we go higher from point to point. The foreground +also changes every few rods in the most surprising manner, although the +earthquake talus and the level bench on the face of the wall over which +the trail passes seem monotonous and commonplace as seen from the bottom +of the Valley. Up we climb with glad exhilaration, through shaggy +fringes of laurel, ceanothus, glossy-leaved manzanita and live-oak, from +shadow to shadow across bars and patches of sunshine, the leafy openings +making charming frames for the Valley pictures beheld through gem, and +for the glimpses of the high peaks that appear in the distance. The +higher we go the farther we seem to be from the summit of the vast +granite wall. Here we pass a projecting buttress hose grooved and +rounded surface tells a plain story of the time when the Valley, now +filled with sunshine, was filled with ice, when the grand old Yosemite +Glacier, flowing river-like from its distant fountains, swept through +it, crushing, grinding, wearing its way ever deeper, developing and +fashioning these sublime rocks. Again we cross a white, battered gully, +the pathway of rock avalanches or snow avalanches. Farther on we come +to a gentle stream slipping down the face of the Cliff in lace-like +strips, and dropping from ledge to ledge--too small to be called a +fall--trickling, dripping, oozing, a pathless wanderer from one of +the upland meadow lying a little way back of the Valley rim, seeking +a way century after century to the depths of the Valley without any +appreciable channel. Every morning after a cool night, evaporation being +checked, it gathers strength and sings like a bird, but as the day +advances and the sun strikes its thin currents outspread on the heated +precipices, most of its waters vanish ere the bottom of the Valley is +reached. Many a fine, hanging-garden aloft on breezy inaccessible heights +owes to it its freshness and fullness of beauty; ferneries in shady +nooks, filled with Adiantum, Woodwardia, Woodsia, Aspidium, Pellaea, +and Cheilanthes, rosetted and tufted and ranged in lines, daintily +overlapping, thatching the stupendous cliffs with softest beauty, some +of the delicate fronds seeming to float on the warm moist air, without +any connection with rock or stream. Nor is there any lack of colored +plants wherever they can find a place to cling to; lilies and mints, +the showy cardinal mimulus, and glowing cushions of the golden bahia, +enlivened with butterflies and bees and all the other small, happy +humming creatures that belong to them. + +After the highest point on the lower division of the trail is gained it +leads up into the deep recess occupied by the great fall, the noblest +display of falling water to be found in the Valley, or perhaps in the +world. When it first comes in sight it seems almost within reach of +one's hand, so great in the spring is its volume and velocity, yet it is +still nearly a third of a mile away and appears to recede as we advance. +The sculpture of the walls about it is on a scale of grandeur, according +nobly with the fall plain and massive, though elaborately finished, like +all the other cliffs about the Valley. + +In the afternoon an immense shadow is cast athwart the plateau in front +of the fall, and over the chaparral bushes that clothe the slopes and +benches of the walls to the eastward, creeping upward until the fall is +wholly overcast, the contrast between the shaded and illumined sections +being very striking in these near views. + +Under this shadow, during the cool centuries immediately following the +breaking-up of the Glacial Period, dwelt a small residual glacier, one +of the few that lingered on this sun-beaten side of the Valley after the +main trunk glacier had vanished. It sent down a long winding current +through the narrow canyon on the west side of the fall, and must have +formed a striking feature of the ancient scenery of the Valley; the +lofty fall of ice and fall of water side by side, yet separate and +distinct. + +The coolness of the afternoon shadow and the abundant dewy spray make a +fine climate for the plateau ferns and grasses, and for the beautiful +azalea bushes that grow here in profusion and bloom in September, long +after the warmer thickets down on the floor of the Valley have withered +and gone to seed. Even close to the fall, and behind it at the base of +the cliff, a few venturesome plants may be found undisturbed by the +rock-shaking torrent. + +The basin at the foot of the fall into which the current directly pours, +when it is not swayed by the wind, is about ten feet deep and fifteen to +twenty feet in diameter. That it is not much deeper is surprising, when +the great height and force of the fall is considered. But the rock where +the water strikes probably suffers less erosion than it would were the +descent less than half as great, since the current is outspread, and +much of its force is spent ere it reaches the bottom--being received on +the air as upon an elastic cushion, and borne outward and dissipated +over a surface more than fifty yards wide. + +This surface, easily examined when the water is low, is intensely clean +and fresh looking. It is the raw, quick flesh of the mountain wholly +untouched by the weather. In summer droughts when the snowfall of the +preceding winter has been light, the fall is reduced to a mere shower of +separate drops without any obscuring spray. Then we may safely go back +of it and view the crystal shower from beneath, each drop wavering and +pulsing as it makes its way through the air, and flashing off jets of +colored light of ravishing beauty. But all this is invisible from the +bottom of the Valley, like a thousand other interesting things. One must +labor for beauty as for bread, here as elsewhere. + + +The Grandeur Of The Yosemite Fall + + +During the time of the spring floods the best near view of the fall is +obtained from Fern Ledge on the east side above the blinding spray at a +height of about 400 feet above the base of the fall. A climb of about +1400 feet from the Valley has to be made, and there is no trail, but +to any one fond of climbing this will make the ascent all the more +delightful. A narrow part of the ledge extends to the side of the fall +and back of it, enabling us to approach it as closely as we wish. When +the afternoon sunshine is streaming through the throng of comets, ever +wasting, ever renewed, fineness, firmness and variety of their forms are +beautifully revealed. At the top of the fall they seem to burst forth in +irregular spurts from some grand, throbbing mountain heart. Now and then +one mighty throb sends forth a mass of solid water into the free air +far beyond the others which rushes alone to the bottom of the fall with +long streaming tail, like combed silk, while the others, descending in +clusters, gradually mingle and lose their identity. But they all rush +past us with amazing velocity and display of power though apparently +drowsy and deliberate in their movements when observed from a distance +of a mile or two. The heads of these comet-like masses are composed of +nearly solid water, and are dense white in color like pressed snow, from +the friction they suffer in rushing through the air, the portion worn +off forming the tail between the white lustrous threads and films of +which faint, grayish pencilings appear, while the outer, finer sprays of +water-dust, whirling in sunny eddies, are pearly gray throughout. At the +bottom of the fall there is but little distinction of form visible. It +is mostly a hissing, clashing, seething, upwhirling mass of scud and +spray, through which the light sifts in gray and purple tones while +at times when the sun strikes at the required angle, the whole wild +and apparently lawless, stormy, striving mass is changed to brilliant +rainbow hues, manifesting finest harmony. The middle portion of the +fall is the most openly beautiful; lower, the various forms into which +the waters are wrought are more closely and voluminously veiled, while +higher, towards the head, the current is comparatively simple and +undivided. But even at the bottom, in the boiling clouds of spray, +there is no confusion, while the rainbow light makes all divine, adding +glorious beauty and peace to glorious power. This noble fall has far the +richest, as well as the most powerful, voice of all the falls of the +Valley, its tones varying from the sharp hiss and rustle of the wind +in the glossy leaves of the live-oak and the soft, sifting, hushing +tones of the pines, to the loudest rush and roar of storm winds and +thunder among the crags of the summit peaks. The low bass, booming, +reverberating tones, heard under favorable circumstances five or six +miles away are formed by the dashing and exploding of heavy masses +mixed with air upon two projecting ledges on the face of the cliff, the +one on which we are standing and another about 200 feet above it. The +torrent of massive comets is continuous at time of high water, while +the explosive, booming notes are wildly intermittent, because, unless +influenced by the wind, most of the heavier masses shoot out from the +face of the precipice, and pass the ledges upon which at other times +they are exploded. Occasionally the whole fall is swayed away from the +front of the cliff, then suddenly dashed flat against it, or vibrated +from side to side like a pendulum, giving rise to endless variety of +forms and sounds. + + +The Nevada Fall + + +The Nevada Fall is 600 feet high and is usually ranked next to the +Yosemite in general interest among the five main falls of the Valley. +Coming through the Little Yosemite in tranquil reaches, the river is +first broken into rapids on a moraine boulder-bar that crosses the lower +end of the Valley. Thence it pursues its way to the head of the fall in +a rough, solid rock channel, dashing on side angles, heaving in heavy +surging masses against elbow knobs, and swirling and swashing in +pot-holes without a moment's rest. Thus, already chafed and dashed to +foam, overfolded and twisted, it plunges over the brink of the precipice +as if glad to escape into the open air. But before it reaches the bottom +it is pulverized yet finer by impinging upon a sloping portion of the +cliff about half-way down, thus making it the whitest of all the falls +of the Valley, and altogether one of the most wonderful in the world. + +On the north side, close to its head, a slab of granite projects over the +brink, forming a fine point for a view, over its throng of streamers and +wild plunging, into its intensely white bosom, and through the broad +drifts of spray, to the river far below, gathering its spent waters and +rushing on again down the canyon in glad exultation into Emerald Pool, +where at length it grows calm and gets rest for what still lies before +it. All the features of the view correspond with the waters in grandeur +and wildness. The glacier sculptured walls of the canyon on either hand, +with the sublime mass of the Glacier Point Ridge in front, form a huge +triangular pit-like basin, which, filled with the roaring of the falling +river seems as if it might be the hopper of one of the mills of the gods +in which the mountains were being ground. + + +The Vernal Fall + + +The Vernal, about a mile below the Nevada, is 400 feet high, a staid, +orderly, graceful, easy-going fall, proper and exact in every movement +and gesture, with scarce a hint of the passionate enthusiasm of the +Yosemite or of the impetuous Nevada, whose chafed and twisted waters +hurrying over the cliff seem glad to escape into the open air, while its +deep, booming, thunder-tones reverberate over the listening landscape. +Nevertheless it is a favorite with most visitors, doubtless because it +is more accessible than any other, more closely approached and better +seen and heard. A good stairway ascends the cliff beside it and the +level plateau at the head enables one to saunter safely along the edge +of the river as it comes from Emerald Pool and to watch its waters, +calmly bending over the brow of the precipice, in a sheet eighty feet +wide, changing in color from green to purplish gray and white until +dashed on a boulder talus. Thence issuing from beneath its fine broad +spray-clouds we see the tremendously adventurous river still unspent, +beating its way down the wildest and deepest of all its canyons in +gray roaring rapids, dear to the ouzel, and below the confluence of +the Illilouette, sweeping around the shoulder of the Half Dome on its +approach to the head of the tranquil levels of the Valley. + + +The Illilouette Fall + + +The Illilouette in general appearance most resembles the Nevada. The +volume of water is less than half as great, but it is about the same +height (600 feet) and its waters receive the same kind of preliminary +tossing in a rocky, irregular channel. Therefore it is a very white and +fine-grained fall. When it is in full springtime bloom it is partly +divided by rocks that roughen the lip of the precipice, but this +division amounts only to a kind of fluting and grooving of the column, +which has a beautiful effect. It is not nearly so grand a fall as the +upper Yosemite, or so symmetrical as the Vernal, or so airily graceful +and simple as the Bridal Veil, nor does it ever display so tremendous +an outgush of snowy magnificence as the Nevada; but in the exquisite +fineness and richness of texture of its flowing folds it surpasses +them all. + +One of the finest effects of sunlight on falling water I ever saw in +Yosemite or elsewhere I found on the brow of this beautiful fall. It +was in the Indian summer, when the leaf colors were ripe and the great +cliffs and domes were transfigured in the hazy golden air. I had +scrambled up its rugged talus-dammed canyon, oftentimes stopping to take +breath and look back to admire the wonderful views to be had there of +the great Half Dome, and to enjoy the extreme purity of the water, which +in the motionless pools on this stream is almost perfectly invisible; +the colored foliage of the maples, dogwoods, Rubus tangles, etc., and +the late goldenrods and asters. The voice of the fall was now low, and +the grand spring and summer floods had waned to sifting, drifting gauze +and thin-broidered folds of linked and arrowy lace-work. When I reached +the foot of the fall sunbeams were glinting across its head, leaving all +the rest of it in shadow; and on its illumined brow a group of yellow +spangles of singular form and beauty were playing, flashing up and +dancing in large flame-shaped masses, wavering at times, then steadying, +rising and falling in accord with the shifting forms of the water. But +the color of the dancing spangles changed not at all. Nothing in clouds +or flowers, on bird-wings or the lips of shells, could rival it in +fineness. It was the most divinely beautiful mass of rejoicing yellow +light I ever beheld--one of Nature's precious gifts that perchance may +come to us but once in a lifetime. + + +The Minor Falls + + +There are many other comparatively small falls and cascades in the +Valley. The most notable are the Yosemite Gorge Fall and Cascades, +Tenaya Fall and Cascades, Royal Arch Falls, the two Sentinel Cascades +and the falls of Cascade and Tamarack Creeks, a mile or two below the +lower end of the Valley. These last are often visited. The others are +seldom noticed or mentioned; although in almost any other country they +would be visited and described as wonders. + +The six intermediate falls in the gorge between the head of the Lower +and the base of the Upper Yosemite Falls, separated by a few deep pools +and strips of rapids, and three slender, tributary cascades on the west +side form a series more strikingly varied and combined than any other +in the Valley, yet very few of all the Valley visitors ever see them or +hear of them. No available standpoint commands a view of them all. The +best general view is obtained from the mouth of the gorge near the head +of the Lower Fall. The two lowest of the series, together with one of +the three tributary cascades, are visible from this standpoint, but in +reaching it the last twenty or thirty feet of the descent is rather +dangerous in time of high water, the shelving rocks being then slippery +on account of spray, but if one should chance to slip when the water is +low, only a bump or two and a harmless plash would be the penalty. No +part of the gorge, however, is safe to any but cautious climbers. + +Though the dark gorge hall of these rejoicing waters is never flushed by +the purple light of morning or evening, it is warmed and cheered by the +white light of noonday, which, falling into so much foam and and spray +of varying degrees of fineness, makes marvelous displays of rainbow +colors. So filled, indeed, is it with this precious light, at favorable +times it seems to take the place of common air. Laurel bushes shed +fragrance into it from above and live-oaks, those fearless mountaineers, +hold fast to angular seams and lean out over it with their fringing +sprays and bright mirror leaves. + +One bird, the ouzel, loves this gorge and flies through it merrily, or +cheerily, rather, stopping to sing on foam-washed bosses where other +birds could find no rest for their feet. I have even seen a gray +squirrel down in the heart of it beside the wild rejoicing water. + +One of my favorite night walks was along the rim of this wild gorge in +times of high water when the moon was full, to see the lunar bows in the +spray. + +For about a mile above Mirror Lake the Tenaya Canyon is level, and +richly planted with fir, Douglas spruce and libocedrus, forming a +remarkably fine grove, at the head of which is the Tenaya Fall. Though +seldom seen or described, this is, I think, the most picturesque of all +the small falls. A considerable distance above it, Tenaya Creek comes +hurrying down, white and foamy, over a flat pavement inclined at an +angle of about eighteen degrees. In time of high water this sheet of +rapids is nearly seventy feet wide, and is varied in a very striking way +by three parallel furrows that extend in the direction of its flow. +These furrows, worn by the action of the stream upon cleavage joints, +vary in width, are slightly sinuous, and have large boulders firmly +wedged in them here and there in narrow places, giving rise, of course, +to a complicated series of wild dashes, doublings, and upleaping arches +in the swift torrent. Just before it reaches the head of the fall the +current is divided, the left division making a vertical drop of about +eighty feet in a romantic, leafy, flowery, mossy nook, while the other +forms a rugged cascade. + +The Royal Arch Fall in time of high water is a magnificent object, +forming a broad ornamental sheet in front of the arches. The two +Sentinel Cascades, 3000 feet high, are also grand spectacles when the +snow is melting fast in the spring, but by the middle of summer they +have diminished to mere streaks scarce noticeable amid their sublime +surroundings. + + +The Beauty Of The Rainbows + + +The Bridal Veil and Vernal Falls are famous for their rainbows; and +special visits to them are often made when the sun shines into the spray +at the most favorable angle. But amid the spray and foam and fine-ground +mist ever rising from the various falls and cataracts there is an +affluence and variety of iris bows scarcely known to visitors who stay +only a day or two. Both day and night, winter and summer, this divine +light may be seen wherever water is falling dancing, singing; telling +the heart-peace of Nature amid the wildest displays of her power. In the +bright spring mornings the black-walled recess at the foot of the Lower +Yosemite Fall is lavishly fine with irised spray; and not simply does +this span the dashing foam, but the foam itself, the whole mass of it, +beheld at a certain distance, seems to be colored, and drips and wavers +from color to color, mingling with the foliage of the adjacent trees, +without suggesting any relationship to the ordinary rainbow. This is +perhaps the largest and most reservoir-like fountain of iris colors to +be found in the Valley. + +Lunar rainbows or spray-bows also abound in the glorious affluence of +dashing, rejoicing, hurrahing, enthusiastic spring floods, their colors +as distinct as those of the sun and regularly and obviously banded, +though less vivid. Fine specimens may be found any night at the foot of +the Upper Yosemite Fall, glowing gloriously amid the gloomy shadows and +thundering waters, whenever there is plenty of moonlight and spray. Even +the secondary bow is at times distinctly visible. + +The best point from which to observe them is on Fern Ledge. For some +time after moonrise, at time of high water, the arc has a span of about +five hundred feet, and is set upright; one end planted in the boiling +spray at the bottom, the other in the edge of the fall, creeping lower, +of course, and becoming less upright as the moon rises higher. This +grand arc of color, glowing in mild, shapely beauty in so weird and huge +a chamber of night shadows, and amid the rush and roar and tumultuous +dashing of this thunder-voiced fall, is one of the most impressive and +most cheering of all the blessed mountain evangels. + +Smaller bows may be seen in the gorge on the plateau between the Upper +and Lower Falls. Once toward midnight, after spending a few hours with +the wild beauty of the Upper Fall, I sauntered along the edge of the +gorge, looking in here and there, wherever the footing felt safe, to see +what I could learn of the night aspects of the smaller falls that dwell +there. And down in an exceedingly black, pit-like portion of the gorge, +at the foot of the highest of the intermediate falls, into which the +moonbeams were pouring through a narrow opening, I saw a well-defined +spray-bow, beautifully distinct in colors, spanning the pit from side +to side, while pure white foam-waves beneath the beautiful bow were +constantly springing up out of the dark into the moonlight like dancing +ghosts. + + +An Unexpected Adventure + + +A wild scene, but not a safe one, is made by the moon as it appears +through the edge of the Yosemite Fall when one is behind it. Once, after +enjoying the night-song of the waters and watching the formation of the +colored bow as the moon came round the domes and sent her beams into the +wild uproar, I ventured out on the narrow bench that extends back of the +fall from Fern Ledge and began to admire the dim-veiled grandeur of the +view. I could see the fine gauzy threads of the fall's filmy border by +having the light in front; and wishing to look at the moon through the +meshes of some of the denser portions of the fall, I ventured to creep +farther behind it while it was gently wind-swayed, without taking +sufficient thought about the consequences of its swaying back to its +natural position after the wind-pressure should be removed. The effect +was enchanting: fine, savage music sounding above, beneath, around me; +while the moon, apparently in the very midst of the rushing waters, +seemed to be struggling to keep her place, on account of the +ever-varying form and density of the water masses through which she was +seen, now darkly veiled or eclipsed by a rush of thick-headed comets, +now flashing out through openings between their tails. I was in +fairyland between the dark wall and the wild throng of illumined waters, +but suffered sudden disenchantment; for, like the witch-scene in Alloway +Kirk, "in an instant all was dark." Down came a dash of spent comets, +thin and harmless-looking in the distance, but they felt desperately +solid and stony when they struck my shoulders, like a mixture of choking +spray and gravel and big hailstones. Instinctively dropping on my knees, +I gripped an angle of the rock, curled up like a young fern frond with +my face pressed against my breast, and in this attitude submitted as +best I could to my thundering bath. The heavier masses seemed to strike +like cobblestones, and there was a confused noise of many waters about +my ears--hissing, gurgling, clashing sounds that were not heard as +music. The situation was quickly realized. How fast one's thoughts burn +in such times of stress! I was weighing chances of escape. Would the +column be swayed a few inches away from the wall, or would it come yet +closer? The fall was in flood and not so lightly would its ponderous +mass be swayed. My fate seemed to depend on a breath of the "idle wind." +It was moved gently forward, the pounding ceased, and I was once more +visited by glimpses of the moon. But fearing I might be caught at a +disadvantage in making too hasty a retreat, I moved only a few feet +along the bench to where a block of ice lay. I wedged myself between the +ice and the wall and lay face downwards, until the steadiness of the +light gave encouragement to rise and get away. Somewhat nerve-shaken, +drenched, and benumbed, I made out to build a fire, warmed myself, ran +home, reached my cabin before daylight, got an hour or two of sleep, +and awoke sound and comfortable, better, not worse for my hard midnight +bath. + + +Climate And Weather + + +Owing to the westerly trend of the Valley and its vast depth there +is a great difference between the climates of the north and south +sides--greater than between many countries far apart; for the south wall +is in shadow during the winter months, while the north is bathed in +sunshine every clear day. Thus there is mild spring weather on one side +of the Valley while winter rules the other. Far up the north-side cliffs +many a nook may be found closely embraced by sun-beaten rock-bosses in +which flowers bloom every month of the year. Even butterflies may be +seen in these high winter gardens except when snow-storms are falling +and a few days after they have ceased. Near the head of the lower +Yosemite Fall in January I found the ant lions lying in wait in their +warm sand-cups, rock ferns being unrolled, club mosses covered with +fresh-growing plants, the flowers of the laurel nearly open, and the +honeysuckle rosetted with bright young leaves; every plant seemed to be +thinking about summer. Even on the shadow-side of the Valley the frost +is never very sharp. The lowest temperature I ever observed during four +winters was 7 degrees Fahrenheit. The first twenty-four days of January +had an average temperature at 9 A.M. of 32 degrees, minimum 22 degrees; +at 3 P.M. the average was 40 degrees 30', the minimum 32 degrees. Along +the top of the walls, 7000 and 8000 feet high, the temperature was, of +course, much lower. But the difference in temperature between the north +and south sides is due not so much to the winter sunshine as to the heat +of the preceding summer, stored up in the rocks, which rapidly melts the +snow in contact with them. For though summer sun-heat is stored in the +rocks of the south side also, the amount is much less because the rays +fall obliquely on the south wall even in summer and almost vertically +on the north. + +The upper branches of the Yosemite streams are buried every winter +beneath a heavy mantle of snow, and set free in the spring in +magnificent floods. Then, all the fountains, full and overflowing, every +living thing breaks forth into singing, and the glad exulting streams +shining and falling in the warm sunny weather, shake everything into +music making all the mountain-world a song. + +The great annual spring thaw usually begins in May in the forest region, +and in June and July on the high Sierra, varying somewhat both in time +and fullness with the weather and the depth of the snow. Toward the end +of summer the streams are at their lowest ebb, few even of the strongest +singing much above a whisper they slip and ripple through gravel and +boulder-beds from pool to pool in the hollows of their channels, and +drop in pattering showers like rain, and slip down precipices and fall +in sheets of embroidery, fold over fold. But, however low their singing, +it is always ineffably fine in tone, in harmony with the restful time of +the year. + +The first snow of the season that comes to the help of the streams +usually falls in September or October, sometimes even is the latter part +of August, in the midst of yellow Indian summer when the goldenrods and +gentians of the glacier meadows are is their prime. This Indian-summer +snow, however, soon melts, the chilled flowers spread their petals to +the sun, and the gardens as well as the streams are refreshed as if only +a warm shower had fallen. The snow-storms that load the mountains to +form the main fountain supply for the year seldom set in before the +middle or end of November. + + +Winter Beauty Of The Valley + + +When the first heavy storms stopped work on the high mountains, I made +haste down to my Yosemite den, not to "hole up" and sleep the white +months away; I was out every day, and often all night, sleeping but +little, studying the so-called wonders and common things ever on show, +wading, climbing, sauntering among the blessed storms and calms, +rejoicing in almost everything alike that I could see or hear: the +glorious brightness of frosty mornings; the sunbeams pouring over the +white domes and crags into the groves end waterfalls, kindling marvelous +iris fires in the hoarfrost and spray; the great forests and mountains +in their deep noon sleep; the good-night alpenglow; the stars; the +solemn gazing moon, drawing the huge domes and headlands one by one +glowing white out of the shadows hushed and breathless like an audience +in awful enthusiasm, while the meadows at their feet sparkle with +frost-stars like the sky; the sublime darkness of storm-nights, when all +the lights are out; the clouds in whose depths the frail snow-flowers +grow; the behavior and many voices of the different kinds of storms, +trees, birds, waterfalls, and snow-avalanches in the ever-changing +weather. + +Every clear, frosty morning loud sounds are heard booming and +reverberating from side to side of the Valley at intervals of a few +minutes, beginning soon after sunrise and continuing an hour or two like +a thunder-storm. In my first winter in the Valley I could not make out +the source of this noise. I thought of falling boulders, rock-blasting, +etc. Not till I saw what looked like hoarfrost dropping from the side of +the Fall was the problem explained. The strange thunder is made by the +fall of sections of ice formed of spray that is frozen on the face of +the cliff along the sides of the Upper Yosemite Fan--a sort of crystal +plaster, a foot or two thick, racked off by the sunbeams, awakening all +the Valley like cock-crowing, announcing the finest weather, shouting +aloud Nature's infinite industry and love of hard work in creating +beauty. + + +Exploring An Ice Cone + + +This frozen spray gives rise to one of the most interesting winter +features of the Valley--a cone of ice at the foot of the fall, four or +five hundred feet high. From the Fern Ledge standpoint its crater-like +throat is seen, down which the fall plunges with deep, gasping +explosions of compressed air, and, after being well churned in the wormy +interior, the water bursts forth through arched openings at its base, +apparently scourged and weary and glad to escape, while belching spray, +spouted up out of the throat past the descending current, is wafted +away in irised drifts to the adjacent rocks and groves. It is built +during the night and early hours of the morning; only in spells of +exceptionally cold and cloudy weather is the work continued through the +day. The greater part of the spray material falls in crystalline showers +direct to its place, something like a small local snow-storm; but a +considerable portion is first frozen on the face of the cliff along the +sides of the fall and stays there until expanded and cracked off in +irregular masses, some of them tons in weight, to be built into the +walls of the cone; while in windy, frosty weather, when the fall is +swayed from side to side, the cone is well drenched and the loose ice +masses and spray-dust are all firmly welded and frozen together. Thus +the finest of the downy wafts and curls of spray-dust, which in mild +nights fall about as silently as dew, are held back until sunrise to +make a store of heavy ice to reinforce the waterfall's thunder-tones. + +While the cone is in process of formation, growing higher and wider in +the frosty weather, it looks like a beautiful smooth, pure-white hill; +but when it is wasting and breaking up in the spring its surface is +strewn with leaves, pine branches, stones, sand, etc., that have been +brought over the fall, making it look like a heap of avalanche detritus. + +Anxious to learn what I could about the structure of this curious hill +I often approached it in calm weather and tried to climb it, carrying +an ax to cut steps. Once I nearly succeeded in gaining the summit. At +the base I was met by a current of spray and wind that made seeing and +breathing difficult. I pushed on backward however, and soon gained the +slope of the hill, where by creeping close to the surface most of the +choking blast passed over me and I managed to crawl up with but little +difficulty. Thus I made my way nearly to the summit, halting at times +to peer up through the wild whirls of spray at the veiled grandeur of +the fall, or to listen to the thunder beneath me; the whole hill was +sounding as if it were a huge, bellowing drum. I hoped that by waiting +until the fall was blown aslant I should be able to climb to the lip of +the crater and get a view of the interior; but a suffocating blast, half +air, half water, followed by the fall of an enormous mass of frozen +spray from a spot high up on the wall, quickly discouraged me. The whole +cone was jarred by the blow and some fragments of the mass sped past me +dangerously near; so I beat a hasty retreat, chilled and drenched, and +lay down on a sunny rock to dry. + +Once during a wind-storm when I saw that the fall was frequently blown +westward, leaving the cone dry, I ran up to Fern Ledge hoping to gain a +clear view of the interior. I set out at noon. All the way up the storm +notes were so loud about me that the voice of the fall was almost +drowned by them. Notwithstanding the rocks and bushes everywhere were +drenched by the wind-driven spray, I approached the brink of the +precipice overlooking the mouth of the ice cone, but I was almost +suffocated by the drenching, gusty spray, and was compelled to seek +shelter. I searched for some hiding-place in the wall from whence I +might run out at some opportune moment when the fall with its whirling +spray and torn shreds of comet tails and trailing, tattered skirts was +borne westward, as I had seen it carried several times before, leaving +the cliffs on the east side and the ice hill bare in the sunlight. I had +not long to wait, for, as if ordered so for my special accommodation, +the mighty downrush of comets with their whirling drapery swung westward +and remained aslant for nearly half an hour. The cone was admirably +lighted and deserted by the water, which fell most of the time on the +rocky western slopes mostly outside of the cone. The mouth into which +the fall pours was, as near as I could guess, about one hundred feet in +diameter north and south and about two hundred feet east and west, which +is about the shape and size of the fall at its best in its normal +condition at this season. + +The crater-like opening was not a true oval, but more like a huge coarse +mouth. I could see down the throat about one hundred feet or perhaps +farther. + +The fall precipice overhangs from a height of 400 feet above the base; +therefore the water strikes some distance from the base off the cliff, +allowing space for the accumulation of a considerable mass of ice +between the fall and the wall. + + + +Chapter 2 + +Winter Storms and Spring Floods + + +The Bridal Veil and the Upper Yosemite Falls, on account of their height +and exposure, are greatly influenced by winds. The common summer winds +that come up the river canyon from the plains are seldom very strong; +but the north winds do some very wild work, worrying the falls and the +forests, and hanging snow-banners on the comet-peaks. One wild winter +morning I was awakened by storm-wind that was playing with the falls as +if they were mere wisps of mist and making the great pines bow and sing +with glorious enthusiasm. The Valley had been visited a short time +before by a series of fine snow-storms, and the floor and the cliffs and +all the region round about were lavishly adorned with its best winter +jewelry, the air was full of fine snow-dust, and pine branches, tassels +and empty cones were flying in an almost continuous flock. + +Soon after sunrise, when I was seeking a place safe from flying +branches, I saw the Lower Yosemite Fall thrashed and pulverized from top +to bottom into one glorious mass of rainbow dust; while a thousand feet +above it the main Upper Fall was suspended on the face of the cliff in +the form of an inverted bow, all silvery white and fringed with short +wavering strips. Then, suddenly assailed by a tremendous blast, the +whole mass of the fall was blown into thread and ribbons, and driven +back over the brow of the cliff whence it came, as if denied admission +to the Valley. This kind of storm-work was continued about ten or +fifteen minutes; then another change in the play of the huge exulting +swirls and billows and upheaving domes of the gale allowed the baffled +fall to gather and arrange its tattered waters, and sink down again in +its place. As the day advanced, the gale gave no sign of dying, +excepting brief lulls, the Valley was filled with its weariless roar, +and the cloudless sky grew garish-white from myriads of minute, +sparkling snow-spicules. In the afternoon, while I watched the Upper +Fall from the shelter of a big pine tree, it was suddenly arrested in +its descent at a point about half-way down, and was neither blown upward +nor driven aside, but simply held stationary in mid-air, as if +gravitation below that point in the path of its descent had ceased to +act. The ponderous flood, weighing hundreds of tons, was sustained, +hovering, hesitating, like a bunch of thistledown, while I counted one +hundred and ninety. All this time the ordinary amount of water was +coming over the cliff and accumulating in the air, swedging and widening +and forming an irregular cone about seven hundred feet high, tapering to +the top of the wall, the whole standing still, jesting on the invisible +arm of the North Wind. At length, as if commanded to go on again, scores +of arrowy comets shot forth from the bottom of the suspended mass as if +escaping from separate outlets. + +The brow of El Capitan was decked with long snow-streamers like hair, +Clouds' Rest was fairly enveloped in drifting gossamer elms, and the Half +Dome loomed up in the garish light like a majestic, living creature clad +in the same gauzy, wind-woven drapery, while upward currents meeting at +times overhead made it smoke like a volcano. + + +An Extraordinary Storm And Flood + + +Glorious as are these rocks and waters arrayed in storm robes, or +chanting rejoicing in every-day dress, they are still more glorious when +rare weather conditions meet to make them sing with floods. Only once +during all the years I have lived in the Valley have I seen it in full +flood bloom. In 1871 the early winter weather was delightful; the days +all sunshine, the nights all starry and calm, calling forth fine crops +of frost-crystals on the pines and withered ferns and grasses for the +morning sunbeams to sift through. In the afternoon of December 16, when +I was sauntering on the meadows, I noticed a massive crimson cloud +growing in solitary grandeur above the Cathedral Rocks, its form +scarcely less striking than its color. It had a picturesque, bulging +base like an old sequoia, a smooth, tapering stem, and a bossy, +down-curling crown like a mushroom; all its parts were colored alike, +making one mass of translucent crimson. Wondering what the meaning of +that strange, lonely red cloud might be, I was up betimes next morning +looking at the weather, but all seemed tranquil as yet. Towards noon +gray clouds with a lose, curly grain like bird's-eye maple began to +grow, and late at night rain fell, which soon changed to snow. Next +morning the snow on the meadows was about ten inches deep, and it was +still falling in a fine, cordial storm. During the night of the 18th +heavy rain fell on the snow, but as the temperature was 34 degrees, the +snow-line was only a few hundred feet above the bottom of the Valley, and +one had only to climb a little higher than the tops of the pines to get +out of the rain-storm into the snow-storm. The streams, instead of being +increased in volume by the storm, were diminished, because the snow +sponged up part of their waters and choked the smaller tributaries. But +about midnight the temperature suddenly rose to 42 degrees, carrying +the snow-line far beyond the Valley walls, and next morning Yosemite +was rejoicing in a glorious flood. The comparatively warm rain falling +on the snow was at first absorbed and held back, and so also was that +portion of the snow that the rain melted, and all that was melted by the +warm wind, until the whole mass of snow was saturated and became sludgy, +and at length slipped and rushed simultaneously from a thousand slopes +in wildest extravagance, heaping and swelling flood over flood, and +plunging into the Valley in stupendous avalanches. + +Awakened by the roar, I looked out and at once recognized the +extraordinary character of the storm. The rain was still pouring in +torrent abundance and the wind at gale speed was doing all it could with +the flood-making rain. + +The section of the north wall visible from my cabin was fairly streaked +with new falls--wild roaring singers that seemed strangely out of place. +Eager to get into the midst of the show, I snatched a piece of bread for +breakfast and ran out. The mountain waters, suddenly liberated, seemed +to be holding a grand jubilee. The two Sentinel Cascades rivaled the +great falls at ordinary stages, and across the Valley by the Three +Brothers I caught glimpses of more falls than I could readily count; +while the whole Valley throbbed and trembled, and was filled with an +awful, massive, solemn, sea-like roar. After gazing a while enchanted +with the network of new falls that were adorning and transfiguring every +rock in sight, I tried to reach the upper meadows, where the Valley is +widest, that I might be able to see the walls on both sides, and thus +gain general views. But the river was over its banks and the meadows +were flooded, forming an almost continuous lake dotted with blue sludgy +islands, while innumerable streams roared like lions across my path and +were sweeping forward rocks and logs with tremendous energy over ground +where tiny gilias had been growing but a short time before. Climbing +into the talus slopes, where these savage torrents were broken among +earthquake boulders, I managed to cross them, and force my way up the +Valley to Hutchings' Bridge, where I crossed the river and waded to the +middle of the upper meadow. Here most of the new falls were in sight, +probably the most glorious assemblage of waterfalls ever displayed from +any one standpoint. On that portion of the south wall between Hutchings' +and the Sentinel there were ten falls plunging and booming from a height +of nearly three thousand feet, the smallest of which might have been +heard miles away. In the neighborhood of Glacier Point there were six; +between the Three Brothers and Yosemite Fall, nine; between Yosemite and +Royal Arch Falls, ten; from Washington Column to Mount Watkins, ten; on +the slopes of Half Dome and Clouds' Rest, facing Mirror Lake and Tenaya +Canyon, eight; on the shoulder of Half Dome, facing the Valley, three; +fifty-six new falls occupying the upper end of the Valley, besides a +countless host of silvery threads gleaming everywhere. In all the Valley +there must have been upwards of a hundred. As if celebrating some +great event, falls and cascades in Yosemite costume were coming down +everywhere from fountain basins, far and near; and, though newcomers, +they behaved and sang as if they had lived here always. + +All summer-visitors will remember the comet forms of the Yosemite Fall +and the laces of the Bridal Veil and Nevada. In the falls of this +winter jubilee the lace forms predominated, but there was no lack of +thunder-toned comets. The lower portion of one of the Sentinel Cascades +was composed of two main white torrents with the space between them +filled in with chained and beaded gauze of intricate pattern, through +the singing threads of which the purplish-gray rock could be dimly seen. +The series above Glacier Point was still more complicated in structure, +displaying every form that one could imagine water might be dashed and +combed and woven into. Those on the north wall between Washington Column +and the Royal Arch Fall were so nearly related they formed an almost +continuous sheet, and these again were but slightly separated from those +about Indian Canyon. The group about the Three Brothers and El Capitan, +owing to the topography and cleavage of the cliffs back of them, was +more broken and irregular. The Tissiack Cascades were comparatively +small, yet sufficient to give that noblest of mountain rocks a glorious +voice. In the midst of all this extravagant rejoicing the great Yosemite +Fall was scarce heard until about three o'clock in the afternoon. Then I +was startled by a sudden thundering crash as if a rock avalanche had +come to the help of the roaring waters. This was the flood-wave of +Yosemite Creek, which had just arrived delayed by the distance it had to +travel, and by the choking snows of its widespread fountains. Now, with +volume tenfold increased beyond its springtime fullness, it took its +place as leader of the glorious choir. + +And the winds, too, were singing in wild accord, playing on every tree +and rock, surging against the huge brows and domes and outstanding +battlements, deflected hither and thither and broken into a thousand +cascading, roaring currents in the canyons, and low bass, drumming +swirls in the hollows. And these again, reacting on the clouds, eroded +immense cavernous spaces in their gray depths and swept forward the +resulting detritus in ragged trains like the moraines of glaciers. These +cloud movements in turn published the work of the winds, giving them +a visible body, and enabling us to trace them. As if endowed with +independent motion, a detached cloud would rise hastily to the very top +of the wall as if on some important errand, examining the faces of the +cliffs, and then perhaps as suddenly descend to sweep imposingly along +the meadows, trailing its draggled fringes through the pines, fondling +the waving spires with infinite gentleness, or, gliding behind a grove +or a single tree, bringing it into striking relief, as it bowed and +waved in solemn rhythm. Sometimes, as the busy clouds drooped and +condensed or dissolved to misty gauze, half of the Valley would be +suddenly veiled, leaving here and there some lofty headland cut off from +all visible connection with the walls, looming alone, dim, spectral, as +if belonging to the sky--visitors, like the new falls, come to take part +in the glorious festival. Thus for two days and nights in measureless +extravagance the storm went on, and mostly without spectators, at least +of a terrestrial kind. I saw nobody out--bird, bear, squirrel, or man. +Tourists had vanished months before, and the hotel people and laborers +were out of sight, careful about getting cold, and satisfied with views +from windows. The bears, I suppose, were in their canyon-boulder dens, +the squirrels in their knot-hole nests, the grouse in close fir groves, +and the small singers in the Indian Canyon chaparral, trying to keep +warm and dry. Strange to say, I did not see even the water-ouzels, +though they must have greatly enjoyed the storm. + +This was the most sublime waterfall flood I ever saw--clouds, winds, +rocks, waters, throbbing together as one. And then to contemplate what +was going on simultaneously with all this in other mountain temples; the +Big Tuolumne Canyon--how the white waters and the winds were singing +there! And in Hetch Hetchy Valley and the great King's River yosemite, +and in all the other Sierra canyons and valleys from Shasta to the +southernmost fountains of the Kern, thousands of rejoicing flood +waterfalls chanting together in jubilee dress. + + + +Chapter 3 + +Snow-Storms + + +As has been already stated, the first of the great snow-storms that +replenish the Yosemite fountains seldom sets in before the end of +November. Then, warned by the sky, wide-awake mountaineers, together +with the deer and most of the birds, make haste to the lowlands or +foothills; and burrowing marmots, mountain beavers, wood-rats, and other +small mountain people, go into winter quarters, some of them not again +to see the light of day until the general awakening and resurrection of +the spring in June or July. The fertile clouds, drooping and condensing +in brooding silence, seem to be thoughtfully examining the forests and +streams with reference to the work that lies before them. At length, all +their plans perfected, tufted flakes and single starry crystals come in +sight, solemnly swirling and glinting to their blessed appointed places; +and soon the busy throng fills the sky and makes darkness like night. +The first heavy fall is usually from about two to four feet in depth +then with intervals of days or weeks of bright weather storm succeeds +storm, heaping snow on snow, until thirty to fifty feet has fallen. But +on account of its settling and compacting, and waste from melting and +evaporation, the average depth actually found at any time seldom exceeds +ten feet in the forest regions, or fifteen feet along the slopes of the +summit peaks. After snow-storms come avalanches, varying greatly in +form, size, behavior and in the songs they sing; some on the smooth +slopes of the mountains are short and broad; others long and river-like +in the side canyons of yosemites and in the main canyons, flowing in +regular channels and booming like waterfalls, while countless smaller +ones fall everywhere from laden trees and rocks and lofty canyon walls. +Most delightful it is to stand in the middle of Yosemite on still clear +mornings after snow-storms and watch the throng of avalanches as they +come down, rejoicing, to their places, whispering, thrilling like birds, +or booming and roaring like thunder. The noble yellow pines stand hushed +and motionless as if under a spell until the morning sunshine begins to +sift through their laden spires; then the dense masses on the ends of +the leafy branches begin to shift and fall, those from the upper +branches striking the lower ones in succession, enveloping each tree in +a hollow conical avalanche of fairy fineness; while the relieved +branches spring up and wave with startling effect in the general +stillness, as if each tree was moving of its own volition. Hundreds of +broad cloud-shaped masses may also be seen, leaping over the brows of +the cliffs from great heights, descending at first with regular +avalanche speed until, worn into dust by friction, they float in front +of the precipices like irised clouds. Those which descend from the brow +of El Capitan are particularly fine; but most of the great Yosemite +avalanches flow in regular channels like cascades and waterfalls. When +the snow first gives way on the upper slopes of their basins, a dull +rushing, rumbling sound is heard which rapidly increases and seems to +draw nearer with appalling intensity of tone. Presently the white flood +comes bounding into sight over bosses and sheer places, leaping from +bench to bench, spreading and narrowing and throwing off clouds of +whirling dust like the spray of foaming cataracts. Compared with +waterfalls and cascades, avalanches are short-lived, few of them lasting +more than a minute or two, and the sharp, clashing sounds so common in +falling water are mostly wanting; but in their low massy thundertones +and purple-tinged whiteness, and in their dress, gait, gestures and +general behavior, they are much alike. + + +Avalanches + + +Besides these common after-storm avalanches that are to be found not +only in the Yosemite but in all the deep, sheer-walled canyon of the +Range there are two other important kinds, which may be called annual +and century avalanches, which still further enrich the scenery. The only +place about the Valley where one may be sure to see the annual kind is +on the north slope of Clouds' Rest. They are composed of heavy, compacted +snow, which has been subjected to frequent alternations of freezing and +thawing. They are developed on canyon and mountain-sides at an elevation +of from nine to ten thousand feet, where the slopes are inclined at an +angle too low to shed off the dry winter snow, and which accumulates +until the spring thaws sap their foundations and make them slippery; +then away in grand style go the ponderous icy masses without any fine +snow-dust. Those of Clouds' Rest descend like thunderbolts for more than +a mile. + +The great century avalanches and the kind that mow wide swaths through +the upper forests occur on mountain-sides about ten or twelve thousand +feet high, where under ordinary weather conditions the snow accumulated +from winter to winter lies at rest for many years, allowing trees, fifty +to a hundred feet high, to grow undisturbed on the slopes beneath them. +On their way down through the woods they seldom fail to make a perfectly +clean sweep, stripping off the soil as well as the trees, clearing paths +two or three hundred yards wide from the timber line to the glacier +meadows or lakes, and piling their uprooted trees, head downward, in +rows along the sides of the gaps like lateral moraines. Scars and broken +branches of the trees standing on the sides of the gaps record the depth +of the overwhelming flood; and when we come to count the annual +wood-rings on the uprooted trees we learn that some of these immense +avalanches occur only once in a century or even at still wider +intervals. + + +A Ride On An Avalanche + + +Few Yosemite visitors ever see snow avalanches and fewer still know the +exhilaration of riding on them. In all my mountaineering I have enjoyed +only one avalanche ride, and the start was so sudden and the end came +so soon I had but little time to think of the danger that attends this +sort of travel, though at such times one thinks fast. One fine Yosemite +morning after a heavy snowfall, being eager to see as many avalanches +as possible and wide views of the forest and summit peaks in their new +white robes before the sunshine had time to change them, I set out early +to climb by a side canyon to the top of a commanding ridge a little over +three thousand feet above the Valley. On account of the looseness of +the snow that blocked the canyon I knew the climb would require a long +time, some three or four hours as I estimated; but it proved far more +difficult than I had anticipated. Most of the way I sank waist deep, +almost out of sight in some places. After spending the whole day to +within half an hour or so of sundown, I was still several hundred feet +below the summit. Then my hopes were reduced to getting up in time to +see the sunset. But I was not to get summit views of any sort that day, +for deep trampling near the canyon head, where the snow was strained, +started an avalanche, and I was swished down to the foot of the canyon +as if by enchantment. The wallowing ascent had taken nearly all day, the +descent only about a minute. When the avalanche started I threw myself +on my back and spread my arms to try to keep from sinking. Fortunately, +though the grade of the canyon is very steep, it is not interrupted by +precipices large enough to cause outbounding or free plunging. On no +part of the rush was I buried. I was only moderately imbedded on the +surface or at times a little below it, and covered with a veil of +back-streaming dust particles; and as the whole mass beneath and about +me joined in the flight there was no friction, though I was tossed here +and there and lurched from side to side. When the avalanche swedged and +came to rest I found myself on top of the crumpled pile without bruise +or scar. This was a fine experience. Hawthorne says somewhere that steam +has spiritualized travel; though unspiritual smells, smoke, etc., still +attend steam travel. This flight in what might be called a milky way of +snow-stars was the most spiritual and exhilarating of all the modes of +motion I have ever experienced. Elijah's flight in a chariot of fire +could hardly have been more gloriously exciting. + + +The Streams In Other Seasons + + +In the spring, after all the avalanches are down and the snow is melting +fast, then all the Yosemite streams, from their fountains to their +falls, sing their grandest songs. Countless rills make haste to the +rivers, running and singing soon after sunrise, louder and louder with +increasing volume until sundown; then they gradually fail through the +frosty hours of the night. In this way the volume of the upper branches +of the river is nearly doubled during the day, rising and falling as +regularly as the tides of the sea. Then the Merced overflows its banks, +flooding the meadows, sometimes almost from wall to wall in some places, +beginning to rise towards sundown just when the streams on the fountains +are beginning to diminish, the difference in time of the daily rise and +fall being caused by the distance the upper flood streams have to travel +before reaching the Valley. In the warmest weather they seem fairly to +shout for joy and clash their upleaping waters together like clapping +of hands; racing down the canyons with white manes flying in glorious +exuberance of strength, compelling huge, sleeping boulders to wake up +and join in their dance and song, to swell their exulting chorus. + +In early summer, after the flood season, the Yosemite streams are in +their prime, running crystal clear, deep and full but not overflowing +their banks--about as deep through the night as the day, the difference +in volume so marked in spring being now too slight to be noticed. Nearly +all the weather is cloudless and everything is at its brightest--lake, +river, garden and forest with all their life. Most of the plants are in +full flower. The blessed ouzels have built their mossy huts and are now +singing their best songs with the streams. + +In tranquil, mellow autumn, when the year's work is about done and +the fruits are ripe, birds and seeds out of their nests, and all the +landscape is glowing like a benevolent countenance, then the streams +are at their lowest ebb, with scarce a memory left of their wild spring +floods. The small tributaries that do not reach back to the lasting +snow fountains of the summit peaks shrink to whispering, tinkling +currents. After the snow is gone from the basins, excepting occasional +thundershowers, they are now fed only by small springs whose waters +are mostly evaporated in passing over miles of warm pavements, and in +feeling their way slowly from pool to pool through the midst of boulders +and sand. Even the main rivers are so low they may easily be forded, and +their grand falls and cascades, now gentle and approachable, have waned +to sheets of embroidery. + + + +Chapter 4 + +Snow Banners + + +But it is on the mountain tops, when they are laden with loose, dry snow +and swept by a gale from the north, that the most magnificent storm +scenery is displayed. The peaks along the axis of the Range are then +decorated with resplendent banners, some of them more than a mile long, +shining, streaming, waving with solemn exuberant enthusiasm as if +celebrating some surpassingly glorious event. + +The snow of which these banners are made falls on the high Sierra in +most extravagant abundance, sometimes to a depth of fifteen or twenty +feet, coming from the fertile clouds not in large angled flakes such as +one oftentimes sees in Yosemite, seldom even in complete crystals, for +many of the starry blossoms fall before they are ripe, while most of +those that attain perfect development as six-petaled flowers are more +or less broken by glinting and chafing against one another on the +way down to their work. This dry frosty snow is prepared for the grand +banner-waving celebrations by the action of the wind. Instead of at +once finding rest like that which falls into the tranquil depths of +the forest, it is shoved and rolled and beaten against boulders and +out-jutting rocks, swirled in pits and hollows like sand in river +pot-holes, and ground into sparkling dust. And when storm winds find +this snow-dust in a loose condition on the slopes above the timber-line +they toss it back into the sky and sweep it onward from peak to peak +in the form of smooth regular banners, or in cloudy drifts, according +to the velocity and direction of the wind, and the conformation of the +slopes over which it is driven. While thus flying through the air a +small portion escapes from the mountains to the sky as vapor; but far +the greater part is at length locked fast in bossy overcurling cornices +along the ridges, or in stratified sheets in the glacier cirques, some +of it to replenish the small residual glaciers and remain silent and +rigid for centuries before it is finally melted and sent singing down +home to the sea. + +But, though snow-dust and storm-winds abound on the mountains, regular +shapely banners are, for causes we shall presently see, seldom produced. +During the five winters that I spent in Yosemite I made many excursions +to high points above the walls in all kinds of weather to see what was +going on outside; from all my lofty outlooks I saw only one banner-storm +that seemed in every way perfect. This was in the winter of 1873, when +the snow-laden peaks were swept by a powerful norther. I was awakened +early in the morning by a wild storm-wind and of course I had to make +haste to the middle of the Valley to enjoy it. Rugged torrents and +avalanches from the main wind-flood overhead were roaring down the side +canyons and over the cliffs, arousing the rocks and the trees and the +streams alike into glorious hurrahing enthusiasm, shaking the whole +Valley into one huge song. Yet inconceivable as it must seem even to +those who love all Nature's wildness, the storm was telling its story +on the mountains in still grander characters. + + +A Wonderful Winter Scene + + +I had long been anxious to study some points in the structure of the +ice-hill at the foot of the Upper Yosemite Fall, but, as I have already +explained, blinding spray had hitherto prevented me from getting +sufficiently near it. This morning the entire body of the Fall was +oftentimes torn into gauzy strips and blown horizontally along the face +of the cliff, leaving the ice-hill dry; and while making my way to the +top of Fern Ledge to seize so favorable an opportunity to look down its +throat, the peaks of the Merced group came in sight over the shoulder of +the South Dome, each waving a white glowing banner against the dark blue +sky, as regular in form and firm and fine in texture as if it were made +of silk. So rare and splendid a picture, of course, smothered everything +else and I at once began to scramble and wallow up the snow-choked +Indian Canyon to a ridge about 8000 feet high, commanding a general +view of the main summits along the axis of the Range, feeling assured I +should find them bannered still more gloriously; nor was I in the least +disappointed. I reached the top of the ridge in four or five hours, and +through an opening in the woods the most imposing wind-storm effect I +ever beheld came full in sight; unnumbered mountains rising sharply +into the cloudless sky, their bases solid white their sides plashed with +snow, like ocean rocks with foam, and on every summit a magnificent +silvery banner, from two thousand to six thousand feet in length, +slender at the point of attachment, and widening gradually until about +a thousand or fifteen hundred feet in breadth, and as shapely and as +substantial looking in texture as the banners of the finest silk, all +streaming and waving free and clear in the sun-glow with nothing to blur +the sublime picture they made. + +Fancy yourself standing beside me on this Yosemite Ridge. There is a +strange garish glitter in the air and the gale drives wildly overhead, +but you feel nothing of its violence, for you are looking out through a +sheltered opening in the woods, as through a window. In the immediate +foreground there is a forest of silver fir their foliage warm +yellow-green, and the snow beneath them strewn with their plumes, +plucked off by the storm; and beyond broad, ridgy, canyon-furrowed, +dome-dotted middle ground, darkened here and there with belts of pines, +you behold the lofty snow laden mountains in glorious array, waving +their banners with jubilant enthusiasm as if shouting aloud for joy. +They are twenty miles away, but you would not wish them nearer, for +every feature is distinct and the whole wonderful show is seen in its +right proportions, like a painting on the sky. + +And now after this general view, mark how sharply the ribs and +buttresses and summits of the mountains are defined, excepting the +portions veiled by the banners; how gracefully and nobly the banners +are waving in accord with the throbbing of the wind flood; how trimly +each is attached to the very summit of its peak like a streamer at a +mast-head; how bright and glowing white they are, and how finely their +fading fringes are penciled on the sky! See how solid white and opaque +they are at the point of attachment and how filmy and translucent toward +the end, so that the parts of the peaks past which they are streaming +look dim as if seen through a veil of ground glass. And see how some of +the longest of the banners on the highest peaks are streaming perfectly +free from peak to peak across intervening notches or passes, while +others overlap and partly hide one another. + +As to their formation, we find that the main causes of the wondrous +beauty and perfection of those we are looking at are the favorable +direction and force of the wind, the abundance of snow-dust, and the +form of the north sides of the peaks. In general, the north sides are +concave in both their horizontal and vertical sections, having been +sculptured into this shape by the residual glaciers that lingered in +the protecting northern shadows, while the sun-beaten south sides, +having never been subjected to this kind of glaciation, are convex or +irregular. It is essential, therefore, not only that the wind should +move with great velocity and steadiness to supply a sufficiently copious +and continuous stream of snow-dust, but that it should come from the +north. No perfect banner is ever hung on the Sierra peaks by the south +wind. Had the gale today blown from the south, leaving the other +conditions unchanged, only swirling, interfering, cloudy drifts would +have been produced; for the snow, instead of being spouted straight up +and over the tops of the peaks in condensed currents to be drawn out as +streamers, would have been driven over the convex southern slopes from +peak to peak like white pearly fog. + +It appears, therefore, that shadows in great part determine not only the +forms of lofty ice mountains, but also those of the snow banners that +the wild winds hang upon them. + + +Earthquake Storms + + +The avalanche taluses, leaning against the walls at intervals of a mile +or two, are among the most striking and interesting of the secondary +features of the Valley. They are from about three to five hundred feet +high, made up of huge, angular, well-preserved, unshifting boulders, and +instead of being slowly weathered from the cliffs like ordinary taluses, +they were all formed suddenly and simultaneously by a great earthquake +that occurred at least three centuries ago. And though thus hurled into +existence in a few seconds or minutes, they are the least changeable of +all the Sierra soil-beds. Excepting those which were launched directly +into the channels of swift rivers, scarcely one of their wedged and +interlacing boulders has moved since the day of their creation; and +though mostly made up of huge blocks of granite, many of them from ten +to fifty feet cube, weighing thousands of tons with only a few small +chips, trees and shrubs make out to live and thrive on them and even +delicate herbaceous plants--draperia, collomia, zauschneria, etc., +soothing and coloring their wild rugged slopes with gardens and groves. + +I was long in doubt on some points concerning the origin of those +taluses. Plainly enough they were derived from the cliffs above them, +because they are of the size of scars on the wall, the rough angular +surface of which contrasts with the rounded, glaciated, unfractured +parts. It was plain, too, that instead of being made up of material +slowly and gradually weathered from the cliffs like ordinary taluses, +almost every one of them had been formed suddenly in a single avalanche, +and had not been increased in size during the last three or four +centuries, for trees three or four hundred years old are growing on +them, some standing at the top close to the wall without a bruise or +broken branch, showing that scarcely a single boulder had ever fallen +among them. Furthermore, all these taluses throughout the Range seemed +by the trees and lichens growing on them to be of the same age. All +the phenomena thus pointed straight to a grand ancient earthquake. But +for years I left the question open, and went on from canyon to canyon, +observing again and again; measuring the heights of taluses throughout +the Range on both flanks, and the variations in the angles of their +surface slopes; studying the way their boulders had been assorted and +related and brought to rest, and their correspondence in size with the +cleavage joints of the cliffs from whence they were derived, cautious +about making up my mind. But at last all doubt as to their formation +vanished. + +At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened +by a tremendous earthquake, and though I had never before enjoyed a +storm of this sort, the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, +and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, "A noble +earthquake! A noble earthquake!" feeling sure I was going to learn +something. The shocks were so violent and varied, and succeeded one +another so closely, that I had to balance myself carefully in walking as +if on the deck of a ship among waves, and it seemed impossible that the +high cliffs of the Valley could escape being shattered. In particular, +I feared that the sheer-fronted Sentinel Rock, towering above my cabin, +would be shaken down, and I took shelter back of a large yellow pine, +hoping that it might protect me from at least the smaller outbounding +boulders. For a minute or two the shocks became more and more +violent--flashing horizontal thrusts mixed with a few twists and +battering, explosive, upheaving jolts,--as if Nature were wrecking her +Yosemite temple, and getting ready to build a still better one. + +I was now convinced before a single boulder had fallen that earthquakes +were the talus-makers and positive proof soon came. It was a calm +moonlight night, and no sound was heard for the first minute or so, save +low, muffled, underground, bubbling rumblings, and the whispering and +rustling of the agitated trees, as if Nature were holding her breath. +Then, suddenly, out of the strange silence and strange motion there came +a tremendous roar. The Eagle Rock on the south wall, about a half a mile +up the Valley, gave way and I saw it falling in thousands of the great +boulders I had so long been studying, pouring to the Valley floor +in a free curve luminous from friction, making a terribly sublime +spectacle--an arc of glowing, passionate fire, fifteen hundred feet +span, as true in form and as serene in beauty as a rainbow in the midst +of the stupendous, roaring rock-storm. The sound was so tremendously +deep and broad and earnest, the whole earth like a living creature +seemed to have at last found a voice and to be calling to her sister +planets. In trying to tell something of the size of this awful sound it +seems to me that if all the thunder of all the storms I had ever heard +were condensed into one roar it would not equal this rock-roar at the +birth of a mountain talus. Think, then, of the roar that arose to heaven +at the simultaneous birth of all the thousands of ancient canyon-taluses +throughout the length and breadth of the Range! + +The first severe shocks were soon over, and eager to examine the +new-born talus I ran up the Valley in the moonlight and climbed upon it +before the huge blocks, after their fiery flight, had come to complete +rest. They were slowly settling into their places, chafing, grating +against one another, groaning, and whispering; but no motion was visible +except in a stream of small fragments pattering down the face of the +cliff. A cloud of dust particles, lighted by the moon, floated out +across the whole breadth of the Valley, forming a ceiling that lasted +until after sunrise, and the air was filled with the odor of crushed +Douglas spruces from a grove that had been mowed down and mashed like +weeds. + +After the ground began to calm I ran across the meadow to the river to +see in what direction it was flowing and was glad to find that _down_ +the Valley was still down. Its waters were muddy from portions of its +banks having given way, but it was flowing around its curves and over +its ripples and shallows with ordinary tones and gestures. The mud would +soon be cleared away and the raw slips on the banks would be the only +visible record of the shaking it suffered. + +The Upper Yosemite Fall, glowing white in the moonlight, seemed to know +nothing of the earthquake, manifesting no change in form or voice, as +far as I could see or hear. + +After a second startling shock, about half-past three o'clock, the +ground continued to tremble gently, and smooth, hollow rumbling sounds, +not always distinguishable from the rounded, bumping, explosive tones of +the falls, came from deep in the mountains in a northern direction. + +The few Indians fled from their huts to the middle of the Valley, +fearing that angry spirits were trying to kill them; and, as I afterward +learned, most of the Yosemite tribe, who were spending the winter at +their village on Bull Creek forty miles away, were so terrified that +they ran into the river and washed themselves,--getting themselves clean +enough to say their prayers, I suppose, or to die. I asked Dick, one of +the Indians with whom I was acquainted, "What made the ground shake and +jump so much?" He only shook his head and said, "No good. No good," and +looked appealingly to me to give him hope that his life was to be +spared. + +In the morning I found the few white settlers assembled in front of +the old Hutchings Hotel comparing notes and meditating flight to the +lowlands, seemingly as sorely frightened as the Indians. Shortly after +sunrise a low, blunt, muffled rumbling, like distant thunder, was +followed by another series of shocks, which, though not nearly so severe +as the first, made the cliffs and domes tremble like jelly, and the big +pines and oaks thrill and swish and wave their branches with startling +effect. Then the talkers were suddenly hushed, and the solemnity on +their faces was sublime. One in particular of these winter neighbors, a +somewhat speculative thinker with whom I had often conversed, was a firm +believer in the cataclysmic origin of the Valley; and I now jokingly +remarked that his wild tumble-down-and-engulfment hypothesis might soon +be proved, since these underground rumblings and shakings might be the +forerunners of another Yosemite-making cataclysm, which would perhaps +double the depth of the Valley by swallowing the floor, leaving the ends +of the roads and trails dangling three or four thousand feet in the air. +Just then came the third series of shocks, and it was fine to see how +awfully silent and solemn he became. His belief in the existence of a +mysterious abyss, into which the suspended floor of the Valley and all +the domes and battlements of the walls might at any moment go roaring +down, mightily troubled him. To diminish his fears and laugh him into +something like reasonable faith, I said, "Come, cheer up; smile a little +and clap your hands, now that kind Mother Earth is trotting us on her +knee to amuse us and make us good." But the well-meant joke seemed +irreverent and utterly failed, as if only prayerful terror could rightly +belong to the wild beauty-making business. Even after all the heavier +shocks were over I could do nothing to reassure him, on the contrary, +he handed me the keys of his little store to keep, saying that with a +companion of like mind he was going to the lowlands to stay until the +fate of poor, trembling Yosemite was settled. In vain I rallied them on +their fears, calling attention to the strength of the granite walls of +our Valley home, the very best and solidest masonry in the world, and +less likely to collapse and sink than the sedimentary lowlands to which +they were looking for safety; and saying that in any case they sometime +would have to die, and so grand a burial was not to be slighted. But +they were too seriously panic-stricken to get comfort from anything I +could say. + +During the third severe shock the trees were so violently shaken that +the birds flew out with frightened cries. In particular, I noticed two +robins flying in terror from a leafless oak, the branches of which +swished and quivered as if struck by a heavy battering-ram. Exceedingly +interesting were the flashing and quivering of the elastic needles of +the pines in the sunlight and the waving up and down of the branches +while the trunks stood rigid. There was no swaying, waving or swirling +as in wind-storms, but quick, quivering jerks, and at times the heavy +tasseled branches moved as if they had all been pressed down against the +trunk and suddenly let go, to spring up and vibrate until they came to +rest again. Only the owls seemed to be undisturbed. Before the rumbling +echoes had died away a hollow-voiced owl began to hoot in philosophical +tranquillity from near the edge of the new talus as if nothing +extraordinary had occurred, although, perhaps, he was curious to know +what all the noise was about. His "hoot-too-hoot-too-whoo" might have +meant, "what's a' the steer, kimmer?" + +It was long before the Valley found perfect rest. The rocks trembled +more or less every day for over two months, and I kept a bucket of water +on my table to learn what I could of the movements. The blunt thunder +in the depths of the mountains was usually followed by sudden jarring, +horizontal thrusts from the northward, often succeeded by twisting, +upjolting movements. More than a month after the first great shock, when +I was standing on a fallen tree up the Valley near Lamon's winter cabin, +I heard a distinct bubbling thunder from the direction of Tenaya Canyon +Carlo, a large intelligent St. Bernard dog standing beside me seemed +greatly astonished, and looked intently in that direction with mouth +open and uttered a low _Wouf!_ as if saying, "What's that?" He +must have known that it was not thunder, though like it. The air was +perfectly still, not the faintest breath of wind perceptible, and a +fine, mellow, sunny hush pervaded everything, in the midst of which came +that subterranean thunder. Then, while we gazed and listened, came the +corresponding shocks, distinct as if some mighty hand had shaken the +ground. After the sharp horizontal jars died away, they were followed +by a gentle rocking and undulating of the ground so distinct that Carlo +looked at the log on which he was standing to see who was shaking it. It +was the season of flooded meadows and the pools about me, calm as sheets +of glass, were suddenly thrown into low ruffling waves. + +Judging by its effects, this Yosemite, or Inyo earthquake, as it is +sometimes called, was gentle as compared with the one that gave rise +to the grand talus system of the Range and did so much for the canyon +scenery. Nature, usually so deliberate in her operations, then created, +as we have seen, a new set of features, simply by giving the mountains +a shake--changing not only the high peaks and cliffs, but the streams. +As soon as these rock avalanches fell the streams began to sing new +songs; for in many places thousands of boulders were hurled into their +channels, roughening and half-damming them, compelling the waters to +surge and roar in rapids where before they glided smoothly. Some of +the streams were completely dammed; driftwood, leaves, etc., gradually +filling the interstices between the boulders, thus giving rise to lakes +and level reaches; and these again, after being gradually filled in, +were changed to meadows, through which the streams are now silently +meandering; while at the same time some of the taluses took the places +of old meadows and groves. Thus rough places were made smooth, and +smooth places rough. But, on the whole, by what at first sight seemed +pure confounded confusion and ruin, the landscapes were enriched; for +gradually every talus was covered with groves and gardens, and made a +finely proportioned and ornamental base for the cliffs. In this work of +beauty, every boulder is prepared and measured and put in its place more +thoughtfully than are the stones of temples. If for a moment you are +inclined to regard these taluses as mere draggled, chaotic dumps, climb +to the top of one of them, and run down without any haggling, puttering +hesitation, boldly jumping from boulder to boulder with even speed. You +will then find your feet playing a tune, and quickly discover the music +and poetry of these magnificent rock piles--a fine lesson; and all +Nature's wildness tells the same story--the shocks and outbursts of +earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, roaring, thundering waves and floods, +the silent uprush of sap in plants, storms of every sort--each and all +are the orderly beauty-making love-beats of Nature's heart. + + + +Chapter 5 + +The Trees of the Valley + + +The most influential of the Valley trees is the yellow pine (Pinus +ponderosa). It attains its noblest dimensions on beds of water-washed, +coarsely-stratified moraine material, between the talus slopes and +meadows, dry on the surface, well-watered below and where not too +closely assembled in groves the branches reach nearly to the ground, +forming grand spires 200 to 220 feet in height. The largest that I have +measured is standing alone almost opposite the Sentinel Rock, or a +little to the westward of it. It is a little over eight feet in diameter +and about 220 feet high. Climbing these grand trees, especially when +they are waving and singing in worship in wind-storms, is a glorious +experience. Ascending from the lowest branch to the topmost is like +stepping up stairs through a blaze of white light, every needle +thrilling and shining as if with religious ecstasy. + +Unfortunately there are but few sugar pines in the Valley, though in +the King's yosemite they are in glorious abundance. The incense cedar +(Libocedrus decurrens) with cinnamon-colored bark and yellow-green +foliage is one of the most interesting of the Yosemite trees. Some of +them are 150 feet high, from six to ten feet in diameter, and they are +never out of sight as you saunter among the yellow pines. Their bright +brown shafts and towers of flat, frondlike branches make a striking +feature of the landscapes throughout all the seasons. In midwinter, when +most of the other trees are asleep, this cedar puts forth its flowers +in millions,--the pistillate pale green and inconspicuous, but the +staminate bright yellow, tingeing all the branches and making the trees +as they stand in the snow look like gigantic goldenrods. The branches, +outspread in flat plumes and, beautifully fronded, sweep gracefully +downward and outward, except those near the top, which aspire; the +lowest, especially in youth and middle age, droop to the ground, +overlapping one another, shedding off rain and snow like shingles, and +making fine tents for birds and campers. This tree frequently lives more +than a thousand years and is well worthy its place beside the great +pines and the Douglas spruce. + +The two largest specimens I know of the Douglas spruce, about eight feet +in diameter, are growing at the foot of the Liberty Cap near the Nevada +Fall, and on the terminal moraine of the small residual glacier that +lingered in the shady Illilouette Canyon. + +After the conifers, the most important of the Yosemite trees are the +oaks, two species; the California live-oak (Quercus agrifolia), with +black trunks, reaching a thickness of from four to nearly seven feet, +wide spreading branches and bright deeply-scalloped leaves. It occupies +the greater part of the broad sandy flats of the upper end of the +Valley, and is the species that yields the acorns so highly prized by +the Indians and woodpeckers. + +The other species is the mountain live-oak, or goldcup oak (Quercus +chrysolepis), a sturdy mountaineer of a tree, growing mostly on the +earthquake taluses and benches of the sunny north wall of the Valley. +In tough, unwedgeable, knotty strength, it is the oak of oaks, a +magnificent tree. + +The largest and most picturesque specimen in the Valley is near the foot +of the Tenaya Fall, a romantic spot seldom seen on account of the rough +trouble of getting to it. It is planted on three huge boulders and yet +manages to draw sufficient moisture and food from this craggy soil to +maintain itself in good health. It is twenty feet in circumference, +measured above a large branch between three and four feet in diameter +that has been broken off. The main knotty trunk seems to be made up of +craggy granite boulders like those on which it stands, being about the +same color as the mossy, lichened boulders and about as rough. Two +moss-lined caves near the ground open back into the trunk, one on the +north side, the other on the west, forming picturesque, romantic seats. +The largest of the main branches is eighteen feet and nine inches in +circumference, and some of the long pendulous branchlets droop over the +stream at the foot of the fall where it is gray with spray. The leaves +are glossy yellow-green, ever in motion from the wind from the fall. It +is a fine place to dream in, with falls, cascades, cool rocks lined with +hypnum three inches thick; shaded with maple, dogwood, alder, willow; +grand clumps of lady-ferns where no hand may touch them; light filtering +through translucent leaves; oaks fifty feet high; lilies eight feet high +in a filled lake basin near by, and the finest libocedrus groves and +tallest ferns and goldenrods. + +In the main river canyon below the Vernal Fall and on the shady south +side of the Valley there are a few groves of the silver fir (Abies +concolor), and superb forests of the magnificent species round the rim +of the Valley. + +On the tops of the domes is found the sturdy, storm-enduring red cedar +(Juniperus occidentalis). It never makes anything like a forest here, +but stands out separate and independent in the wind, clinging by slight +joints to the rock, with scarce a handful of soil in sight of it, +seeming to depend chiefly on snow and air for nourishment, and yet it +has maintained tough health on this diet for two thousand years or more. +The largest hereabouts are from five to six feet in diameter and fifty +feet in height. + +The principal river-side trees are poplar, alder, willow, broad-leaved +maple, and Nuttall's flowering dogwood. The poplar (Populus +trichocarpa), often called balm-of-Gilead from the gum on its buds, is +a tall tree, towering above its companions and gracefully embowering +the banks of the river. Its abundant foliage turns bright yellow in the +fall, and the Indian-summer sunshine sifts through it in delightful +tones over the slow-gliding waters when they are at their lowest ebb. + +Some of the involucres of the flowering dogwood measure six to eight +inches in diameter, and the whole tree when in flower looks as if +covered with snow. In the spring when the streams are in flood it is the +whitest of trees. In Indian summer the leaves become bright crimson, +making a still grander show than the flowers. + +The broad-leaved maple and mountain maple are found mostly in the cool +canyons at the head of the Valley, spreading their branches in beautiful +arches over the foaming streams. + +Scattered here and there are a few other trees, mostly small--the +mountain mahogany, cherry, chestnut-oak, and laurel. The California +nutmeg (Torreya californica), a handsome evergreen belonging to the +yew family, forms small groves near the cascades a mile or two below +the foot of the Valley. + + + +Chapter 6 + +The Forest Trees in General + + +For the use of the ever-increasing number of Yosemite visitors who make +extensive excursions into the mountains beyond the Valley, a sketch of +the forest trees in general will probably be found useful. The different +species are arranged in zones and sections, which brings the forest as +a whole within the comprehension of every observer. These species are +always found as controlled by the climates of different elevations, +by soil and by the comparative strength of each species in taking and +holding possession of the ground; and so appreciable are these relations +the traveler need never be at a loss in determining within a few +hundred feet his elevation above sea level by the trees alone; for, +notwithstanding some of the species range upward for several thousand +feet and all pass one another more or less, yet even those species +possessing the greatest vertical range are available in measuring +the elevation; inasmuch as they take on new forms corresponding with +variations in altitude. Entering the lower fringe of the forest composed +of Douglas oaks and Sabine pines, the trees grow so far apart that not +one-twentieth of the surface of the ground is in shade at noon. After +advancing fifteen or twenty miles towards Yosemite and making an ascent +of from two to three thousand feet you reach the lower margin of the +main pine belt, composed of great sugar pine, yellow pine, incense cedar +and sequoia. Next you come to the magnificent silver-fir belt and lastly +to the upper pine belt, which sweep up to the feet of the summit peaks +in a dwarfed fringe, to a height of from ten to twelve thousand feet. +That this general order of distribution depends on climate as affected +by height above the sea, is seen at once, but there are other harmonies +that become manifest only after observation and study. One of the most +interesting of these is the arrangement of the forest in long curving +bands, braided together into lace-like patterns in some places and +out-spread in charming variety. The key to these striking arrangements +is the system of ancient glaciers; where they flowed the trees followed, +tracing their courses along the sides of canyons, over ridges, and high +plateaus. The cedar of Lebanon, said Sir Joseph Hooker, occurs upon one +of the moraines of an ancient glacier. All the forests of the Sierra are +growing upon moraines, but moraines vanish like the glaciers that make +them. Every storm that falls upon them wastes them, carrying away their +decaying, disintegrating material into new formations, until they are no +longer recognizable without tracing their transitional forms down the +Range from those still in process of formation in some places through +those that are more and more ancient and more obscured by vegetation and +all kinds of post-glacial weathering. It appears, therefore, that the +Sierra forests indicate the extent and positions of ancient moraines as +well as they do belts of climate. + +One will have no difficulty in knowing the Nut Pine (Pinus Sabiniana), +for it is the first conifer met in ascending the Range from the west, +springing up here and there among Douglas oaks and thickets of ceanothus +and manzanita; its extreme upper limit being about 4000 feet above the +sea, its lower about from 500 to 800 feet. It is remarkable for its +loose, airy, wide-branching habit and thin gray foliage. Full-grown +specimens are from forty to fifty feet in height and from two to three +feet in diameter. The trunk usually divides into three or four main +branches about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground that, after +bearing away from one another, shoot straight up and form separate +summits. Their slender, grayish needles are from eight to twelve inches +long, and inclined to droop, contrasting with the rigid, dark-colored +trunk and branches. No other tree of my acquaintance so substantial in +its body has foliage so thin and pervious to the light. The cones are +from five to eight inches long and about as large in thickness; rich +chocolate-brown in color and protected by strong, down-curving nooks +which terminate the scales. Nevertheless the little Douglas Squirrel can +open them. Indians climb the trees like bears and beat off the cones or +recklessly cut off the more fruitful branches with hatchets, while the +squaws gather and roast them until the scales open sufficiently to +allow the hard-shell seeds to be beaten out. The curious little Pinus +attenuata is found at an elevation of from 1500 to 3000 feet, growing in +close groves and belts. It is exceedingly slender and graceful, although +trees that chance to stand alone send out very long, curved branches, +making a striking contrast to the ordinary grove form. The foliage is of +the same peculiar gray-green color as that of the nut pine, and is worn +about as loosely, so that the body of the tree is scarcely obscured +by it. At the age of seven or eight years it begins to bear cones in +whorls on the main axis, and as they never fall off, the trunk is soon +picturesquely dotted with them. Branches also soon become fruitful. The +average size of the tree is about thirty or forty feet in height and +twelve to fourteen inches in diameter. The cones are about four inches +long and covered with a sort of varnish and gum, rendering them +impervious to moisture. + +No observer can fail to notice the admirable adaptation of this curious +pine to the fire-swept regions where alone it is found. After a running +fire has scorched and killed it the cones open and the ground beneath it +is then sown broadcast with all the seeds ripened during its whole life. +Then up spring a crowd of bright, hopeful seedlings, giving beauty for +ashes in lavish abundance. + + +The Sugar Pine, King Of Pine Trees + + +Of all the world's eighty or ninety species of pine trees, the Sugar +Pine (Pinus Lambertiana) is king, surpassing all others, not merely in +size but in lordly beauty and majesty. In the Yosemite region it grows +at an elevation of from 3000 to 7000 feet above the sea and attains +most perfect development at a height of about 5000 feet. The largest +specimens are commonly about 220 feet high and from six to eight feet +in diameter four feet from the ground, though some grand old patriarch +may be met here and there that has enjoyed six or eight centuries of +storms and attained a thickness of ten or even twelve feet, still sweet +and fresh in every fiber. The trunk is a remarkably smooth, round, +delicately-tapered shaft, straight and regular as if turned in a lathe, +mostly without limbs, purplish brown in color and usually enlivened with +tufts of a yellow lichen. Toward the head of this magnificent column +long branches sweep gracefully outward and downward, sometimes forming +a palm-like crown, but far more impressive than any palm crown I ever +beheld. The needles are about three inches long in fascicles of five, +and arranged in rather close tassels at the ends of slender branchlets +that clothe the long outsweeping limbs. How well they sing in the wind, +and how strikingly harmonious an effect is made by the long cylindrical +cones, depending loosely from the ends of the long branches! The cones +are about fifteen to eighteen inches long, and three in diameter; +green, shaded with dark purple on their sunward sides. They are ripe in +September and October of the second year from the flower. Then the flat, +thin scales open and the seeds take wing, but the empty cones become +still more beautiful and effective as decorations, for their diameter is +nearly doubled by the spreading of the scales, and their color changes +to yellowish brown while they remain, swinging on the tree all the +following winter and summer, and continue effectively beautiful even on +the ground many years after they fall. The wood is deliciously fragrant, +fine in grain and texture and creamy yellow, as if formed of condensed +sunbeams. The sugar from which the common name is derived is, I think, +the best of sweets. It exudes from the heart-wood where wounds have been +made by forest fires or the ax, and forms irregular, crisp, candy-like +kernels of considerable size, something like clusters of resin beads. +When fresh it is white, but because most of the wounds on which it is +found have been made by fire the sap is stained and the hardened sugar +becomes brown. Indians are fond of it, but on account of its laxative +properties only small quantities may be eaten. No tree lover will ever +forget his first meeting with the sugar pine. In most pine trees there +is the sameness of expression which to most people is apt to become +monotonous, for the typical spiral form of conifers, however beautiful, +affords little scope for appreciable individual character. The sugar +pine is as free from conventionalities as the most picturesque oaks. No +two are alike, and though they toss out their immense arms in what might +seem extravagant gestures they never lose their expression of serene +majesty. They are the priests of pines and seem ever to be addressing +the surrounding forest. The yellow pine is found growing with them on +warm hillsides, and the silver fir on cool northern slopes but, noble +as these are, the sugar pine is easily king, and spreads his arms above +them in blessing while they rock and wave in sign of recognition. The +main branches are sometimes forty feet long, yet persistently simple, +seldom dividing at all, excepting near the end; but anything like a +bare cable appearance is prevented by the small, tasseled branchlets +that extend all around them; and when these superb limbs sweep out +symmetrically on all sides, a crown sixty or seventy feet wide is +formed, which, gracefully poised on the summit of the noble shaft, is +a glorious object. Commonly, however, there is a preponderance of +limbs toward the east, away from the direction of the prevailing winds. + +Although so unconventional when full-grown, the sugar pine is a +remarkably proper tree in youth--a strict follower of coniferous +fashions--slim, erect, with leafy branches kept exactly in place, each +tapering in outline and terminating in a spiry point. The successive +forms between the cautious neatness of youth and the bold freedom of +maturity offer a delightful study. At the age of fifty or sixty years, +the shy, fashionable form begins to be broken up. Specialized branches +push out and bend with the great cones, giving individual character, +that becomes more marked from year to year. Its most constant companion +is the yellow pine. The Douglas spruce, libocedrus, sequoia, and the +silver fir are also more or less associated with it; but on many +deep-soiled mountain-sides, at an elevation of about 5000 feet above the +sea, it forms the bulk of the forest, filling every swell and hollow and +down-plunging ravine. The majestic crowns, approaching each other in +bold curves, make a glorious canopy through which the tempered sunbeams +pour, silvering the needles, and gilding the massive boles and the +flowery, park-like ground into a scene of enchantment. On the most sunny +slopes the white-flowered, fragrant chamaebatia is spread like a carpet, +brightened during early summer with the crimson sarcodes, the wild rose, +and innumerable violets and gilias. Not even in the shadiest nooks will +you find any rank, untidy weeds or unwholesome darkness. In the north +sides of ridges the boles are more slender, and the ground is mostly +occupied by an underbrush of hazel, ceanothus, and flowering dogwood, +but not so densely as to prevent the traveler from sauntering where he +will; while the crowning branches are never impenetrable to the rays of +the sun, and never so interblended as to lose their individuality. + + +The Yellow Or Silver Pine + + +The Silver Pine (Pinus ponderosa), or Yellow Pine, as it is commonly +called, ranks second among the pines of the Sierra as a lumber tree, and +almost rivals the sugar pine in stature and nobleness of port. Because +of its superior powers of enduring variations of climate and soil, it +has a more extensive range than any other conifer growing on the Sierra. +On the western slope it is first met at an elevation of about 2000 feet, +and extends nearly to the upper limit of the timber-line. Thence, +crossing the range by the lowest passes, it descends to the eastern +base, and pushes out for a considerable distance into the hot, volcanic +plains, growing bravely upon well-watered moraines, gravelly lake +basins, climbing old volcanoes and dropping ripe cones among ashes and +cinders. + +The average size of full-grown trees on the western slope where it is +associated with the sugar pine, is a little less than 200 feet in height +and from five to six feet in diameter, though specimens considerably +larger may easily be found. Where there is plenty of free sunshine and +other conditions are favorable, it presents a striking contrast in form +to the sugar pine, being a symmetrical spire, formed of a straight round +trunk, clad with innumerable branches that are divided over and over +again. Unlike the Yosemite form about one-half of the trunk is commonly +branchless, but where it grows at all close three-fourths or more is +naked, presenting then a more slender and elegant shaft than any other +tree in the woods. The bark is mostly arranged in massive plates, some +of them measuring four or five feet in length by eighteen inches in +width, with a thickness of three or four inches, forming a quite +marked and distinguishing feature. The needles are of a fine, warm, +yellow-green color, six to eight inches long, firm and elastic, and +crowded in handsome, radiant tassels on the upturning ends of the +branches. The cones are about three or four inches long, and two and +a half wide, growing in close, sessile clusters among the leaves. + +The species attains its noblest form in filled-up lake basins, +especially in those of the older yosemites, and as we have seen, so +prominent a part does it form of their groves that it may well be called +the Yosemite Pine. + +The Jeffrey variety attains its finest development in the northern +portion of the Range, in the wide basins of the McCloud and Pitt Rivers, +where it forms magnificent forests scarcely invaded by any other tree. +It differs from the ordinary form in size, being only about half as tall, +in its redder and more closely-furrowed bark grayish-green foliage, less +divided branches, and much larger cones; but intermediate forms come in +which make a clear separation impossible, although some botanists regard +it as a distinct species. It is this variety of ponderosa that climbs +storm-swept ridges alone, and wanders out among the volcanoes of the +Great Basin. Whether exposed to extremes of heat or cold, it is dwarfed +like many other trees, and becomes all knots and angles, wholly unlike +the majestic forms we have been sketching. Old specimens, bearing cones +about as big as pineapples, may sometimes be found clinging to rifted +rocks at an elevation of 7000 or 8000 feet, whose highest branches +scarce reach above one's shoulders. + +I have often feasted on the beauty of these noble trees when they were +towering in all their winter grandeur, laden with snow--one mass of +bloom; in summer, too, when the brown, staminate clusters hang thick +among the shimmering needles, and the big purple burrs are ripening in +the mellow light; but it is during cloudless wind-storms that these +colossal pines are most impressively beautiful. Then they bow like +willows, their leaves streaming forward all in one direction, and, when +the sun shines upon them at the required angle, entire groves glow as if +every leaf were burnished silver. The fall of tropic light on the crown +of a palm is a truly glorious spectacle, the fervid sun-flood breaking +upon the glossy leaves in long lance-rays, like mountain water among +boulders at the foot of an enthusiastic cataract. But to me there is +something more impressive in the fall of light upon these noble, silver +pine pillars: it is beaten to the finest dust and shed off in myriads +of minute sparkles that seem to radiate from the very heart of the tree +as if like rain, falling upon fertile soil, it had been absorbed to +reappear in flowers of light. This species also gives forth the finest +wind music. After listening to it in all kinds of winds, night and +day, season after season, I think I could approximate to my position +on the mountain by this pine music alone. If you would catch the tone +of separate needles climb a tree in breezy weather. Every needle is +carefully tempered and gives forth no uncertain sound each standing out +with no interference excepting during head gales; then you may detect +the click of one needle upon another, readily distinguishable from the +free wind-like hum. + +When a sugar pine and one of this species equal in size are observed +together, the latter is seen to be more simple in manners, more lively +and graceful, and its beauty is of a kind more easily appreciated; on +the other hand it is less dignified and original in demeanor. The yellow +pine seems ever eager to shoot aloft, higher and higher. Even while it +is drowsing in autumn sun-gold you may still detect a skyward +aspiration, but the sugar pine seems too unconsciously noble and too +complete in every way to leave room for even a heavenward care. + + +The Douglas Spruce + + +The Douglas Spruce (Pseudotsuga Douglasii) is one of the largest and +longest-lived of the giants that flourish throughout the main pine belt, +often attaining a height of nearly 200 feet, and a diameter of six or +seven feet. Where the growth is not too close, the stout, spreading +branches, covering more than half of the trunk, are hung with +innumerable slender, drooping sprays, handsomely feathered with the +short leaves which radiate at right angles all around them. This +vigorous tree is ever beautiful, welcoming the mountain winds and the +snow as well as the mellow summer light; and it maintains its youthful +freshness undiminished from century to century through a thousand +storms. It makes its finest appearance during the months of June and +July, when the brown buds at the ends of the sprays swell and open, +revealing the young leaves, which at first are bright yellow, making the +tree appear as if covered with gay blossoms; while the pendulous bracted +cones, three or four inches long, with their shell-like scales, are a +constant adornment. + +The young trees usually are assembled in family groups, each sapling +exquisitely symmetrical. The primary branches are whorled regularly +around the axis, generally in fives, while each is draped with long, +feathery sprays that descend in lines as free and as finely drawn as +those of falling water. + +In Oregon and Washington it forms immense forests, growing tall and +mast-like to a height of 300 feet, and is greatly prized as a lumber +tree. Here it is scattered among other trees, or forms small groves, +seldom ascending higher than 5500 feet, and never making what would be +called a forest. It is not particular in its choice of soil: wet or dry, +smooth or rocky, it makes out to live well on them all. Two of the +largest specimens, as we have seen, are in Yosemite; one of these, more +than eight feet in diameter, is growing on a moraine; the other, nearly +as large, on angular blocks of granite. No other tree in the Sierra +seems so much at home on earthquake taluses and many of these huge +boulder-slopes are almost exclusively occupied by it. + + +The Incense Cedar + + +Incense Cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), already noticed among the Yosemite +trees, is quite generally distributed throughout the pine belt without +exclusively occupying any considerable area, or even making extensive +groves. On the warmer mountain slopes it ascends to about 5000 feet, and +reaches the climate most congenial to it at a height of about 4000 feet, +growing vigorously at this elevation in all kinds of soil and, in +particular, it is capable of enduring more moisture about its roots +than any of its companions excepting only the sequoia. + +Casting your eye over the general forest from some ridge-top you +can identify it by the color alone of its spiry summits, a warm +yellow-green. In its youth up to the age of seventy or eighty years, +none of its companions forms so strictly tapered a cone from top to +bottom. As it becomes older it oftentimes grows strikingly irregular +and picturesque. Large branches push out at right angles to the trunk, +forming stubborn elbows and shoot up parallel with the axis. Very +old trees are usually dead at the top. The flat fragrant plumes are +exceedingly beautiful: no waving fern-frond is finer in form and +texture. In its prime the whole tree is thatched with them, but if you +would see the libocedrus in all its glory you must go to the woods in +midwinter when it is laden with myriads of yellow flowers about the +size of wheat grains, forming a noble illustration of Nature's immortal +virility and vigor. The mature cones, about three-fourths of an inch +long, born on the ends of the plumy branchlets, serve to enrich still +more the surpassing beauty of this winter-blooming tree-goldenrod. + + +The Silver Firs + + +We come now to the most regularly planted and most clearly defined +of the main forest belts, composed almost exclusively of two Silver +Firs--Abies concolor and Abies magnifica--extending with but little +interruption 450 miles at an elevation of from 5000 to 9000 feet above +the sea. In its youth A. concolor is a charmingly symmetrical tree +with its flat plumy branches arranged in regular whorls around the +whitish-gray axis which terminates in a stout, hopeful shoot, pointing +straight to the zenith, like an admonishing finger. The leaves are +arranged in two horizontal rows along branchlets that commonly are less +than eight years old, forming handsome plumes, pinnated like the fronds +of ferns. The cones are grayish-green when ripe, cylindrical, from three +to four inches long, and one and a half to two inches wide, and stand +upright on the upper horizontal branches. Full-grown trees in favorable +situations are usually about 200 feet high and five or six feet in +diameter. As old age creeps on, the rough bark becomes rougher and +grayer, the branches lose their exact regularity of form, many that are +snow-bent are broken off and the axis often becomes double or otherwise +irregular from accidents to the terminal bud or shoot. Nevertheless, +throughout all the vicissitudes of its three or four centuries of life, +come what may, the noble grandeur of this species, however obscured, is +never lost. + +The magnificent Silver Fir, or California Red Fir (Abies magnifica) +is the most symmetrical of all the Sierra giants, far surpassing its +companion species in this respect and easily distinguished from it by +the purplish-red bark, which is also more closely furrowed than that +of the white, and by its larger cones, its more regularly whorled and +fronded branches, and its shorter leaves, which grow all around the +branches and point upward instead of being arranged in two horizontal +rows. The branches are mostly whorled in fives, and stand out from the +straight, red-purple bole in level, or in old trees in drooping collars, +every branch regularly pinnated like fern-fronds, making broad plumes, +singularly rich and sumptuous-looking. The flowers are in their prime +about the middle of June; the male red, growing on the underside of the +branches in crowded profusion, giving a very rich color to all the +trees; the female greenish-yellow, tinged with pink, standing erect on +the upper side of the topmost branches, while the tufts of young leaves, +about as brightly colored as those of the Douglas spruce, make another +grand show. The cones mature in a single season from the flowers. When +mature they are about six to eight inches long, three or four in +diameter, covered with a fine gray down and streaked and beaded with +transparent balsam, very rich and precious-looking, and stand erect like +casks on the topmost branches. The inside of the cone is, if possible, +still more beautiful. The scales and bracts are tinged with red and the +seed-wings are purple with bright iridescence. Both of the silver firs +live between two and three centuries when the conditions about them +are at all favorable. Some venerable patriarch may be seen heavily +storm-marked, towering in severe majesty above the rising generation, +with a protecting grove of hopeful saplings pressing close around his +feet, each dressed with such loving care that not a leaf seems wanting. +Other groups are made up of trees near the prime of life, nicely +arranged as if Nature had culled them with discrimination from all +the rest of the woods. It is from this tree, called Red Fir by the +lumbermen, that mountaineers cut boughs to sleep on when they are so +fortunate as to be within its limit. Two or three rows of the sumptuous +plushy-fronded branches, overlapping along the middle, and a crescent of +smaller plumes mixed to one's taste with ferns and flowers for a pillow, +form the very best bed imaginable. The essence of the pressed leaves +seems to fill every pore of one's body. Falling water makes a soothing +hush, while the spaces between the grand spires afford noble openings +through which to gaze dreamily into the starry sky. The fir woods are +fine sauntering-grounds at almost any time of the year, but finest in +autumn when the noble trees are hushed in the hazy light and drip with +balsam; and the flying, whirling seeds, escaping from the ripe cones, +mottle the air like flocks of butterflies. Even in the richest part of +these unrivaled forests where so many noble trees challenge admiration +we linger fondly among the colossal firs and extol their beauty again +and again, as if no other tree in the world could henceforth claim our +love. It is in these woods the great granite domes arise that are so +striking and characteristic a feature of the Sierra. Here, too, we find +the best of the garden-meadows full of lilies. A dry spot a little +way back from the margin of a silver fir lily-garden makes a glorious +camp-ground, especially where the slope is toward the east with a view +of the distant peaks along the summit of the Range. The tall lilies are +brought forward most impressively like visitors by the light of your +camp-fire and the nearest of the trees with their whorled branches tower +above you like larger lilies and the sky seen through the garden-opening +seems one vast meadow of white lily stars. + + +The Two-Leaved Pine + + +The Two-Leaved Pine (Pinus contorta, var. Murrayana), above the Silver +Fir zone, forms the bulk of the alpine forests up to a height of from +8000 to 9500 feet above the sea, growing in beautiful order on moraines +scarcely changed as yet by post-glacial weathering. Compared with the +giants of the lower regions this is a small tree, seldom exceeding a +height of eighty or ninety feet. The largest I ever measured was ninety +feet high and a little over six feet in diameter. The average height of +mature trees throughout the entire belt is probably not far from fifty +or sixty feet with a diameter of two feet. It is a well-proportioned, +rather handsome tree with grayish-brown bark and crooked, much-divided +branches which cover the greater part of the trunk, but not so densely +as to prevent it being seen. The lower limbs, like those of most other +conifers that grow in snowy regions, curve downward, gradually take a +horizontal position about half-way up the trunk, then aspire more and +more toward the summit. The short, rigid needles in fascicles of two are +arranged in comparatively long cylindrical tassels at the ends of the +tough up-curving branches. The cones are about two inches long, growing +in clusters among the needles without any striking effect except while +very young, when the flowers are of a vivid crimson color and the whole +tree appears to be dotted with brilliant flowers. The staminate flowers +are still more showy on account of their great abundance, often giving a +reddish-yellow tinge to the whole mass of foliage and filling the air +with pollen. No other pine on the Range is so regularly planted as this +one, covering moraines that extend along the sides of the high rocky +valleys for miles without interruption. The thin bark is streaked and +sprinkled with resin as though it had been showered upon the forest like +rain. + +Therefore this tree more than any other is subject to destruction by +fire. During strong winds extensive forests are destroyed, the flames +leaping from tree to tree in continuous belts that go surging and racing +onward above the bending wood like prairie-grass fires. During the +calm season of Indian summer the fire creeps quietly along the ground, +feeding on the needles and cones; arriving at the foot of a tree, the +resiny bark is ignited and the heated air ascends in a swift current, +increasing in velocity and dragging the flames upward. Then the leaves +catch forming an immense column of fire, beautifully spired on the edges +and tinted a rose-purple hue. It rushes aloft thirty or forty feet above +the top of the tree, forming a grand spectacle, especially at night. It +lasts, however, only a few seconds, vanishing with magical rapidity, to +be succeeded by others along the fire-line at irregular intervals, tree +after tree, upflashing and darting, leaving the trunks and branches +scarcely scarred. The heat, however, is sufficient to kill the tree and +in a few years the bark shrivels and falls off. Forests miles in extent +are thus killed and left standing, with the branches on, but peeled +and rigid, appearing gray in the distance like misty clouds. Later the +branches drop off, leaving a forest of bleached spars. At length the +roots decay and the forlorn gray trunks are blown down during some +storm and piled one upon another, encumbering the ground until, dry and +seasoned, they are consumed by another fire and leave the ground ready +for a fresh crop. + +In sheltered lake-hollows, on beds of alluvium, this pine varies so far +from the common form that frequently it could be taken for a distinct +species, growing in damp sods like grasses from forty to eighty feet +high, bending all together to the breeze and whirling in eddying gusts +more lively than any other tree in the woods. I frequently found +specimens fifty feet high less than five inches in diameter. Being so +slender and at the same time clad with leafy boughs, it is often bent +and weighed down to the ground when laden with soft snow; thus forming +fine ornamental arches, many of them to last until the melting of the +snow in the spring. + + +The Mountain Pine + + +The Mountain Pine (Pinus monticola) is the noblest tree of the alpine +zone--hardy and long-lived towering grandly above its companions and +becoming stronger and more imposing just where other species begin to +crouch and disappear. At its best it is usually about ninety feet high +and five or six feet in diameter, though you may find specimens here and +there considerably larger than this. It is as massive and suggestive of +enduring strength as an oak. About two-thirds of the trunk is commonly +free of limbs, but close, fringy tufts of spray occur nearly all the way +down to the ground. On trees that occupy exposed situations near its +upper limit the bark is deep reddish-brown and rather deeply furrowed, +the main furrows running nearly parallel to each other and connected on +the old trees by conspicuous cross-furrows. The cones are from four to +eight inches long, smooth, slender, cylindrical and somewhat curved. +They grow in clusters of from three to six or seven and become pendulous +as they increase in weight. This species is nearly related to the sugar +pine and, though not half so tall, it suggests its noble relative in the +way that it extends its long branches in general habit. It is first met +on the upper margin of the silver fir zone, singly, in what appears as +chance situations without making much impression on the general forest. +Continuing up through the forests of the two-leaved pine it begins to +show its distinguishing characteristic in the most marked way at an +elevation of about 10,000 feet extending its tough, rather slender arms +in the frosty air, welcoming the storms and feeding on them and reaching +sometimes to the grand old age of 1000 years. + + +The Western Juniper + + +The Juniper or Red Cedar (Juniperus occidentalis) is preeminently a +rock tree, occupying the baldest domes and pavements in the upper silver +fir and alpine zones, at a height of from 7000 to 9500 feet. In such +situations, rooted in narrow cracks or fissures, where there is scarcely +a handful of soil, it is frequently over eight feet in diameter and not +much more in height. The tops of old trees are almost always dead, and +large stubborn-looking limbs push out horizontally, most of them broken +and dead at the end, but densely covered, and imbedded here and there +with tufts or mounds of gray-green scalelike foliage. Some trees are +mere storm-beaten stumps about as broad as long, decorated with a few +leafy sprays, reminding one of the crumbling towers of old castles +scantily draped with ivy. Its homes on bare, barren dome and ridge-top +seem to have been chosen for safety against fire, for, on isolated +mounds of sand and gravel free from grass and bushes on which fire could +feed, it is often found growing tall and unscathed to a height of forty +to sixty feet, with scarce a trace of the rocky angularity and broken +limbs so characteristic a feature throughout the greater part of its +range. It never makes anything like a forest; seldom even a grove. +Usually it stands out separate and independent, clinging by slight +joints to the rocks, living chiefly on snow and thin air and maintaining +sound health on this diet for 2000 years or more. Every feature or every +gesture it makes expresses steadfast, dogged endurance. The bark is of +a bright cinnamon color and is handsomely braided and reticulated on +thrifty trees, flaking off in thin, shining ribbons that are sometimes +used by the Indians for tent matting. Its fine color and picturesqueness +are appreciated by artists, but to me the juniper seems a singularly +strange and taciturn tree. I have spent many a day and night in its +company and always have found it silent and rigid. It seems to be a +survivor of some ancient race, wholly unacquainted with its neighbors. +Its broad stumpiness, of course, makes wind-waving or even shaking out +of the question, but it is not this rocky rigidity that constitutes its +silence. In calm, sun-days the sugar pine preaches like an enthusiastic +apostle without moving a leaf. On level rocks the juniper dies standing +and wastes insensibly out of existence like granite, the wind exerting +about as little control over it, alive or dead, as is does over a +glacier boulder. + +I have spent a good deal of time trying to determine the age of these +wonderful trees, but as all of the very old ones are honey-combed with +dry rot I never was able to get a complete count of the largest. Some +are undoubtedly more than 2000 years old, for though on deep moraine +soil they grow about as fast as some of the pines, on bare pavements and +smoothly glaciated, overswept ridges in the dome region they grow very +slowly. One on the Starr King Ridge only two feet eleven inches in +diameter was 1140 years old forty years ago. Another on the same ridge, +only one foot seven and a half inches in diameter, had reached the age +of 834 years. The first fifteen inches from the bark of a medium-size +tree six feet in diameter, on the north Tenaya pavement, had 859 layers +of wood. Beyond this the count was stopped by dry rot and scars. The +largest examined was thirty-three feet in girth, or nearly ten feet in +diameter and, although I have failed to get anything like a complete +count, I learned enough from this and many other specimens to convince +me that most of the trees eight or ten feet thick, standing on +pavements, are more than twenty centuries old rather than less. Barring +accidents, for all I can see they would live forever; even then +overthrown by avalanches, they refuse to lie at rest, lean stubbornly +on their big branches as if anxious to rise, and while a single root +holds to the rock, put forth fresh leaves with a grim, never-say-die +expression. + + +The Mountain Hemlock + + +As the juniper is the most stubborn and unshakeable of trees in the +Yosemite region, the Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana) is the most +graceful and pliant and sensitive. Until it reaches a height of fifty or +sixty feet it is sumptuously clothed down to the ground with drooping +branches, which are divided again and again into delicate waving +sprays, grouped and arranged in ways that are indescribably beautiful, +and profusely adorned with small brown cones. The flowers also are +peculiarly beautiful and effective; the female dark rich purple, the +male blue, of so fine and pure a tone. What the best azure of the +mountain sky seems to be condensed in them. Though apparently the most +delicate and feminine of all the mountain trees, it grows best where +the snow lies deepest, at a height of from 9000 to 9500 feet, in +hollows on the northern slopes of mountains and ridges. But under all +circumstances, sheltered from heavy winds or in bleak exposure to them, +well fed or starved, even at its highest limit, 10,500 feet above the +sea, on exposed ridge-tops where it has to crouch and huddle close in +low thickets, it still contrives to put forth its sprays and branches in +forms of invincible beauty, while on moist, well-drained moraines it +displays a perfectly tropical luxuriance of foliage, flowers and fruit. +The snow of the first winter storm is frequently soft, and lodges in due +dense leafy branches, weighing them down against the trunk, and the +slender, drooping axis, bending lower and lower as the load increases, +at length reaches the ground, forming an ornamental arch. Then, as storm +succeeds storm and snow is heaped on snow, the whole tree is at last +buried, not again to see the light of day or move leaf or limb until set +free by the spring thaws in June or July. Not only the young saplings +are thus carefully covered and put to sleep in the whitest of white beds +for five or six months of the year, but trees thirty feet high or more. +From April to May, when the snow by repeated thawing and freezing is +firmly compacted, you may ride over the prostrate groves without seeing +a single branch or leaf of them. No other of our alpine conifers so +finely veils its strength; poised in thin, white sunshine, clad with +branches from head to foot, it towers in unassuming majesty, drooping +as if unaffected with the aspiring tendencies of its race, loving the +ground, conscious of heaven and joyously receptive of its blessings, +reaching out its branches like sensitive tentacles, feeling the light +and reveling in it. The largest specimen I ever found was nineteen +feet seven inches in circumference. It was growing on the edge of Lake +Hollow, north of Mount Hoffman, at an elevation of 9250 feet above the +level of the sea, and was probably about a hundred feet in height. Fine +groves of mature trees, ninety to a hundred feet in height, are growing +near the base of Mount Conness. It is widely distributed from near the +south extremity of the high Sierra northward along the Cascade Mountains +of Oregon and Washington and the coast ranges of British Columbia to +Alaska, where it was first discovered in 1827. Its northernmost limit, +so far as I have observed, is in the icy fiords of Prince William Sound +in latitude 61 degrees, where it forms pure forests at the level of the +sea, growing tall and majestic on the banks of glaciers. There, as in +the Yosemite region, it is ineffably beautiful, the very loveliest of +all the American conifers. + + +The White-Bark Pine + + +The Dwarf Pine, or White-Bark Pine (Pinus albicaulis), forms the extreme +edge of the timberline throughout nearly the whole extent of the Range +on both flanks. It is first met growing with the two-leaved pine on the +upper margin of the alpine belt, as an erect tree from fifteen to thirty +feet high and from one to two feet in diameter hence it goes straggling +up the flanks of the summit peaks, upon moraines or crumbling ledges, +wherever it can get a foothold, to an elevation of from 10,000 to 12,000 +feet, where it dwarfs to a mass of crumpled branches, covered with +slender shoots, each tipped with a short, close-packed, leaf tassel. The +bark is smooth and purplish, in some places almost white. The flowers +are bright scarlet and rose-purple, giving a very flowery appearance +little looked for in such a tree. The cones are about three inches long, +an inch and a half in diameter, grow in rigid clusters, and are dark +chocolate in color while young, and bear beautiful pearly-white seeds +about the size of peas, most of which are eaten by chipmunks and the +Clarke's crows. Pines are commonly regarded as sky-loving trees that +must necessarily aspire or die. This species forms a marked exception, +crouching and creeping in compliance with the most rigorous demands of +climate; yet enduring bravely to a more advanced age than many of its +lofty relatives in the sun-lands far below it. Seen from a distance it +would never be taken for a tree of any kind. For example, on Cathedral +Peak there is a scattered growth of this pine, creeping like mosses over +the roof, nowhere giving hint of an ascending axis. While, approached +quite near, it still appears matty and heathy, and one experiences no +difficulty in walking over the top of it, yet it is seldom absolutely +prostrate, usually attaining a height of three or four feet with a main +trunk, and with branches outspread above it, as if in ascending they +had been checked by a ceiling against which they had been compelled to +spread horizontally. The winter snow is a sort of ceiling, lasting half +the year; while the pressed surface is made yet smoother by violent +winds armed with cutting sand-grains that bear down any shoot which +offers to rise much above the general level, and that carve the dead +trunks and branches in beautiful patterns. + +During stormy nights I have often camped snugly beneath the interlacing +arches of this little pine. The needles, which have accumulated for +centuries, make fine beds, a fact well known to other mountaineers, such +as deer and wild sheep, who paw out oval hollows and lie beneath the +larger trees in safe and comfortable concealment. This lowly dwarf +reaches a far greater age than would be guessed. A specimen that I +examined, growing at an elevation of 10,700 feet, yet looked as though +it might be plucked up by the roots, for it was only three and a half +inches in diameter and its topmost tassel reached hardly three feet +above the ground. Cutting it half through and counting the annual rings +with the aid of a lens, I found its age to be no less than 255 years. +Another specimen about the same height, with a trunk six inches in +diameter, I found to be 426 years old, forty years ago; and one of its +supple branchlets hardly an eighth of an inch in diameter inside the +bark, was seventy-five years old, and so filled with oily balsam and +seasoned by storms that I tied it in knots like a whip-cord. + + +The Nut Pine + + +In going across the Range from the Tuolumne River Soda Springs to Mono +Lake one makes the acquaintance of the curious little Nut Pine (Pinus +monophylla). It dots the eastern flank of the Sierra to which it is +mostly restricted in grayish bush-like patches, from the margin of the +sage-plains to an elevation of from 7000 to 8000 feet. A more contented, +fruitful and unaspiring conifer could not be conceived. All the species +we have been sketching make departures more or less distant from the +typical spire form, but none goes so far as this. Without any apparent +cause it keeps near the ground, throwing out crooked, divergent branches +like an orchard apple-tree, and seldom pushes a single shoot higher than +fifteen or twenty feet above the ground. + +The average thickness of the trunk is, perhaps, about ten or twelve +inches. The leaves are mostly undivided, like round awls, instead of +being separated, like those of other pines, into twos and threes and +fives. The cones are green while growing, and are usually found over all +the tree, forming quite a marked feature as seen against the bluish-gray +foliage. They are quite small, only about two inches in length, and seem +to have but little space for seeds; but when we come to open them, we +find that about half the entire bulk of the cone is made up of sweet, +nutritious nuts, nearly as large as hazel-nuts. This is undoubtedly the +most important food-tree on the Sierra, and furnishes the Mona, Carson, +and Walker River Indians with more and better nuts than all the other +species taken together. It is the Indian's own tree, and many a white +man have they killed for cutting it down. Being so low, the cones are +readily beaten off with poles, and the nuts procured by roasting them +until the scales open. In bountiful seasons a single Indian may gather +thirty or forty bushels. + + + +Chapter 7 + +The Big Trees + + +Between the heavy pine and silver fir zones towers the Big Tree (Sequoia +gigantea), the king of all the conifers in the world, "the noblest of +the noble race." The groves nearest Yosemite Valley are about twenty +miles to the westward and southward and are called the Tuolumne, Merced +and Mariposa groves. It extends, a widely interrupted belt, from a very +small grove on the middle fork of the American River to the head of Deer +Creek, a distance of about 260 miles, its northern limit being near the +thirty-ninth parallel, the southern a little below the thirty-sixth. The +elevation of the belt above the sea varies from about 5000 to 8000 feet. +From the American River to Kings River the species occurs only in small +isolated groups so sparsely distributed along the belt that three of +the gaps in it are from forty to sixty miles wide. But from Kings River +south-ward the sequoia is not restricted to mere groves but extends +across the wide rugged basins of the Kaweah and Tule Rivers in noble +forests, a distance of nearly seventy miles, the continuity of this part +of the belt being broken only by the main canyons. The Fresno, the +largest of the northern groves, has an area of three or four square +miles, a short distance to the southward of the famous Mariposa grove. +Along the south rim of the canyon of the south fork of Kings River there +is a majestic sequoia forest about six miles long by two wide. This is +the northernmost group that may fairly be called a forest. Descending +the divide between the Kings and Kaweah Rivers you come to the grand +forests that form the main continuous portion of the belt. Southward +the giants become more and more irrepressibly exuberant, heaving their +massive crowns into the sky from every ridge and slope, waving onward in +graceful compliance with the complicated topography of the region. The +finest of the Kaweah section of the belt is on the broad ridge between +Marble Creek and the middle fork, and is called the Giant Forest. It +extends from the granite headlands, overlooking the hot San Joaquin +plains, to within a few miles of the cool glacial fountains of the +summit peaks. The extreme upper limit of the belt is reached between the +middle and south forks of the Kaweah at a height of 8400 feet, but the +finest block of big tree forests in the entire belt is on the north fork +of Tule River, and is included in the Sequoia National Park. + +In the northern groves there are comparatively few young trees or +saplings. But here for every old storm-beaten giant there are many in +their prime and for each of these a crowd of hopeful young trees and +saplings, growing vigorously on moraines, rocky edges, along water +courses and meadows. But though the area occupied by the big tree +increases so greatly from north to south, here is no marked increase +in the size of the trees. The height of 275 feet or thereabouts and a +diameter of about twenty feet, four feet from the ground is, perhaps, +about the average size of what may be called full-grown trees, where +they are favorably located. The specimens twenty-five feet in diameter +are not very rare and a few are nearly three hundred feet high. In +the Calaveras grove there are four trees over 300 feet in height, the +tallest of which as measured by the Geological Survey is 325 feet. The +very largest that I have yet met in the course of my explorations is +a majestic old fire-scarred monument in the Kings River forest. It is +thirty-five feet and eight inches in diameter inside the bark, four +feet above the ground. It is burned half through, and I spent a day +in clearing away the charred surface with a sharp ax and counting the +annual wood-rings with the aid of a pocket lens. I succeeded in laying +bare a section all the way from the outside to the heart and counted a +little over four thousand rings, showing that this tree was in its prime +about twenty-seven feet in diameter at the beginning of the Christian +era. No other tree in the world, as far as I know, has looked down on so +many centuries as the sequoia or opens so many impressive and suggestive +views into history. Under the most favorable conditions these giants +probably live 5000 years or more though few of even the larger trees are +half as old. The age of one that was felled in Calaveras grove, for the +sake of having its stump for a dancing-floor, was about 1300 years, and +its diameter measured across the stump twenty-four feet inside the bark. +Another that was felled in the Kings River forest was about the same +size but nearly a thousand years older (2200 years), though not a very +old-looking tree. + +So harmonious and finely balanced are even the mightiest of these +monarchs in all their proportions that there is never anything overgrown +or monstrous about them. Seeing them for the first time you are more +impressed with their beauty than their size, their grandeur being in +great part invisible; but sooner or later it becomes manifest to the +loving eye, stealing slowly on the senses like the grandeur of Niagara +or of the Yosemite Domes. When you approach them and walk around them +you begin to wonder at their colossal size and try to measure them. They +bulge considerably at the base, but not more than is required for beauty +and safety and the only reason that this bulging seems in some cases +excessive is that only a comparatively small section is seen in near +views. One that I measured in the Kings River forest was twenty-five +feet in diameter at the ground and ten feet in diameter 220 feet above +the ground showing the fineness of the taper of the trunk as a whole. No +description can give anything like an adequate idea of their singular +majesty, much less of their beauty. Except the sugar pine, most of their +neighbors with pointed tops seem ever trying to go higher, while the big +tree, soaring above them all, seems satisfied. Its grand domed head +seems to be poised about as lightly as a cloud, giving no impression +of seeking to rise higher. Only when it is young does it show like +other conifers a heavenward yearning, sharply aspiring with a long +quick-growing top. Indeed, the whole tree for the first century or +two, or until it is a hundred or one hundred and fifty feet high, is +arrowhead in form, and, compared with the solemn rigidity of age, seems +as sensitive to the wind as a squirrel's tail. As it grows older, the +lower branches are gradually dropped and the upper ones thinned out +until comparatively few are left. These, however, are developed to a +great size, divide again and again and terminate in bossy, rounded +masses of leafy branch-lets, while the head becomes dome-shaped, and is +the first to feel the touch of the rosy beams of the morning, the last +to bid the sun good night. Perfect specimens, unhurt by running fires or +lightning, are singularly regular and symmetrical in general form though +not in the least conventionalized, for they show extraordinary variety +in the unity and harmony of their general outline. The immensely strong, +stately shafts are free of limbs for one hundred end fifty feet or so +The large limbs reach out with equal boldness a every direction, showing +no weather side, and no other tree has foliage so densely massed, so +finely molded in outline and so perfectly subordinate to an ideal type. +A particularly knotty, angular, ungovernable-looking branch, from five +to seven or eight feet in diameter and perhaps a thousand years old, +may occasionally be seen pushing out from the trunk as if determined to +break across the bounds of the regular curve, but like all the others +it dissolves in bosses of branchlets and sprays as soon as the general +outline is approached. Except in picturesque old age, after being struck +by lightning or broken by thousands of snow-storms, the regularity of +forms is one of their most distinguishing characteristics. Another is +the simple beauty of the trunk and its great thickness as compared with +its height and the width of the branches, which makes them look more +like finely modeled and sculptured architectural columns than the stems +of trees, while the great limbs look like rafters, supporting the +magnificent dome-head. But though so consummately beautiful, the big +tree always seems unfamiliar, with peculiar physiognomy, awfully solemn +and earnest; yet with all its strangeness it impresses us as being more +at home than any of its neighbors, holding the best right to the ground +as the oldest strongest inhabitant. One soon becomes acquainted with new +species of pine and fir and spruce as with friendly people, shaking +their outstretched branches like shaking hands and fondling their little +ones, while the venerable aboriginal sequoia, ancient of other days, +keeps you at a distance, looking as strange in aspect and behavior among +its neighbor trees as would the mastodon among the homely bears and +deers. Only the Sierra juniper is at all like it, standing rigid and +unconquerable on glacier pavements for thousands of years, grim and +silent, with an air of antiquity about as pronounced as that of the +sequoia. + +The bark of the largest trees is from one to two feet thick, rich +cinnamon brown, purplish on young trees, forming magnificent masses +of color with the underbrush. Toward the end of winter the trees are +in bloom, while the snow is still eight or ten feet deep. The female +flowers are about three-eighths of an inch long, pale green, and grow +in countless thousands on the ends of sprays. The male are still more +abundant, pale yellow, a fourth of an inch long and when the pollen is +ripe they color the whole tree and dust the air and the ground. The +cones are bright grass-green in color, about two and a half inches long, +one and a half wide, made up of thirty or forty strong, closely-packed, +rhomboidal scales, with four to eight seeds at the base of each. The +seeds are wonderfully small end light, being only from an eighth to a +fourth of an inch long and wide, including a filmy surrounding wing, +which causes them to glint and waver in falling and enables the wind to +carry them considerable distances. Unless harvested by the squirrels, +the cones discharge their seed and remain on the tree for many years. In +fruitful seasons the trees are fairly laden. On two small branches one +and a half and two inches in diameter I counted 480 cones. No other +California conifer produces nearly so many seeds, except, perhaps, the +other sequoia, the Redwood of the Coast Mountains. Millions are ripened +annually by a single tree, and in a fruitful year the product of one of +the northern groves would be enough to plant all the mountain ranges in +the world. + +As soon as any accident happens to the crown, such as being smashed off +by lightning, the branches beneath the wound, no matter how situated, +seem to be excited, like a colony of bees that have lost their queen, +and become anxious to repair the damage. Limbs that have grown outward +for centuries at right angles to the trunk begin to turn upward to +assist in making a new crown, each speedily assuming the special form of +true summits. Even in the case of mere stumps, burned half through, some +mere ornamental tuft will try to go aloft and do its best as a leader +in forming a new head. Groups of two or three are often found standing +close together, the seeds from which they sprang having probably grown +on ground cleared for their reception by the fall of a large tree of a +former generation. They are called "loving couples," "three graces," +etc. When these trees are young they are seen to stand twenty or thirty +feet apart, by the time they are full-grown their trunks will touch and +crowd against each other and in some cases even appear as one. + +It is generally believed that the sequoia was once far more widely +distributed over the Sierra; but after long and careful study I have +come to the conclusion that it never was, at least since the close of +the glacial period, because a diligent search along the margins of the +groves, and in the gaps between fails to reveal a single trace of its +previous existence beyond its present bounds. Notwithstanding, I feel +confident that if every sequoia in the Range were to die today, numerous +monuments of their existence would remain, of so imperishable a nature +as to be available for the student more than ten thousand years hence. + +In the first place, no species of coniferous tree in the Range keeps +its members so well together as the sequoia; a mile is, perhaps, the +greatest distance of any straggler from the main body, and all of those +stragglers that have come under my observation are young, instead of old +monumental trees, relics of a more extended growth. + +Again, the great trunks of the sequoia last for centuries after they +fall. I have a specimen block of sequoia wood, cut from a fallen tree, +which is hardly distinguishable from a similar section cut from a living +tree, although the one cut from the fallen trunk has certainly lain on +the damp forest floor more than 380 years, probably thrice as long. The +time-measure in the case is simply this: When the ponderous trunk to +which the old vestige belonged fell, it sunk itself into the ground, +thus making a long, straight ditch, and in the middle of this ditch a +silver fir four feet in diameter and 380 years old was growing, as I +determined by cutting it half through and counting the rings, thus +demonstrating that the remnant of the trunk that made the ditch has lain +on the ground _more_ than 380 years. For it is evident that, to find +the whole time, we must add to the 380 years the time that the vanished +portion of the trunk lay in the ditch before being burned out of the +way, plus the time that passed before the seed from which the monumental +fir sprang fell into the prepared soil and took root. Now, because +sequoia trunks are never wholly consumed in one forest fire, and those +fires recur only at considerable intervals, and because sequoia ditches +after being cleared are often left unplanted for centuries, it becomes +evident that the trunk-remnant in question may probably have lain a +thousand years or more. And this instance is by no means a late one. + +Again, admitting that upon those areas supposed to have been once +covered with sequoia forests, every tree may have fallen, and every +trunk may have been burned or buried, leaving not a remnant, many of the +ditches made by the fall of the ponderous trunks, and the bowls made by +their upturning roots, would remain patent for thousands of years after +the last vestige of the trunks that made them had vanished. Much of this +ditch-writing would no doubt be quickly effaced by the flood-action of +overflowing streams and rain-washing; but no inconsiderable portion +would remain enduringly engraved on ridge-tops beyond such destructive +action; for, where all the conditions are favorable, it is almost +imperishable. Now these historic ditches and root-bowls occur in all the +present sequoia groves and forests, but, as far as I have observed, not +the faintest vestige of one presents itself outside of them. + +We therefore conclude that the area covered by sequoia has not been +diminished during the last eight or ten thousand years, and probably not +at all in post-glacial time. Nevertheless, the questions may be asked: +Is the species verging toward extinction? What are its relations to +climate, soil, and associated trees? + +All the phenomena bearing on these questions also throw light, as we +shall endeavor to show, upon the peculiar distribution of the species, +and sustain the conclusion already arrived at as to the question of +former extension. In the northern groups, as we have seen, there are +few young trees or saplings growing up around the old ones to perpetuate +the race, and inasmuch as those aged sequoias, so nearly childless, +are the only ones commonly known the species, to most observers, seems +doomed to speedy extinction, as being nothing more than an expiring +remnant, vanquished in the so-called struggle for life by pines and firs +that have driven it into its last strongholds in moist glens where the +climate is supposed to be exceptionally favorable. But the story told by +the majestic continuous forests of the south creates a very different +impression. No tree in the forest is more enduringly established in +concordance with both climate and soil. It grows heartily everywhere--on +moraines, rocky ledges, along watercourses, and in the deep, moist +alluvium of meadows with, as we have seen, a multitude of seedlings and +saplings crowding up around the aged, abundantly able to maintain the +forest in prime vigor. So that if all the trees of any section of the +main sequoia forest were ranged together according to age, a very +promising curve would be presented, all the way up from last year's +seedlings to giants, and with the young and middle-aged portion of the +curve many times longer than the old portion. Even as far north as the +Fresno, I counted 536 saplings and seedlings, growing promisingly upon +a landslip not exceeding two acres in area. This soil-bed was about +seven years old, and had been seeded almost simultaneously by pines, +firs, libocedrus, and sequoia, presenting a simple and instructive +illustration of the struggle for life among the rival species; and it +was interesting to note that the conditions thus far affecting them have +enabled the young sequoias to gain a marked advantage. Toward the south +where the sequoia becomes most exuberant and numerous, the rival trees +become less so; and where they mix with sequoias they grow up beneath +them like slender grasses among stalks of Indian corn. Upon a bed of +sandy floodsoil I counted ninety-four sequoias, from one to twelve feet +high, on a patch of ground once occupied by four large sugar pines which +lay crumbling beneath them--an instance of conditions which have enabled +sequoias to crowd out the pines. I also noted eighty-six vigorous +saplings upon a piece of fresh ground prepared for their reception by +fire. Thus fire, the great destroyer of the sequoia, also furnishes the +bare ground required for its growth from the seed. Fresh ground is, +however, furnished in sufficient quantities for the renewal of the +forests without the aid of fire--by the fall of old trees. The soil is +thus upturned and mellowed, and many trees are planted for every one +that falls. + +It is constantly asserted in a vague way that the Sierra was vastly +wetter than now, and that the increasing drought will of itself +extinguish the sequoia, leaving its ground to other trees supposed +capable of flourishing in a drier climate. But that the sequoia can and +does grow on as dry ground as any of its present rivals is manifest in +a thousand places. "Why, then," it will be asked, "are sequoias always +found only in well-watered places?" Simply because a growth of sequoias +creates those streams. The thirsty mountaineer knows well that in every +sequoia grove he will find running water, but it is a mistake to suppose +that the water is the cause of the grove being there; on the contrary, +the grove is the cause of the water being there. Drain off the water +and the trees will remain, but cut off the trees, and the streams will +vanish. Never was cause more completely mistaken for effect than in the +case of these related phenomena of sequoia woods and perennial streams. + +When attention is called to the method of sequoia stream-making, it will +be apprehended at once. The roots of this immense tree fill the ground, +forming a thick sponge that absorbs and holds back the rain and melting +snow, only allowing it to ooze and flow gently. Indeed, every fallen +leaf and rootlet, as well as long clasping root, and prostrate trunk, +may be regarded as a dam hoarding the bounty of storm-clouds, and +dispensing it as blessings all through the summer, instead of allowing +it to go headlong in short-lived floods. + +Since, then, it is a fact that thousands of sequoias are growing +thriftily on what is termed dry ground, and even clinging like mountain +pines to rifts in granite precipices, and since it has also been shown +that the extra moisture found in connection with the denser growths is +an effect of their presence, instead of a cause of their presence, then +the notions as to the former extension of the species and its near +approach to extinction, based upon its supposed dependence on greater +moisture, are seen to be erroneous. + +The decrease in rain and snowfall since the close of the glacial period +in the Sierra is much less than is commonly guessed. The highest +post-glacial water-marks are well preserved in all the upper river +channels, and they are not greatly higher than the spring flood-marks +of the present; showing conclusively that no extraordinary decrease +has taken place in the volume of the upper tributaries of post-glacial +Sierra streams since they came into existence. But, in the meantime, +eliminating all this complicated question of climatic change, the plain +fact remains that the present rain and snowfall is abundantly sufficient +for the luxuriant growth of sequoia forests. Indeed, all my observations +tend to show that in a prolonged drought the sugar pines and firs would +perish before the sequoia, not alone because of the greater longevity of +individual trees, but because the species can endure more drought, and +make the most of whatever moisture falls. + +Again, if the restriction and irregular distribution of the species be +interpreted as a result of the desiccation of the Range, then instead of +increasing as it does in individuals toward the south where the rainfall +is less, it should diminish. If, then, the peculiar distribution of +sequoia has not been governed by superior conditions of soil as to +fertility or moisture, by what has it been governed? + +In the course of my studies I observed that the northern groves, the +only ones I was at first acquainted with, were located on just those +portions of the general forest soil-belt that were first laid bare +toward the close of the glacial period when the ice-sheet began to break +up into individual glaciers. And while searching the wide basin of the +San Joaquin, and trying to account for the absence of sequoia where +every condition seemed favorable for its growth, it occurred to me that +this remarkable gap in the sequoia belt fifty miles wide is located +exactly in the basin of the vast, ancient mer de glace of the San +Joaquin and Kings River basins which poured its frozen floods to the +plain through this gap as its channel. I then perceived that the next +great gap in the belt to the northward, forty miles wide, extending +between the Calaveras and Tuolumne groves, occurs in the basin of the +great ancient mer de glace of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus basins; and +that the smaller gap between the Merced and Mariposa groves occurs in +the basin of the smaller glacier of the Merced. The wider the ancient +glacier, the wider the corresponding gap in the sequoia belt. + +Finally, pursuing my investigations across the basins of the Kaweah +and Tule, I discovered that the sequoia belt attained its greatest +development just where, owing to the topographical peculiarities of the +region, the ground had been best protected from the main ice-rivers that +continued to pour past from the summit fountains long after the smaller +local glaciers had been melted. + +Taking now a general view of the belt, beginning at the south we see +that the majestic ancient glaciers were shed off right and left down the +valleys of Kern and Kings Rivers by the lofty protective spurs outspread +embracingly above the warm sequoia-filled basins of the Kaweah and Tule. +Then, next northward, occurs the wide sequoia-less channel, or basin of +the ancient San Joaquin and sings River mer de glace; then the warm, +protected spots of Fresno and Mariposa groves; then the sequoia-less +channel of the ancient Merced glacier; next the warm, sheltered ground +of the Merced and Tuolumne groves; then the sequoia-less channel of the +grand ancient mer de glace of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus; then the +warm old ground of the Calaveras and Stanislaus groves. It appears, +therefore, that just where, at a certain period in the history of the +Sierra, the glaciers were not, there the sequoia is, and just where the +glaciers were, there the sequoia is not. + +But although all the observed phenomena bearing on the post-glacial +history of this colossal tree point to the conclusion that it never was +more widely distributed on the Sierra since the close of the glacial +epoch; that its present forests are scarcely past prime, if, indeed, +they have reached prime; that the post-glacial day of the species +is probably not half done; yet, when from a wider outlook the vast +antiquity of the genus is considered, and its ancient richness in +species and individuals,--comparing our Sierra Giant and Sequoia +sempervirens of the Coast Range, the only other living species of +sequoia, with the twelve fossil species already discovered and described +by Heer and Lesquereux, some of which flourished over vast areas in the +Arctic regions and in Europe and our own territories, during tertiary +and cretaceous times--then, indeed, it becomes plain that our two +surviving species, restricted to narrow belts within the limits of +California, are mere remnants of the genus, both as to species and +individuals, and that they may be verging to extinction. But the verge +of a period beginning in cretaceous times may have a breadth of tens of +thousands of years, not to mention the possible existence of conditions +calculated to multiply and re-extend both species and individuals. + +There is no absolute limit to the existence of any tree. Death is due to +accidents, not, as that of animals, to the wearing out of organs. Only +the leaves die of old age. Their fall is foretold in their structure; +but the leaves are renewed every year, and so also are the essential +organs wood, roots, bark, buds. Most of the Sierra trees die of disease, +insects, fungi, etc., but nothing hurts the big tree. I never saw one +that was sick or showed the slightest sign of decay. Barring accidents, +it seems to be immortal. It is a curious fact that all the very old +sequoias had lost their heads by lightning strokes. "All things come to +him who waits." But of all living things, sequoia is perhaps the only +one able to wait long enough to make sure of being struck by lightning. + +So far as I am able to see at present only fire and the ax threaten the +existence of these noblest of God's trees. In Nature's keeping they +are safe, but through the agency of man destruction is making rapid +progress, while in the work of protection only a good beginning has been +made. The Fresno grove, the Tuolumne, Merced and Mariposa groves are +under the protection of the Federal Government in the Yosemite National +Park. So are the General Grant and Sequoia National Parks; the latter, +established twenty-one years ago, has an area of 240 square miles and is +efficiently guarded by a troop of cavalry under the direction of the +Secretary of the Interior; so also are the small General Grant National +Park, estatblished at the same time with an area of four square miles, +and the Mariposa grove, about the same size and the small Merced and +Tuolumne group. Perhaps more than half of all the big trees have been +thoughtlessly sold and are now in the hands of speculators and mill men. +It appears, therefore, that far the largest and important section of +protected big trees is in the great Sequoia National Park, now easily +accessible by rail to Lemon Cove and thence by a good stage road into +the giant forest of the Kaweah and thence by rail to other parts of the +park; but large as it is it should be made much larger. Its natural +eastern boundary is the High Sierra and the northern and southern +boundaries are the Kings and Kern Rivers. Thus could be included +the sublime scenery on the headwaters of these rivers and perhaps +nine-tenths of all the big trees in existence. All private claims +within these bounds should be gradually extinguished by purchase by the +Government. The big tree, leaving all its higher uses out of the count, +is a tree of life to the dwellers of the plain dependent on irrigation, +a never-failing spring, sending living waters to the lowland. For every +grove cut down a stream is dried up. Therefore all California is crying, +"Save the trees of the fountains." Nor, judging by the signs of the +times, is it likely that the cry will cease until the salvation of all +that is left of Sequoia gigantea is made sure. + + + +Chapter 8 + +The Flowers + + +Yosemite was all one glorious flower garden before plows and scythes and +trampling, biting horses came to make its wide open spaces look like +farmers' pasture fields. Nevertheless, countless flowers still bloom +every year in glorious profusion on the grand talus slopes, wall benches +and tablets, and in all the fine, cool side-canyons up to the rim of the +Valley, and beyond, higher and higher, to the summits of the peaks. Even +on the open floor and in easily-reached side-nooks many common flowering +plants have survived and still make a brave show in the spring and early +summer. Among these we may mention tall oenotheras, Pentstemon lutea, +and P. Douglasii with fine blue and red flowers; Spraguea, scarlet +zauschneria, with its curious radiant rosettes characteristic of the +sandy flats; mimulus, eunanus, blue and white violets, geranium, +columbine, erythraea, larkspur, collomia, draperia, gilias, heleniums, +bahia, goldenrods, daisies, honeysuckle; heuchera, bolandra, saxifrages, +gentians; in cool canyon nooks and on Clouds' Rest and the base of Starr +King Dome you may find Primula suffrutescens, the only wild primrose +discovered in California, and the only known shrubby species in the +genus. And there are several fine orchids, habenaria, and cypripedium, +the latter very rare, once common in the Valley near the foot of Glacier +Point, and in a bog on the rim of the Valley near a place called +Gentry's Station, now abandoned. It is a very beautiful species, the +large oval lip white, delicately veined with purple; the other petals +and the sepals purple, strap-shaped, and elegantly curled and twisted. + +Of the lily family, fritillaria, smilacina, chlorogalum and several +fine species of brodiaea, Ithuriel's spear, and others less prized are +common, and the favorite calochortus, or Mariposa lily, a unique genus +of many species, something like the tulips of Europe but far finer. Most +of them grow on the warm foothills below the Valley, but two charming +species, C. coeruleus and C. nudus, dwell in springy places on the +Wawona road a few miles beyond the brink of the walls. + +The snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) is more admired by tourists than any +other in California. It is red, fleshy and watery and looks like a +gigantic asparagus shoot. Soon after the snow is off the round it rises +through the dead needles and humus in the pine and fir woods like a +bright glowing pillar of fire. In a week or so it grows to a height of +eight or twelve inches with a diameter of an inch and a half or two +inches; then its long fringed bracts curl aside, allowing the twenty- or +thirty-five-lobed, bell-shaped flowers to open and look straight out +from the axis. It is said to grow up through the snow; on the contrary, +it always waits until the ground is warm, though with other early +flowers it is occasionally buried or half-buried for a day or two +by spring storms. The entire plant--flowers, bracts, stem, scales, +and roots--is fiery red. Its color could appeal to one's blood. +Nevertheless, it is a singularly cold and unsympathetic plant. Everybody +admires it as a wonderful curiosity, but nobody loves it as lilies, +violets, roses, daisies are loved. Without fragrance, it stands beneath +the pines and firs lonely and silent, as if unacquainted with any other +plant in the world; never moving in the wildest storms; rigid as if +lifeless, though covered with beautiful rosy flowers. + +Far the most delightful and fragrant of the Valley flowers is the +Washington lily, white, moderate in size, with from three- to +ten-flowered racemes. I found one specimen in the lower end of the +Valley at the foot of the Wawona grade that was eight feet high, the +raceme two feet long, with fifty-two flowers, fifteen of them open; +the others had faded or were still in the bud. This famous lily is +distributed over the sunny portions of the sugar-pine woods, never in +large meadow-garden companies like the large and the small tiger lilies +(pardalinum and parvum), but widely scattered, standing up to the waist +in dense ceanothus and manzanita chaparral, waving its lovely flowers +above the blooming wilderness of brush, and giving their fragrance to +the breeze. It is now becoming scarce in the most accessible parts of +its range on account of the high price paid for its bulbs by gardeners +through whom it has been distributed far and wide over the flower-loving +world. For, on account of its pure color and delicate, delightful +fragrance, all lily lovers at once adopted it as a favorite. + +The principal shrubs are manzanita and ceanothus, several species of +each, azalea, Rubus nutkanus, brier rose, choke-cherry philadelphus, +calycanthus, garrya, rhamnus, etc. + +The manzanita never fails to attract particular attention. The +species common in the Valley is usually about six or seven feet high, +round-headed with innumerable branches, red or chocolate-color bark, +pale green leaves set on edge, and a rich profusion of small, pink, +narrow-throated, urn-shaped flowers, like those of arbutus. The knotty, +crooked, angular branches are about as rigid as bones, and the red bark +is so thin and smooth on both trunk and branches, they look as if they +had been peeled and polished and painted. In the spring large areas +on the mountain up to a height of eight or nine thousand feet are +brightened with the rosy flowers, and in autumn with their red fruit. +The pleasantly acid berries, about the size of peas, look like little +apples, and a hungry mountaineer is glad to eat them, though half their +bulk is made up of hard seeds. Indians, bears, coyotes, foxes, birds and +other mountain people live on them for weeks and months. The different +species of ceanothus usually associated with manzanita are flowery +fragrant and altogether delightful shrubs, growing in glorious +abundance, not only in the Valley, but high up in the forest on sunny or +half-shaded ground. In the sugar-pine woods the most beautiful species +is C. integerrimus, often called Californian lilac, or deer brush. It +is five or six feet high with slender branches, glossy foliage, and +abundance of blue flowers in close, showy panicles. Two species, C. +prostrates and C. procumbens, spread smooth, blue-flowered mats and +rugs beneath the pines, and offer fine beds to tired mountaineers. The +commonest species, C. cordulatus, is most common in the silver-fir +woods. It is white-flowered and thorny, and makes dense thickets of +tangled chaparral, difficult to wade through or to walk over. But it is +pressed flat every winter by ten or fifteen feet of snow. The western +azalea makes glorious beds of bloom along the river bank and meadows. +In the Valley it is from two to five feet high, has fine green leaves, +mostly hidden beneath its rich profusion of large, fragrant white and +yellow flowers, which are in their prime in June, July and August, +according to the elevation, ranging from 3000 to 6000 feet. Near the +azalea-bordered streams the small wild rose, resembling R. blanda, +makes large thickets deliciously fragrant, especially on a dewy morning +and after showers. Not far from these azalea and rose gardens, Rubus +nutkanus covers the ground with broad, soft, velvety leaves, and +pure-white flowers as large as those of its neighbor and relative, the +rose, and much finer in texture, followed at the end of summer by soft +red berries good for everybody. This is the commonest and the most +beautiful of the whole blessed, flowery, fruity Rubus genus. + +There are a great many interesting ferns in the Valley and about +it. Naturally enough the greater number are rock ferns--pellaea, +cheilanthes, polypodium, adiantum, woodsia, cryptogramma, etc., with +small tufted fronds, lining cool glens and fringing the seams of the +cliffs. The most important of the larger species are woodwardia, +aspidium, asplenium, and, above all, the common pteris. Woodwardia +radicans is a superb, broad-shouldered fern five to eight feet high, +growing in vase-shaped clumps where tile ground is nearly level and on +some of the benches of the north wall of the Valley where it is watered +by a broad trickling stream. It thatches the sloping rocks, frond +overlapping frond like roof shingles. The broad-fronded, hardy Pteris +aquilina, the commonest of ferns, covers large areas on the floor of +the Valley. No other fern does so much for the color glory of autumn, +with its browns and reds and yellows, even after lying dead beneath +the snow all winter. It spreads a rich brown mantle over the desolate +ground in the spring before the grass has sprouted, and at the first +touch of sun-heat its young fronds come rearing up full of faith and +hope through the midst of the last year's ruins. + +Of the five species of pellaea, P. Breweri is the hardiest as to +enduring high altitudes and stormy weather and at the same time it is +the most fragile of the genus. It grows in dense tufts in the clefts of +storm-beaten rocks, high up on the mountain-side on the very edge of the +fern line. It is a handsome little fern about four or five inches high, +has pale-green pinnate fronds, and shining bronze-colored stalks about +as brittle as glass. Its companions on the lower part of its range are +Cryptogramma acrostichoides and Phegopteris alpestris, the latter with +soft, delicate fronds, not in the least like those of Rock fern, though +it grows on the rocks where the snow lies longest. Pellaea Bridgesii, +with blue-green, narrow, simply-pinnate fronds, is about the same size +as Breweri and ranks next to it as a mountaineer, growing in fissures, +wet or dry, and around the edges of boulders that are resting on glacier +pavements with no fissures whatever. About a thousand feet lower we +find the smaller, more abundant P. densa on ledges and boulder-strewn, +fissured pavements, watered until late in summer from oozing currents, +derived from lingering snowbanks. It is, or rather was, extremely +abundant between the foot of the Nevada and the head of the Vernal Fall, +but visitors with great industry have dug out almost every root, so that +now one has to scramble in out-of-the-way places to find it. The three +species of Cheilanthes in the Valley--C. californica, C. gracillima, and +myriophylla, with beautiful two-to-four-pinnate fronds, an inch to five +inches long, adorn the stupendous walls however dry and sheer. The +exceedingly delicate californica is so rare that I have found it only +once. The others are abundant and are sometimes accompanied by the +little gold fern, Gymnogramme triangularis, and rarely by the curious +little Botrychium simplex, some of them less than an inch high. The +finest of all the rock ferns is Adiantum pedatum, lover of waterfalls +and the finest spray-dust. The homes it loves best are over-leaning, +cave-like hollows, beside the larger falls, where it can wet its fingers +with their dewy spray. Many of these moss-lined chambers contain +thousands of these delightful ferns, clinging to mossy walls by the +slightest hold, reaching out their delicate finger-fronds on dark, +shining stalks, sensitive and tremulous, throbbing in unison with every +movement and tone of the falling water, moving each division of the +frond separately at times, as if fingering the music. + +May and June are the main bloom-months of the year. Both the flowers +and falls are then at their best. By the first of August the midsummer +glories of the Valley are past their prime. The young birds are then out +of their nests. Most of the plants have gone to seed; berries are ripe; +autumn tints begin to kindle and burn over meadow and grove, and a soft +mellow haze in the morning sunbeams heralds the approach of Indian +summer. The shallow river is now at rest, its flood-work done. It is now +but little more than a series of pools united by trickling, whispering +currents that steal softly over brown pebbles and sand with scarce an +audible murmur. Each pool has a character of its own and, though they +are nearly currentless, the night air and tree shadows keep them cool. +Their shores curve in and out in bay and promontory, giving the +appearance of miniature lakes, their banks in most places embossed with +brier and azalea, sedge and grass and fern; and above these in their +glory of autumn colors a mingled growth of alder, willow, dogwood and +balm-of-Gilead; mellow sunshine overhead, cool shadows beneath; light +filtered and strained in passing through the ripe leaves like that which +passes through colored windows. The surface of the water is stirred, +perhaps, by whirling water-beetles, or some startled trout, seeking +shelter beneath fallen logs or roots. The falls, too, are quiet; no wind +stirs, and the whole Valley floor is a mosaic of greens and purples, +yellows and reds. Even the rocks seem strangely soft and mellow, as if +they, too, had ripened. + + + +Chapter 9 + +The Birds + + +The songs of the Yosemite winds and waterfalls are delightfully enriched +with bird song, especially in the nesting time of spring and early +summer. The most familiar and best known of all is the common robin, who +may be seen every day, hopping about briskly on the meadows and uttering +his cheery, enlivening call. The black-headed grosbeak, too, is here, +with the Bullock oriole, and western tanager, brown song-sparrow, hermit +thrush, the purple finch,--a fine singer, with head and throat of a +rosy-red hue,--several species of warblers and vireos, kinglets, +flycatchers, etc. + +But the most wonderful singer of all the birds is the water-ouzel that +dives into foaming rapids and feeds at the bottom, holding on in a +wonderful way, living a charmed life. + +Several species of humming-birds are always to be seen, darting and +buzzing among the showy flowers. The little red-bellied nuthatches, the +chickadees, and little brown creepers, threading the furrows of the bark +of the pines, searching for food in the crevices. The large Steller's +jay makes merry in the pine-tops; flocks of beautiful green swallows +skim over the streams, and the noisy Clarke's crow may oftentimes be +seen on the highest points around the Valley; and in the deep woods +beyond the walls you may frequently hear and see the dusky grouse and +the pileated woodpecker, or woodcock almost as large as a pigeon. The +junco or snow-bird builds its nest on the floor of the Valley among the +ferns; several species of sparrow are common and the beautiful lazuli +bunting, a common bird in the underbrush, flitting about among the +azalea and ceanothus bushes and enlivening the groves with his brilliant +color; and on gravelly bars the spotted sandpiper is sometimes seen. +Many woodpeckers dwell in the Valley; the familiar flicker, the Harris +woodpecker and the species which so busily stores up acorns in the thick +bark of the yellow pines. + +The short, cold days of winter are also sweetened with the music and +hopeful chatter of a considerable number of birds. No cheerier choir +ever sang in snow. First and best of all is the water-ouzel, a dainty, +dusky little bird about the size of a robin, that sings in sweet fluty +song all winter and all summer, in storms and calms, sunshine and +shadow, haunting the rapids and waterfalls with marvelous constancy, +building his nest in the cleft of a rock bathed in spray. He is not +web-footed, yet he dives fearlessly into foaming rapids, seeming to take +the greater delight the more boisterous the stream, always as cheerful +and calm as any linnet in a grove. All his gestures as he flits about +amid the loud uproar of the falls bespeak the utmost simplicity and +confidence--bird and stream one and inseparable. What a pair! yet they +are well related. A finer bloom than the foam bell in an eddying pool +is this little bird. We may miss the meaning of the loud-resounding +torrent, but the flute-like voice of the bird--only love is in it. + +A few robins, belated on their way down from the upper Meadows, linger +in the Valley and make out to spend the winter in comparative comfort, +feeding on the mistletoe berries that grow on the oaks. In the depths +of the great forests, on the high meadows, in the severest altitudes, +they seem as much at home as in the fields and orchards about the busy +habitations of man, ascending the Sierra as the snow melts, following +the green footsteps of Spring, until in July or August the highest +glacier meadows are reached on the summit of the Range. Then, after the +short summer is over, and their work in cheering and sweetening these +lofty wilds is done, they gradually make their way down again in accord +with the weather, keeping below the snow-storms, lingering here and +there to feed on huckleberries and frost-nipped wild cherries growing +on the upper slopes. Thence down to the vineyards and orchards of the +lowlands to spend the winter; entering the gardens of the great towns +as well as parks and fields, where the blessed wanderers are too often +slaughtered for food--surely a bad use to put so fine a musician to; +better make stove wood of pianos to feed the kitchen fire. + +The kingfisher winters in the Valley, and the flicker and, of course, +the carpenter woodpecker, that lays up large stores of acorns in the +bark of trees; wrens also, with a few brown and gray linnets, and flocks +of the arctic bluebird, making lively pictures among the snow-laden +mistletoe bushes. Flocks of pigeons are often seen, and about six +species of ducks, as the river is never wholly frozen over. Among these +are the mallard and the beautiful woodduck, now less common on account +of being so often shot at. Flocks of wandering geese used to visit the +Valley in March and April, and perhaps do so still, driven down by +hunger or stress of weather while on their way across the Range. When +pursued by the hunters I have frequently seen them try to fly over the +walls of Lee Valley until tired out and compelled to re-alight. Yosemite +magnitudes seem to be as deceptive to geese as to men, for after +circling to a considerable height and forming regular harrow-shaped +ranks they would suddenly find themselves in danger of being dashed +against the face of the cliff, much nearer the bottom than the top. Then +turning in confusion with loud screams they would try again and again +until exhausted and compelled to descend. I have occasionally observed +large flocks on their travels crossing the summits of the Range at a +height of 12,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, and even in +so rare an atmosphere as this they seemed to be sustaining themselves +without extra effort. Strong, however, as they are of wind and wing, +they cannot fly over Yosemite walls, starting from the bottom. + +A pair of golden eagles have lived in the Valley ever since I first +visited it, hunting all winter along the northern cliffs and down the +river canyon. Their nest is on a ledge of the cliff over which pours +the Nevada Fall. Perched on the top of a dead spar, they were always +interested observers of the geese when they were being shot at. I once +noticed one of the geese compelled to leave the flock on account of +being sorely wounded, although it still seemed to fly pretty well. +Immediately the eagles pursued it and no doubt struck it down, although +I did not see the result of the hunt. Anyhow, it flew past me up the +Valley, closely pursued. + +One wild, stormy winter morning after five feet of snow had fallen on +the floor of the Valley and the flying flakes driven by a strong wind +still thickened the air, making darkness like the approach of night, I +sallied forth to see what I might learn and enjoy. It was impossible +to go very far without the aid of snow-shoes, but I found no great +difficulty in making my way to a part of the river where one of my +ouzels lived. I found him at home busy about his breakfast, apparently +unaware of anything uncomfortable in the weather. Presently he flew out +to a stone against which the icy current was beating, and turning his +back to the wind, sang as delightfully as a lark in springtime. + +After spending an hour or two with my favorite, I made my way across the +Valley, boring and wallowing through the loose snow, to learn as much +as possible about the way the other birds were spending their time. In +winter one can always find them because they are then restricted to the +north side of the Valley, especially the Indian Canyon groves, which +from their peculiar exposure are the warmest. + +I found most of the robins cowering on the lee side of the larger +branches of the trees, where the snow could not fall on them, while two +or three of the more venturesome were making desperate efforts to get at +the mistletoe berries by clinging to the underside of the snow-crowned +masses, back downward, something like woodpeckers. Every now and then +some of the loose snow was dislodged and sifted down on the hungry +birds, sending them screaming back to their companions in the grove, +shivering and muttering like cold, hungry children. + +Some of the sparrows were busy scratching and pecking at the feet of +the larger trees where the snow had been shed off, gleaning seeds +and benumbed insects, joined now and then by a robin weary of his +unsuccessful efforts to get at the snow-covered mistletoe berries. The +brave woodpeckers were clinging to the snowless sides of the larger +boles and overarching branches of the camp trees, making short flights +from side to side of the grove, pecking now and then at the acorns they +had stored in the bark, and chattering aimlessly as if unable to keep +still, evidently putting in the time in a very dull way. The hardy +nuthatches were threading the open furrows of the barks in their usual +industrious manner and uttering their quaint notes, giving no evidence +of distress. The Steller's jays were, of course, making more noise and +stir than all the other birds combined; ever coming and going with +loud bluster, screaming as if each had a lump of melting sludge in his +throat, and taking good care to improve every opportunity afforded by +the darkness and confusion of the storm to steal from the acorn stores +of the woodpeckers. One of the golden eagles made an impressive picture +as he stood bolt upright on the top of a tall pine-stump, braving the +storm, with his back to the wind and a tuft of snow piled on his broad +shoulders, a monument of passive endurance. Thus every storm-bound bird +seemed more or less uncomfortable, if not in distress. The storm was +reflected in every gesture, and not one cheerful note, not to say song, +came from a single bill. Their cowering, joyless endurance offered +striking contrasts to the spontaneous, irrepressible gladness of the +ouzel, who could no more help giving out sweet song than a rose sweet +fragrance. He must sing, though the heavens fall. + + + +Chapter 10 + +The South Dome + + +With the exception of a few spires and pinnacles, the South Dome is +the only rock about the Valley that is strictly inaccessible without +artificial means, and its inaccessibility is expressed in severe terms. +Nevertheless many a mountaineer, gazing admiringly, tried hard to +invent a way to the top of its noble crown--all in vain, until in the +year 1875, George Anderson, an indomitable Scotchman, undertook the +adventure. The side facing Tenaya Canyon is an absolutely vertical +precipice from the summit to a depth of about 1600 feet, and on the +opposite side it is nearly vertical for about as great a depth. The +southwest side presents a very steep and finely drawn curve from the top +down a thousand feet or more, while on the northeast, where it is united +with the Clouds' Rest Ridge, one may easily reach a point called the +Saddle, about seven hundred feet below the summit. From the Saddle the +Dome rises in a graceful curve a few degrees too steep for unaided +climbing, besides being defended by overleaning ends of the concentric +dome layers of the granite. + +A year or two before Anderson gained the summit, John Conway, the master +trail-builder of the Valley, and his little sons, who climbed smooth +rocks like lizards, made a bold effort to reach the top by climbing +barefooted up the grand curve with a rope which they fastened at +irregular intervals by means of eye-bolts driven into joints of the +rock. But finding that the upper part would require laborious drilling, +they abandoned the attempt, glad to escape from the dangerous position +they had reached, some 300 feet above the Saddle. Anderson began with +Conway's old rope, which had been left in place, and resolutely drilled +his way to the top, inserting eye-bolts five to six feet apart, and +making his rope fast to each in succession, resting his feet on the +last bolt while he drilled a hole for the next above. Occasionally some +irregularity in the curve, or slight foothold, would enable him to climb +a few feet without a rope, which he would pass and begin drilling again, +and thus the whole work was accomplished in a few days. From this +slender beginning he proposed to construct a substantial stairway which +he hoped to complete in time for the next year's travel, but while busy +getting out timber for his stairway and dreaming of the wealth he hoped +to gain from tolls, he was taken sick and died all alone in his little +cabin. + +On the 10th of November, after returning from a visit to Mount Shasta, a +month or two after Anderson had gained the summit, I made haste to the +Dome, not only for the pleasure of climbing, but to see what I might +learn. The first winter storm-clouds had blossomed and the mountains and +all the high points about the Valley were mantled in fresh snow. I was, +therefore, a little apprehensive of danger from the slipperiness of the +rope and the rock. Anderson himself tried to prevent me from making +the attempt, refusing to believe that any one could climb his rope in +the now-muffled condition in which it then was. Moreover, the sky was +overcast and solemn snow-clouds began to curl around the summit, and +my late experiences on icy Shasta came to mind. But reflecting that I +had matches in my pocket, and that a little firewood might be found, I +concluded that in case of a storm the night could be spent on the Dome +without suffering anything worth minding, no matter what the clouds +might bring forth. I therefore pushed on and gained the top. + +It was one of those brooding, changeful days that come between Indian +summer and winter, when the leaf colors have grown dim and the clouds +come and go among the cliffs like living creatures looking for work: now +hovering aloft, now caressing rugged rock-brows with great gentleness, +or, wandering afar over the tops of the forests, touching the spires of +fir and pine with their soft silken fringes as if trying to tell the +glad news of the coming of snow. + +The first view was perfectly glorious. A massive cloud of pure pearl +luster, apparently as fixed and calm as the meadows and groves in the +shadow beneath it, was arched across the Valley from wall to wall, one +end resting on the grand abutment of El Capitan, the other on Cathedral +Rock. A little later, as I stood on the tremendous verge overlooking +Mirror Lake, a flock of smaller clouds, white as snow, came from the +north, trailing their downy skirts over the dark forests, and entered +the Valley with solemn god-like gestures through Indian Canyon and over +the North Dome and Royal Arches, moving swiftly, yet with majestic +deliberation. On they came, nearer and nearer, gathering and massing +beneath my feet and filling the Tenaya Canyon. Then the sun shone free, +lighting the pearly gray surface of the cloud-like sea and making it +glow. Gazing, admiring, I was startled to see for the first time the +rare optical phenomenon of the "Specter of the Brocken." My shadow, +clearly outlined, about half a mile long, lay upon this glorious white +surface with startling effect. I walked back and forth, waved my arms +and struck all sorts of attitudes, to see every slightest movement +enormously exaggerated. Considering that I have looked down so many +times from mountain tops on seas of all sorts of clouds, it seems +strange that I should have seen the "Brocken Specter" only this once. +A grander surface and a grander stand-point, however, could hardly +have been found in all the Sierra. + +After this grand show the cloud-sea rose higher, wreathing the Dome, and +for a short time submerging it, making darkness like night, and I began +to think of looking for a camp ground in a cluster of dwarf pines. But +soon the sun shone free again, the clouds, sinking lower and lower, +gradually vanished, leaving the Valley with its Indian-summer colors +apparently refreshed, while to the eastward the summit-peaks, clad in +new snow, towered along the horizon in glorious array. + +Though apparently it is perfectly bald, there are four clumps of pines +growing on the summit, representing three species, Pinus albicaulis, +P. contorta and P. ponderosa, var. Jeffreyi--all three, of course, +repressed and storm-beaten. The alpine spiraea grows here also and +blossoms profusely with potentilla, erigeron, eriogonum, pentstemon, +solidago, and an interesting species of onion, and four or five species +of grasses and sedges. None of these differs in any respect from those +of other summits of the same height, excepting the curious little +narrow-leaved, waxen-bulbed onion, which I had not seen elsewhere. + +Notwithstanding the enthusiastic eagerness of tourists to reach the +crown of the Dome the views of the Valley from this lofty standpoint are +less striking than from many other points comparatively low, chiefly on +account of the foreshortening effect produced by looking down from so +great a height. The North Dome is dwarfed almost beyond recognition, +the grand sculpture of the Royal Arches is scarcely noticeable, and the +whole range of walls on both sides seem comparatively low, especially +when the Valley is flooded with noon sunshine; while the Dome itself, +the most sublime feature of all the Yosemite views, is out of sight +beneath one's feet. The view of Little Yosemite Valley is very fine, +though inferior to one obtained from the base of the Starr King Cone, +but the summit landscapes towards Mounts Ritter, Lyell, Dana, Conness, +and the Merced Group, are very effective and complete. + +No one has attempted to carry out Anderson's plan of making the Dome +accessible. For my part I should prefer leaving it in pure wildness, +though, after all, no great damage could be done by tramping over it. +The surface would be strewn with tin cans and bottles, but the winter +gales would blow the rubbish away. Avalanches might strip off any sort +of stairway or ladder that might be built. Blue jays and Clark's crows +have trodden the Dome for many a day, and so have beetles and chipmunks, +and Tissiack would hardly be more "conquered" or spoiled should man be +added to her list of visitors. His louder scream and heavier scrambling +would not stir a line of her countenance. + +When the sublime ice-floods of the glacial period poured down the flank +of the Range over what is now Yosemite Valley, they were compelled to +break through a dam of domes extending across from Mount Starr King to +North Dome; and as the period began to draw near a close the shallowing +ice-currents were divided and the South Dome was, perhaps, the first to +emerge, burnished and shining like a mirror above the surface of the icy +sea; and though it has sustained the wear and tear of the elements tens +of thousands of years, it yet remains a telling monument of the action +of the great glaciers that brought it to light. Its entire surface is +still covered with glacial hieroglyphics whose interpretation is the +reward of all who devoutly study them. + + + +Chapter 11 + +The Ancient Yosemite Glaciers: +How the Valley Was Formed + + +All California has been glaciated, the low plains and valleys as well +as the mountains. Traces of an ice-sheet, thousands of feet in thickness, +beneath whose heavy folds the present landscapes have been molded, may +be found everywhere, though glaciers now exist only among the peaks of +the High Sierra. No other mountain chain on this or any other of the +continents that I have seen is so rich as the Sierra in bold, striking, +well-preserved glacial monuments. Indeed, every feature is more or +less tellingly glacial. Not a peak, ridge, dome, canyon, yosemite, +lake-basin, stream or forest will you see that does not in some way +explain the past existence and modes of action of flowing, grinding, +sculpturing, soil-making, scenery-making ice. For, notwithstanding the +post-glacial agents--the air, rain, snow, frost, river, avalanche, +etc.--have been at work upon the greater portion of the Range for tens +of thousands of stormy years, each engraving its own characters more +and more deeply over those of the ice, the latter are so enduring and +so heavily emphasized, they still rise in sublime relief, clear and +legible, through every after-inscription. The landscapes of North +Greenland, Antarctica, and some of those of our own Alaska, are still +being fashioned beneath a slow-crawling mantle of ice, from a quarter +of a mile to probably more than a mile in thickness, presenting noble +illustrations of the ancient condition of California, when its sublime +scenery lay hidden in process of formation. On the Himalaya, the +mountains of Norway and Switzerland, the Caucasus, and on most of those +of Alaska, their ice-mantle has been melted down into separate glaciers +that flow river-like through the valleys, illustrating a similar past +condition in the Sierra, when every canyon and valley was the channel +of an ice-stream, all of which may be easily traced back to their +fountains, where some sixty-five or seventy of their topmost residual +branches still linger beneath protecting mountain shadows. + +The change from one to another of those glacial conditions was slow as +we count time. When the great cycle of snow years, called the Glacial +Period, was nearly complete in California, the ice-mantle, wasting from +season to season faster than it was renewed, began to withdraw from the +lowlands and gradually became shallower everywhere. Then the highest +of the Sierra domes and dividing ridges, containing distinct glaciers +between them, began to appear above the icy sea. These first river-like +glaciers remained united in one continuous sheet toward the summit of +the Range for many centuries. But as the snow-fall diminished, and the +climate became milder, this upper part of the ice-sheet was also in +turn separated into smaller distinct glaciers, and these again into +still smaller ones, while at the same time all were growing shorter and +shallower, though fluctuations of the climate now and then occurred +that brought their receding ends to a standstill, or even enabled them +to advance for a few tens or hundreds of years. + +Meanwhile, hardy, home-seeking plants and animals, after long waiting, +flocked to their appointed places, pushing bravely on higher and higher, +along every sun-warmed slope, closely following the retreating ice, +which, like shreds of summer clouds, at length vanished from the +new-born mountains, leaving them in all their main, telling features +nearly as we find them now. + +Tracing the ways of glaciers, learning how Nature sculptures +mountain-waves in making scenery-beauty that so mysteriously influences +every human being, is glorious work. + +The most striking and attractive of the glacial phenomena in the upper +Yosemite region are the polished glacier pavements, because they are so +beautiful, and their beauty is of so rare a kind, so unlike any portion +of the loose, deeply weathered lowlands where people make homes and earn +their bread. They are simply flat or gently undulating areas of hard +resisting granite, which present the unchanged surface upon which with +enormous pressure the ancient glaciers flowed. They are found in most +perfect condition in the subalpine region, at an elevation of from eight +thousand to nine thousand feet. Some are miles in extent, only slightly +interrupted by spots that have given way to the weather, while the best +preserved portions reflect the sunbeams like calm water or glass, and +shine as if polished afresh every day, notwithstanding they have been +exposed to corroding rains, dew, frost, and snow measureless thousands +of years. + +The attention of wandering hunters and prospectors, who see so many +mountain wonders, is seldom commanded by other glacial phenomena, +moraines however regular and artificial-looking, canyons however deep +or strangely modeled, rocks however high; but when they come to these +shining pavements they stop and stare in wondering admiration, kneel +again and again to examine the brightest spots, and try hard to account +for their mysterious shining smoothness. They may have seen the winter +avalanches of snow descending in awful majesty through the woods, +scouring the rocks and sweeping away like weeds the trees that stood +in their way, but conclude that this cannot be the work of avalanches, +because the scratches and fine polished strife show that the agent, +whatever it was, moved along the sides of high rocks and ridges and up +over the tops of them as well as down their slopes. Neither can they see +how water may possibly have been the agent, for they find the same +strange polish upon ridges and domes thousands of feet above the reach +of any conceivable flood. Of all the agents of whose work they know +anything, only the wind seems capable of moving across the face of the +country in the directions indicated by the scratches and grooves. The +Indian name of Lake Tenaya is "Pyweak"--the lake of shining rocks. One +of the Yosemite tribe, Indian Tom, came to me and asked if I could tell +him what had made the Tenaya rocks so smooth. Even dogs and horses, when +first led up the mountains, study geology to this extent that they gaze +wonderingly at the strange brightness of the ground and smell it, and +place their feet cautiously upon it as if afraid of falling or sinking. + +In the production of this admirable hard finish, the glaciers in many +places flowed with a pressure of more than a thousand tons to the square +yard, planing down granite, slate, and quartz alike, and bringing out +the veins and crystals of the rocks with beautiful distinctness. Over +large areas below the sources of the Tuolumne and Merced the granite is +porphyritic; feldspar crystals in inch or two in length in many places +form the greater part of the rock, and these, when planed off level with +the general surface, give rise to a beautiful mosaic on which the happy +sunbeams plash and glow in passionate enthusiasm. Here lie the brightest +of all the Sierra landscapes. The Range both to the north and south of +this region was, perhaps, glaciated about as heavily, but because the +rocks are less resisting, their polished surfaces have mostly given way +to the weather, leaving only small imperfect patches. The lower remnants +of the old glacial surface occur at an elevation of from 3000 to 5000 +feet above the sea level, and twenty to thirty miles below the axis of +the Range. The short, steeply inclined canyons of the eastern flank also +contain enduring, brilliantly striated and polished rocks, but these are +less magnificent than those of the broad western flank. + +One of the best general views of the brightest and best of the Yosemite +park landscapes that every Yosemite tourist should see, is to be had +from the top of Fairview Dome, a lofty conoidal rock near Cathedral Peak +that long ago I named the Tuolumne Glacier Monument, one of the most +striking and best preserved of the domes. Its burnished crown is about +1500 feet above the Tuolumne Meadows and 10,000 above the sea. At first +sight it seems inaccessible, though a good climber will find it may +be scaled on the south side. About half-way up you will find it so +steep that there is danger of slipping, but feldspar crystals, two or +three inches long, of which the rock is full, having offered greater +resistance to atmospheric erosion than the mass of the rock in which +they are imbedded, have been brought into slight relief in some places, +roughening the surface here and there, and affording helping footholds. + +The summit is burnished and scored like the sides and base, the +scratches and strife indicating that the mighty Tuolumne Glacier swept +over it as if it were only a mere boulder in the bottom of its channel. +The pressure it withstood must have been enormous. Had it been less +solidly built it would have been carried away, ground into moraine +fragments, like the adjacent rock in which it lay imbedded; for, great +as it is, it is only a hard residual knot like the Yosemite domes, +brought into relief by the removal of less resisting rock about it; +an illustration of the survival of the strongest and most favorably +situated. + +Hardly less wonderful is the resistance it has offered to the trying +mountain weather since first its crown rose above the icy sea. The whole +quantity of post-glacial wear and tear it has suffered has not degraded +it a hundredth of an inch, as may readily be shown by the polished +portions of the surface. A few erratic boulders, nicely poised on its +crown, tell an interesting story. They came from the summit-peaks twelve +miles away, drifting like chips on the frozen sea, and were stranded +here when the top of the monument merged from the ice, while their +companions, whose positions chanced to be above the slopes of the sides +where they could not find rest, were carried farther on by falling back +on the shallowing ice current. + +The general view from the summit consists of a sublime assemblage of +ice-born rocks and mountains, long wavering ridges, meadows, lakes, and +forest-covered moraines, hundreds of square miles of them. The lofty +summit-peaks rise grandly along the sky to the east, the gray pillared +slopes of the Hoffman Range toward the west, and a billowy sea of +shining rocks like the Monument, some of them almost as high and which +from their peculiar sculpture seem to be rolling westward in the middle +ground, something like breaking waves. Immediately beneath you are the +Big Tuolumne Meadows, smooth lawns with large breadths of woods on +either side, and watered by the young Tuolumne River, rushing cool and +clear from its many snow- and ice-fountains. Nearly all the upper part +of the basin of the Tuolumne Glacier is in sight, one of the greatest +and most influential of all the Sierra ice-rivers. Lavishly flooded by +many a noble affluent from the ice-laden flanks of Mounts Dana, Lyell, +McClure, Gibbs, Conness, it poured its majestic outflowing current full +against the end of the Hoffman Range, which divided and deflected it to +right and left, just as a river of water is divided against an island +in the middle of its channel. Two distinct glaciers were thus formed, +one of which flowed through the great Tuolumne Canyon and Hetch Hetchy +Valley, while the other swept upward in a deep current two miles wide +across the divide, five hundred feet high between the basins of the +Tuolumne and Merced, into the Tenaya Basin, and thence down through the +Tenaya Canyon and Yosemite. + +The map-like distinctness and freshness of this glacial landscape cannot +fail to excite the attention of every beholder, no matter how little of +its scientific significance may be recognized. These bald, +westward-leaning rocks, with their rounded backs and shoulders toward +the glacier fountains of the summit-mountains, and their split, angular +fronts looking in the opposite direction, explain the tremendous +grinding force with which the ice-flood passed over them, and also the +direction of its flow. And the mountain peaks around the sides of the +upper general Tuolumne Basin, with their sharp unglaciated summits and +polished rounded sides, indicate the height to which the glaciers rose; +while the numerous moraines, curving and swaying in beautiful lines, +mark the boundaries of the main trunk and its tributaries as they +existed toward the close of the glacial winter. None of the commerical +highways of the land or sea, marked with buoys and lamps, fences, and +guide-boards, is so unmistakably indicated as are these broad, shining +trails of the vanished Tuolumne Glacier and its far-reaching +tributaries. + +I should like now to offer some nearer views of a few characteristic +specimens of these wonderful old ice-streams, though it is not easy to +make a selection from so vast a system intimately inter-blended. The +main branches of the Merced Glacier are, perhaps, best suited to our +purpose, because their basins, full of telling inscriptions, are the +ones most attractive and accessible to the Yosemite visitors who like to +look beyond the valley walls. They number five, and may well be called +Yosemite glaciers, since they were the agents Nature used in developing +and fashioning the grand Valley. The names I have given them are, +beginning with the northern-most, Yosemite Creek, Hoffman, Tenaya, South +Lyell, and Illilouette Glaciers. These all converged in admirable poise +around from northeast to southeast, welded themselves together into the +main Yosemite Glacier, which, grinding gradually deeper, swept down +through the Valley, receiving small tributaries on its way from the +Indian, Sentinel, and Pohono Canyons; and at length flowed out of the +Valley, and on down the Range in a general westerly direction. At the +time that the tributaries mentioned above were well defined as to their +boundaries, the upper portion of the valley walls, and the highest rocks +about them, such as the Domes, the uppermost of the Three Brothers and +the Sentinel, rose above the surface of the ice. But during the Valley's +earlier history, all its rocks, however lofty, were buried beneath a +continuous sheet, which swept on above and about them like the wind, the +upper portion of the current flowing steadily, while the lower portion +went mazing and swedging down in the crooked and dome-blocked canyons +toward the head of the Valley. + +Every glacier of the Sierra fluctuated in width and depth and length, +and consequently in degree of individuality, down to the latest +glacial days. It must, therefore, be borne in mind that the following +description of the Yosemite glaciers applies only to their separate +condition, and to that phase of their separate condition that they +presented toward the close of the glacial period after most of their +work was finished, and all the more telling features of the Valley and +the adjacent region were brought into relief. + +The comparatively level, many-fountained Yosemite Creek Glacier was +about fourteen miles in length by four or five in width, and from five +hundred to a thousand feet deep. Its principal tributaries, drawing +their sources from the northern spurs of the Hoffman Range, at first +pursued a westerly course; then, uniting with each other, and a series +of short affluents from the western rim of the basin, the trunk thus +formed swept around to the southward in a magnificent curve, and poured +its ice over the north wall of Yosemite in cascades about two miles +wide. This broad and comparatively shallow glacier formed a sort of +crawling, wrinkled ice-cloud, that gradually became more regular in +shape and river-like as it grew older. Encircling peaks began to +overshadow its highest fountains, rock islets rose here and there amid +its ebbing currents, and its picturesque banks, adorned with domes and +round-backed ridges, extended in massive grandeur down to the brink of +the Yosemite walls. + +In the meantime the chief Hoffman tributaries, slowly receding to the +shelter of the shadows covering their fountains, continued to live and +work independently, spreading soil, deepening lake-basins and giving +finishing touches to the sculpture in general. At length these also +vanished, and the whole basin is now full of light. Forests flourish +luxuriantly upon its ample moraines, lakes and meadows shine and bloom +amid its polished domes, and a thousand gardens adorn the banks of its +streams. + +It is to the great width and even slope of the Yosemite Creek Glacier +that we owe the unrivaled height and sheerness of the Yosemite Falls. +For had the positions of the ice-fountains and the structure of the +rocks been such as to cause down-thrusting concentration of the Glacier +as it approached the Valley, then, instead of a high vertical fall we +should have had a long slanting cascade, which after all would perhaps +have been as beautiful and interesting, if we only had a mind to see +it so. + +The short, comparatively swift-flowing Hoffman Glacier, whose fountains +extend along the south slopes of the Hoffman Range, offered a striking +contrast to the one just described. The erosive energy of the latter was +diffused over a wide field of sunken, boulder-like domes and ridges. The +Hoffman Glacier, on the contrary moved right ahead on a comparatively +even surface, making descent of nearly five thousand feet in five miles, +steadily contracting and deepening its current, and finally united with +the Tenaya Glacier as one of its most influential tributaries in the +development and sculpture of the great Half Dome, North Dome and the +rocks adjacent to them about the head of the Valley. + +The story of its death is not unlike that of its companion already +described, though the declivity of its channel, and its uniform exposure +to sun-heat prevented any considerable portion of its current from +becoming torpid, lingering only well up on the Mountain slopes to finish +their sculpture and encircle them with a zone of moraine soil for +forests and gardens. Nowhere in all this wonderful region will you find +more beautiful trees and shrubs and flowers covering the traces of ice. + +The rugged Tenaya Glacier wildly crevassed here and there above the +ridges it had to cross, instead of drawing its sources direct from the +summit of the Range, formed, as we have seen, one of the outlets of the +great Tuolumne Glacier, issuing from this noble fountain like a river +from a lake, two miles wide, about fourteen miles long, and from 1500 +to 2000 feet deep. + +In leaving the Tuolumne region it crossed over the divide, as mentioned +above, between the Tuolumne and Tenaya basins, making an ascent of five +hundred feet. Hence, after contracting its wide current and receiving +a strong affluent from the fountains about Cathedral Peak, it poured +its massive flood over the northeastern rim of its basin in splendid +cascades. Then, crushing heavily against the Clouds' Rest Ridge, it bore +down upon the Yosemite domes with concentrated energy. + +Toward the end of the ice period, while its Hoffman companion continued +to grind rock-meal for coming plants, the main trunk became torpid, +and vanished, exposing wide areas of rolling rock-waves and glistening +pavements, on whose channelless surface water ran wild and free. And +because the trunk vanished almost simultaneously throughout its whole +extent, no terminal moraines are found in its canyon channel; nor, since +its walls are, in most places, too steeply inclined to admit of the +deposition of moraine matter, do we find much of the two main laterals. +The lowest of its residual glaciers lingered beneath the shadow of the +Yosemite Half Dome; others along the base of Coliseum Peak above Lake +Tenaya and along the precipitous wall extending from the lake to the +Big Tuolumne Meadows. The latter, on account of the uniformity and +continuity of their protecting shadows, formed moraines of considerable +length and regularity that are liable to be mistaken for portions of +the left lateral of the Tuolumne tributary glacier. + +Spend all the time you can spare or steal on the tracks of this grand +old glacier, charmed and enchanted by its magnificent canyon, lakes and +cascades and resplendent glacier pavements. + +The Nevada Glacier was longer and more symmetrical than the last, and +the only one of the Merced system whose sources extended directly back +to the main summits on the axis of the Range. Its numerous fountains +were ranged side by side in three series, at an elevation of from 10,000 +to 12,000 feet above the sea. The first, on the right side of the basin, +extended from the Matterhorn to Cathedral Peak; that on the left through +the Merced group, and these two parallel series were united by a third +that extended around the head of the basin in a direction at right +angles to the others. + +The three ranges of high peaks and ridges that supplied the snow for +these fountains, together with the Clouds' Rest Ridge, nearly inclose a +rectangular basin, that was filled with a massive sea of ice, leaving +an outlet toward the west through which flowed the main trunk glacier, +three-fourths of a mile to a mile and a half wide, fifteen miles long, +and from 1000 to 1500 feet deep, and entered Yosemite between the Half +Dome and Mount Starr King. + +Could we have visited Yosemite Valley at this period of its history, we +should have found its ice cascades vastly more glorious than their tiny +water representatives of the present day. One of the grandest of these +was formed by that portion of the Nevada Glacier that poured over the +shoulder of the Half Dome. + +This glacier, as a whole, resembled an oak, with a gnarled swelling base +and wide-spreading branches. Picturesque rocks of every conceivable form +adorned its banks, among which glided the numerous tributaries, mottled +with black and red and gray boulders, from the fountain peaks, while +ever and anon, as the deliberate centuries passed away, dome after dome +raised its burnished crown above the ice-flood to enrich the slowly +opening landscapes. + +The principal moraines occur in short irregular sections along the sides +of the canyons, their fragmentary condition being due to interruptions +caused by portions of the sides of the canyon walls being too steep for +moraine matter to lie on, and to down-sweeping torrents and avalanches. +The left lateral of the trunk may be traced about five miles from the +mouth of the first main tributary to the Illilouette Canyon. The +corresponding section of the right lateral, extending from Cathedral +tributary to the Half Dome, is more complete because of the more +favorable character of the north side of the canyon. A short +side-glacier came in against it from the slopes of Clouds' Rest; but +being fully exposed to the sun, it was melted long before the main +trunk, allowing the latter to deposit this portion of its moraine +undisturbed. Some conception of the size and appearance of this fine +moraine may be gained by following the Clouds' Rest trail from Yosemite, +which crosses it obliquely and conducts past several sections made by +streams. Slate boulders may be seen that must have come from the Lyell +group, twelve miles distant. But the bulk of the moraine is composed +of porphyritic granite derived from Feldspar and Cathedral Valleys. + +On the sides of the moraines we find a series of terraces, indicating +fluctuations in the level of the glacier, caused by variations of +snow-fall, temperature, etc., showing that the climate of the glacial +period was diversified by cycles of milder or stormier seasons similar +to those of post-glacial time. + +After the depth of the main trunk diminished to about five hundred feet, +the greater portion became torpid, as is shown by the moraines, and +lay dying in its crooked channel like a wounded snake, maintaining for +a time a feeble squirming motion in places of exceptional depth, or +where the bottom of the canyon was more steeply inclined. The numerous +fountain-wombs, however, continued fruitful long after the trunk had +vanished, giving rise to an imposing array of short residual glaciers, +extending around the rim of the general basin a distance of nearly +twenty-four miles. Most of these have but recently succumbed to the new +climate, dying in turn as determined by elevation, size, and exposure, +leaving only a few feeble survivors beneath the coolest shadows, which +are now slowly completing the sculpture of one of the noblest of the +Yosemite basins. + +The comparatively shallow glacier that at this time filled the +Illilouette Basin, though once far from shallow, more resembled a lake +than a river of ice, being nearly half as wide as it was long. Its +greatest length was about ten miles, and its depth perhaps nowhere much +exceeded 1000 feet. Its chief fountains, ranged along the west side of +the Merced group, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, gave birth to +fine tributaries that flowed in a westerly direction, and united in the +center of the basin. The broad trunk at first poured northwestward, then +curved to the northward, deflected by the lofty wall forming its western +bank, and finally united with the grand Yosemite trunk, opposite Glacier +Point. + +All the phenomena relating to glacial action in this basin are +remarkably simple and orderly, on account of the sheltered positions +occupied by its ice-fountains, with reference to the disturbing effects +of larger glaciers from the axis of the main Range earlier in the +period. From the eastern base of the Starr King cone you may obtain +a fine view of the principal moraines sweeping grandly out into the +middle of the basin from the shoulders of the peaks, between which the +ice-fountains lay. The right lateral of the tributary, which took its +rise between Red and Merced Mountains, measures two hundred and fifty +feet in height at its upper extremity, and displays three well-defined +terraces, similar to those of the south Lyell Glacier. The comparative +smoothness of the upper-most terrace shows that it is considerably more +ancient than the others, many of the boulders of which it is composed +having crumbled. A few miles to the westward, this moraine has an +average slope of twenty-seven degrees, and an elevation above the bottom +of the channel of six hundred and sixty feet. Near the middle of the +main basin, just where the regularly formed medial and lateral moraines +flatten out and disappear, there is a remarkably smooth field of gravel, +planted with arctostaphylos, that looks at the distance of a mile like +a delightful meadow. Stream sections show the gravel deposit to be +composed of the same material as the moraines, but finer, and more +water-worn from the action of converging torrents issuing from the +tributary glaciers after the trunk was melted. The southern boundary of +the basin is a strikingly perfect wall, gray on the top, and white down +the sides and at the base with snow, in which many a crystal brook takes +rise. The northern boundary is made up of smooth undulating masses of +gray granite, that lift here and there into beautiful domes of which +the Starr King cluster is the finest, while on the east tower of the +majestic fountain-peaks with wide canyons and neve amphitheaters between +them, whose variegated rocks show out gloriously against the sky. + +The ice-plows of this charming basin, ranged side by side in orderly +gangs, furrowed the rocks with admirable uniformity, producing +irrigating channels for a brood of wild streams, and abundance of rich +soil adapted to every requirement of garden and grove. No other section +of the Yosemite uplands is in so perfect a state of glacial cultivation. +Its domes and peaks, and swelling rock-waves, however majestic in +themselves, and yet submissively subordinate to the garden center. The +other basins we have been describing are combinations of sculptured +rocks, embellished with gardens and groves; the Illilouette is one grand +garden and forest, embellished with rocks, each of the five beautiful +in its own way, and all as harmoniously related as are the five petals +of a flower. After uniting in the Yosemite Valley, and expending the +down-thrusting energy derived from their combined weight and the +declivity of their channels, the grand trunk flowed on through and out +of the Valley. In effecting its exit a considerable ascent was made, +traces of which may still be seen on the abraded rocks at the lower end +of the Valley, while the direction pursued after leaving the Valley is +surely indicated by the immense lateral moraines extending from the +ends of the walls at an elevation of from 1500 to 1800 feet. The right +lateral moraine was disturbed by a large tributary glacier that occupied +the basin of Cascade Creek, causing considerable complication in its +structure. The left is simple in form for several miles of its length, +or to the point where a tributary came in from the southeast. But both +are greatly obscured by the forests and underbrush growing upon them, +and by the denuding action of rains and melting snows, etc. It is, +therefore, the less to be wondered at that these moraines, made up of +material derived from the distant fountain-mountains, and from the +Valley itself, were not sooner recognized. + +The ancient glacier systems of the Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kern, and +Kings River Basins were developed on a still grander scale and are so +replete with interest that the most sketchy outline descriptions of +each, with the works they have accomplished would fill many a volume. +Therefore I can do but little more than invite everybody who is free +to go and see for himself. + +The action of flowing ice, whether in the form of river-like glaciers or +broad mantles, especially the part it played in sculpturing the earth, +is as yet but little understood. Water rivers work openly where people +dwell, and so does the rain, and the sea, thundering on all the shores +of the world; and the universal ocean of air, though invisible, speaks +aloud in a thousand voices, and explains its modes of working and its +power. But glaciers, back in their white solitudes, work apart from men, +exerting their tremendous energies in silence and darkness. Outspread, +spirit-like, they brood above the predestined landscapes, work on +unwearied through immeasurable ages, until, in the fullness of time, the +mountains and valleys are brought forth, channels furrowed for rivers, +basins made for lakes and meadows, and arms of the sea, soils spread for +forests and fields; then they shrink and vanish like summer clouds. + + + +Chapter 12 + +How Best to Spend One's Yosemite Time + + +One-Day Excursions + +No. 1. + +If I were so time-poor as to have only one day to spend in Yosemite I +should start at daybreak, say at three o'clock in midsummer, with a +pocketful of any sort of dry breakfast stuff, for Glacier Point, +Sentinel Dome, the head of Illilouette Fall, Nevada Fall, the top of +Liberty Cap, Vernal Fall and the wild boulder-choked River Canyon. The +trail leaves the Valley at the base of the Sentinel Rock, and as +you slowly saunter from point to point along its many accommodating +zigzags nearly all the Valley rocks and falls are seen in striking, +ever-changing combinations. At an elevation of about five hundred feet a +particularly fine, wide-sweeping view down the Valley is obtained, past +the sheer face of the Sentinel and between the Cathedral Rocks and +El Capitan. At a height of about 1500 feet the great Half Dome comes +full in sight, overshadowing every other feature of the Valley to the +eastward. From Glacier Point you look down 3000 feet over the edge of +its sheer face to the meadows and groves and innumerable yellow pine +spires, with the meandering river sparkling and spangling through the +midst of them. Across the Valley a great telling view is presented of +the Royal Arches, North Dome, Indian Canyon, Three Brothers and El +Capitan, with the dome-paved basin of Yosemite Creek and Mount Hoffman +in the background. To the eastward, the Half Dome close beside you +looking higher and more wonderful than ever; southeastward the Starr +King, girdled with silver firs, and the spacious garden-like basin of +the Illilouette and its deeply sculptured fountain-peaks, called "The +Merced Group"; and beyond all, marshaled along the eastern horizon, the +icy summits on the axis of the Range and broad swaths of forests growing +on ancient moraines, while the Nevada, Vernal and Yosemite Falls are +not only full in sight but are distinctly heard as if one were standing +beside them in their spray. + +The views from the summit of Sentinel Dome are still more extensive +and telling. Eastward the crowds of peaks at the head of the Merced, +Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers are presented in bewildering array; +westward, the vast forests, yellow foothills and the broad San Joaquin +plains and the Coast Ranges, hazy and dim in the distance. + +From Glacier Point go down the trail into the lower end of the +Illilouette basin, cross Illilouette Creek and follow it to the Fall +where from an outjutting rock at its head you will get a fine view of +its rejoicing waters and wild canyon and the Half Dome. Thence returning +to the trail, follow it to the head of the Nevada Fall. Linger here an +hour or two, for not only have you glorious views of the wonderful fall, +but of its wild, leaping, exulting rapids and, greater than all, the +stupendous scenery into the heart of which the white passionate river +goes wildly thundering, surpassing everything of its kind in the world. +After an unmeasured hour or so of this glory, all your body aglow, nerve +currents flashing through you never before felt, go to the top of the +Liberty Cap, only a glad saunter now that your legs as well as head +and heart are awake and rejoicing with everything. The Liberty Cap, a +companion of the Half Dome, is sheer and inaccessible on three of its +sides but on the east a gentle, ice-burnished, juniper-dotted slope +extends to the summit where other wonderful views are displayed where +all are wonderful: the south side and shoulders of Half Dome and Clouds' +Rest, the beautiful Little Yosemite Valley and its many domes, the Starr +King cluster of domes, Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, and, perhaps the +most tremendously impressive of all, the views of the hopper-shaped +canyon of the river from the head of the Nevada Fall to the head of +the Valley. + +Returning to the trail you descend between the Nevada Fall and the +Liberty Cap with fine side views of both the fall and the rock, pass +on through clouds of spray and along the rapids to the head of the +Vernal Fall, about a mile below the Nevada. Linger here if night is +still distant, for views of this favorite fall and the stupendous rock +scenery about it. Then descend a stairway by its side, follow a dim +trail through its spray, and a plain one along the border of the +boulder-dashed rapids and so back to the wide, tranquil Valley. + + +One-Day Excursions + +No. 2. + +Another grand one-day excursion is to the Upper Yosemite Fall, the +top of the highest of the Three Brothers, called Eagle Peak on the +Geological Survey maps; the brow of El Capitan; the head of the Ribbon +Fall; across the beautiful Ribbon Creek Basin; and back to the Valley +by the Big Oak Flat wagon-road. + +The trail leaves the Valley on the east side of the largest of the +earthquake taluses immediately opposite the Sentinel Rock and as it +passes within a few rods of the foot of the great fall, magnificent +views are obtained as you approach it and pass through its spray, though +when the snow is melting fast you will be well drenched. From the foot +of the Fall the trail zigzags up a narrow canyon between the fall and a +plain mural cliff that is burnished here and there by glacial action. + +You should stop a while on a flat iron-fenced rock a little below the +head of the fall beside the enthusiastic throng of starry comet-like +waters to learn something of their strength, their marvelous variety of +forms, and above all, their glorious music, gathered and composed from +the snow-storms, hail-, rain- and wind-storms that have fallen on their +glacier-sculptured, domey, ridgy basin. Refreshed and exhilarated, +you follow your trail-way through silver fir and pine woods to Eagle +Peak, where the most comprehensive of all the views to be had on the +north-wall heights are displayed. After an hour or two of gazing, +dreaming, studying the tremendous topography, etc., trace the rim of +the Valley to the grand El Capitan ridge and go down to its brow, where +you will gain everlasting impressions of Nature's steadfastness and +power combined with ineffable fineness of beauty. + +Dragging yourself away, go to the head of the Ribbon Fall, thence across +the beautiful Ribbon Creek Basin to the Big Oak Flat stage-road, and +down its fine grades to the Valley, enjoying glorious Yosemite scenery +all the way to the foot of El Capitan and your camp. + + +Two-Day Excursions + +No. 1. + +For a two-day trip I would go straight to Mount Hoffman, spend the night +on the summit, next morning go down by May Lake to Tenaya Lake and +return to the Valley by Cloud's Rest and the Nevada and Vernal Falls. As +on the foregoing excursion, you leave the Valley by the Yosemite Falls +trail and follow it to the Tioga wagon-road, a short distance east of +Porcupine Flat. From that point push straight up to the summit. Mount +Hoffman is a mass of gray granite that rises almost in the center of the +Yosemite Park, about eight or ten miles in a straight line from the +Valley. Its southern slopes are low and easily climbed, and adorned here +and there with castle-like crumbling piles and long jagged crests that +look like artificial masonry; but on the north side it is abruptly +precipitous and banked with lasting snow. Most of the broad summit +is comparatively level and thick sown with crystals, quartz, mica, +hornblende, feldspar, granite, zircon, tourmaline, etc., weathered out +and strewn closely and loosely as if they had been sown broadcast. Their +radiance is fairly dazzling in sunlight, almost hiding the multitude of +small flowers that grow among them. At first sight only these radiant +crystals are likely to be noticed, but looking closely you discover a +multitude of very small gilias, phloxes, mimulus, etc., many of them +with more petals than leaves. On the borders of little streams larger +plants flourish--lupines, daisies, asters, goldenrods, hairbell, +mountain columbine, potentilla, astragalus and a few gentians; with +charming heathworts--bryanthus, cassiope, kalmia, vaccinium in +boulder-fringing rings or bank covers. You saunter among the crystals +and flowers as if you were walking among stars. From the summit nearly +all the Yosemite Park is displayed like a map: forests, lakes, meadows, +and snowy peaks. Northward lies Yosemite's wide basin with its domes and +small lakes, shining like larger crystals; eastward the rocky, meadowy +Tuolumne region, bounded by its snowy peaks in glorious array; southward +Yosemite and westward the vast forest. On no other Yosemite Park +mountain are you more likely to linger. You will find it a magnificent +sky camp. Clumps of dwarf pine and mountain hemlock will furnish resin +roots and branches for fuel and light, and the rills, sparkling water. +Thousands of the little plant people will gaze at your camp-fire with +the crystals and stars, companions and guardians as you lie at rest in +the heart of the vast serene night. + +The most telling of all the wide Hoffman views is the basin of the +Tuolumne with its meadows, forests and hundreds of smooth rock-waves +that appear to be coming rolling on towards you like high heaving waves +ready to break, and beyond these the great mountains. But best of all +are the dawn and the sunrise. No mountain top could be better placed for +this most glorious of mountain views--to watch and see the deepening +colors of the dawn and the sunbeams streaming through the snowy High +Sierra passes, awakening the lakes and crystals, the chilled plant +people and winged people, and making everything shine and sing in +pure glory. + +With your heart aglow, spangling Lake Tenaya and Lake May will beckon +you away for walks on their ice-burnished shores. Leave Tenaya at the +west end, cross to the south side of the outlet, and gradually work +your way up in an almost straight south direction to the summit of the +divide between Tenaya Creek and the main upper Merced River or Nevada +Creek and follow the divide to Clouds Rest. After a glorious view from +the crest of this lofty granite wave you will find a trail on its +western end that will lead you down past Nevada and Vernal Falls to the +Valley in good time, provided you left your Hoffman sky camp early. + + +Two-Day Excursions + +No. 2. + +Another grand two-day excursion is the same as the first of the one-day +trips, as far as the head of Illilouette Fall. From there trace the +beautiful stream up through the heart of its magnificent forests and +gardens to the canyons between the Red and Merced Peaks, and pass the +night where I camped forty-one years ago. Early next morning visit +the small glacier on the north side of Merced Peak, the first of the +sixty-five that I discovered in the Sierra. + +Glacial phenomena in the Illilouette Basin are on the grandest scale, +and in the course of my explorations I found that the canyon and +moraines between the Merced and Red Mountains were the most interesting +of them all. The path of the vanished glacier shone in many places as +if washed with silver, and pushing up the canyon on this bright road +I passed lake after lake in solid basins of granite and many a meadow +along the canyon stream that links them together. The main lateral +moraines that bound the view below the canyon are from a hundred to +nearly two hundred feet high and wonderfully regular, like artificial +embankments covered with a magnificent growth of silver fir and pine. +But this garden and forest luxuriance is speedily left behind, and +patches of bryanthus, cassiope and arctic willows begin to appear. The +small lakes which a few miles down the Valley are so richly bordered +with flowery meadows have at an elevation of 10,000 feet only small +brown mats of carex, leaving bare rocks around more than half their +shores. Yet, strange to say, amid all this arctic repression the +mountain pine on ledges and buttresses of Red Mountain seems to find the +climate best suited to it. Some specimens that I measured were over a +hundred feet high and twenty-four feet in circumference, showing hardly +a trace of severe storms, looking as fresh and vigorous as the giants of +the lower zones. Evening came on just as I got fairly into the main +canyon. It is about a mile wide and a little less than two miles long. +The crumbling spurs of Red Mountain bound it on the north, the somber +cliffs of Merced Mountain on the south and a deeply-serrated, splintered +ridge curving around from mountain to mountain shuts it in on the east. +My camp was on the brink of one of the lakes in a thicket of mountain +hemlock, partly sheltered from the wind. Early next morning I set out to +trace the ancient glacier to its head. Passing around the north shore of +my camp lake I followed the main stream from one lakelet to another. The +dwarf pines and hemlocks disappeared and the stream was bordered with +icicles. The main lateral moraines that extend from the mouth of the +canyon are continued in straggling masses along the walls. Tracing the +streams back to the highest of its little lakes, I noticed a deposit of +fine gray mud, something like the mud corn from a grindstone. This +suggested its glacial origin, for the stream that was carrying it issued +from a raw-looking moraine that seemed to be in process of formation. +It is from sixty to over a hundred feet high in front, with a slope of +about thirty-eight degrees. Climbing to the top of it, I discovered a +very small but well-characterized glacier swooping down from the shadowy +cliffs of the mountain to its terminal moraine. The ice appeared on all +the lower portion of the glacier; farther up it was covered with snow. +The uppermost crevasse or "bergeschrund" was from twelve to fourteen +feet wide. The melting snow and ice formed a network of rills that ran +gracefully down the surface of the glacier, merrily singing in their +shining channels. After this discovery I made excursions over all the +High Sierra and discovered that what at first sight looked like +snowfields were in great part glaciers which were completing the +sculpture of the summit peaks. + +Rising early,--which will be easy, as your bed will be rather cold and +you will not be able to sleep much anyhow,--after visiting the glacier, +climb the Red Mountain and enjoy the magnificent views from the summit. +I counted forty lakes from one standpoint an this mountain, and the +views to the westward over the Illilouette Basin, the most superbly +forested of all the basins whose waters rain into Yosemite, and those of +the Yosemite rocks, especially the Half Dome and the upper part of the +north wall, are very fine. But, of course, far the most imposing view is +the vast array of snowy peaks along the axis of the Range. Then from the +top of this peak, light and free and exhilarated with mountain air and +mountain beauty, you should run lightly down the northern slope of the +mountain, descend the canyon between Red and Gray Mountains, thence +northward along the bases of Gray Mountain and Mount Clark and go down +into the head of Little Yosemite, and thence down past the Nevada and +Vernal Falls to the Valley, a truly glorious two-day trip! + + +A Three-Day Excursion + +The best three-day excursion, as far as I can see, is the same as the +first of the two-day trips until you reach Lake Tenaya. There instead of +returning to the Valley, follow the Tioga road around the northwest side +of the lake, over to the Tuolumne Meadows and up to the west base of +Mount Dana. Leave the road there and make straight for the highest point +on the timber line between Mounts Dana and Gibbs and camp there. + +On the morning of the third day go to the top of Mount Dana in time for +the glory of the dawn and the sunrise over the gray Mono Desert and the +sublime forest of High Sierra peaks. When you leave the mountain go far +enough down the north side for a view of the Dana Glacier, then make +your way back to the Tioga road, follow it along the Tuolumne Meadows +to the crossing of Budd Creek where you will find the Sunrise trail +branching off up the mountain-side through the forest in a southwesterly +direction past the west side of Cathedral Peak, which will lead you down +to the Valley by the Vernal and Nevada Falls. If you are a good walker +you can leave the trail where it begins to descend a steep slope in the +silver fir woods, and bear off to the right and make straight for the +top of Clouds' Rest. The walking is good and almost level and from the +west end of Clouds' Rest take the Clouds' Rest Trail which will lead +direct to the Valley by the Nevada and Vernal Falls. To any one not +desperately time-poor this trip should have four days instead of three; +camping the second night at the Soda Springs; thence to Mount Dana and +return to the Soda Springs, camping the third night there; thence by +the Sunrise trail to Cathedral Peak, visiting the beautiful Cathedral +lake which lies about a mile to the west of Cathedral Peak, eating your +luncheon, and thence to Clouds' Rest and the Valley as above. This is one +of the most interesting of all the comparatively short trips that can be +made in the whole Yosemite region. Not only do you see all the grandest +of the Yosemite rocks and waterfalls and the High Sierra with their +glaciers, glacier lakes and glacier meadows, etc., but sections of the +magnificent silver fir, two-leaved pine, and dwarf pine zones; with the +principal alpine flowers and shrubs, especially sods of dwarf vaccinium +covered with flowers and fruit though less than an inch high, broad mats +of dwarf willow scarce an inch high with catkins that rise straight from +the ground, and glorious beds of blue gentians,--grandeur enough and +beauty enough for a lifetime. + + +The Upper Tuolumne Excursion + +We come now to the grandest of all the Yosemite excursions, one that +requires at least two or three weeks. The best time to make it is from +about the middle of July. The visitor entering the Yosemite in July has +the advantage of seeing the falls not, perhaps, in their very flood +prime but next thing to it; while the glacier-meadows will be in their +glory and the snow on the mountains will be firm enough to make climbing +safe. Long ago I made these Sierra trips, carrying only a sackful of +bread with a little tea and sugar and was thus independent and free, but +now that trails or carriage roads lead out of the Valley in almost every +direction it is easy to take a pack animal, so that the luxury of a +blanket and a supply of food can easily be had. + +The best way to leave the Valley will be by the Yosemite Fall trail, +camping the first night on the Tioga road opposite the east end of the +Hoffman Range. Next morning climb Mount Hoffman; thence push on past +Tenaya Lake into the Tuolumne Meadows and establish a central camp +near the Soda Springs, from which glorious excursions can be made at +your leisure. For here in this upper Tuolumne Valley is the widest, +smoothest, most serenely spacious, and in every way the most delightful +summer pleasure-park in all the High Sierra. And since it is connected +with Yosemite by two good trails, and a fairly good carriage road +that passes between Yosemite and Mount Hoffman, it is also the most +accessible. It is in the heart of the High Sierra east of Yosemite, 8500 +to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. The gray, picturesque Cathedral +Range bounds it on the south; a similar range or spur, the highest peak +of which is Mount Conness, on the north; the noble Mounts Dana, Gibbs, +Mammoth, Lyell, McClure and others on the axis of the Range on the east; +a heaving, billowing crowd of glacier-polished rocks and Mount Hoffman +on the west. Down through the open sunny meadow-levels of the Valley +flows the Tuolumne River, fresh and cool from its many glacial +fountains, the highest of which are the glaciers that lie on the north +sides of Mount Lyell and Mount McClure. + +Along the river a series of beautiful glacier-meadows extend with but +little interruption, from the lower end of the Valley to its head, a +distance of about twelve miles, forming charming sauntering-grounds from +which the glorious mountains may be enjoyed as they look down in divine +serenity over the dark forests that clothe their bases. Narrow strips of +pine woods cross the meadow-carpet from side to side, and it is somewhat +roughened here and there by moraine boulders and dead trees brought down +from the heights by snow avalanches; but for miles and miles it is so +smooth and level that a hundred horsemen may ride abreast over it. + +The main lower portion of the meadows is about four miles long and from +a quarter to half a mile wide, but the width of the Valley is, on an +average, about eight miles. Tracing the river, we find that it forks a +mile above the Soda Springs, the main fork turning southward to Mount +Lyell, the other eastward to Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs. Along both +forks strips of meadow extend almost to their heads. The most beautiful +portions of the meadows are spread over lake basins, which have been +filled up by deposits from the river. A few of these river-lakes still +exist, but they are now shallow and are rapidly approaching extinction. +The sod in most places is exceedingly fine and silky and free from weeds +and bushes; while charming flowers abound, especially gentians, dwarf +daisies, potentillas, and the pink bells of dwarf vaccinium. On the +banks of the river and its tributaries cassiope and bryanthus may be +found, where the sod curls over stream banks and around boulders. The +principal grass of these meadows is a delicate calamagrostis with very +slender filiform leaves, and when it is in flower the ground seems to +be covered with a faint purple mist, the stems of the panicles being so +fine that they are almost invisible, and offer no appreciable resistance +in walking through them. Along the edges of the meadows beneath the +pines and throughout the greater part of the Valley tall ribbon-leaved +grasses grow in abundance, chiefly bromus, triticum and agrostis. + +In October the nights are frosty, and then the meadows at sunrise, when +every leaf is laden with crystals, are a fine sight. The days are still +warm and calm, and bees and butterflies continue to waver and hum about +the late-blooming flowers until the coming of the snow, usually in +November. Storm then follows storm in quick succession, burying the +meadows to a depth of from ten to twenty feet, while magnificent +avalanches descend through the forests from the laden heights, +depositing huge piles of snow mixed with uprooted trees and boulders. In +the open sunshine the snow usually lasts until the end of June but the +new season's vegetation is not generally in bloom until late in July. +Perhaps the best all round excursion-time after winters of average +snowfall is from the middle of July to the middle or end of August. The +snow is then melted from the woods and southern slopes of the mountains +and the meadows and gardens are in their glory, while the weather is +mostly all-reviving, exhilarating sunshine. The few clouds that rise now +and then and the showers they yield are only enough to keep everything +fresh and fragrant. + +The groves about the Soda Springs are favorite camping-grounds on +account of the cold, pleasant-tasting water charged with carbonic acid, +and because of the views of the mountains across the meadow--the Glacier +Monument, Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Spires, Unicorn Peak and a series of +ornamental nameless companions, rising in striking forms and nearness +above a dense forest growing on the left lateral moraine of the ancient +Tuolumne glacier, which, broad, deep, and far-reaching, exerted vast +influence on the scenery of this portion of the Sierra. But there are +fine camping-grounds all along the meadows, and one may move from grove +to grove every day all summer, enjoying new homes and new beauty to +satisfy every roving desire for change. + +There are five main capital excursions to be made from here--to the +summits of Mounts Dana, Lyell and Conness, and through the Bloody Canyon +Pass to Mono Lake and the volcanoes, and down the Tuolumne Canyon, at +least as far as the foot of the wonderful series of river cataracts. +All of these excursions are sure to be made memorable with joyful +health-giving experiences; but perhaps none of them will be remembered +with keener delight than the days spent in sauntering on the broad +velvet lawns by the river, sharing the sky with the mountains and trees, +gaining something of their strength and peace. + +The excursion to the top of Mount Dana is a very easy one; for though +the mountain is 13,000 feet high, the ascent from the west side is so +gentle and smooth that one may ride a mule to the very summit. Across +many a busy stream, from meadow to meadow, lies your flowery way; +mountains all about you, few of them hidden by irregular foregrounds. +Gradually ascending, other mountains come in sight, peak rising above +peak with their snow and ice in endless variety of grouping and +sculpture. Now your attention is turned to the moraines, sweeping in +beautiful curves from the hollows and canyons, now to the granite waves +and pavements rising here and there above the heathy sod, polished a +thousand years ago and still shining. Towards the base of the mountain +you note the dwarfing of the trees, until at a height of about 11,000 +feet you find patches of the tough, white-barked pine, pressed so flat +by the ten or twenty feet of snow piled upon them every winter for +centuries that you may walk over them as if walking on a shaggy rug. +And, if curious about such things, you may discover specimens of this +hardy tree-mountaineer not more than four feet high and about as many +inches in diameter at the ground, that are from two hundred to four +hundred years old, still holding bravely to life, making the most of +their slender summers, shaking their tasseled needles in the breeze +right cheerily, drinking the thin sunshine and maturing their fine +purple cones as if they meant to live forever. The general view from the +summit is one of the most extensive and sublime to be found in all the +Range. To the eastward you gaze far out over the desert plains and +mountains of the "Great Basin," range beyond range extending with soft +outlines, blue and purple in the distance. More than six thousand feet +below you lies Lake Mono, ten miles in diameter from north to south, and +fourteen from west to east, lying bare in the treeless desert like a +disk of burnished metal, though at times it is swept by mountain storm +winds and streaked with foam. To the southward there is a well defined +range of pale-gray extinct volcanoes, and though the highest of them +rises nearly two thousand feet above the lake, you can look down from +here into their circular, cup-like craters, from which a comparatively +short time ago ashes and cinders were showered over the surrounding sage +plains and glacier-laden mountains. + +To the westward the landscape is made up of exceedingly strong, gray, +glaciated domes and ridge waves, most of them comparatively low, but +the largest high enough to be called mountains; separated by canyons +and darkened with lines and fields of forest, Cathedral Peak and Mount +Hoffman in the distance; small lakes and innumerable meadows in the +foreground. Northward and southward the great snowy mountains, marshaled +along the axis of the Range, are seen in all their glory, crowded +together in some places like trees in groves, making landscapes of wild, +extravagant, bewildering magnificence, yet calm and silent as the sky. + +Some eight glaciers are in sight. One of these is the Dana Glacier on +the north side of the mountain, lying at the foot of a precipice about +a thousand feet high, with a lovely pale-green lake a little below it. +This is one of the many, small, shrunken remnants of the vast glacial +system of the Sierra that once filled the hollows and valleys of +the mountains and covered all the lower ridges below the immediate +summit-fountains, flowing to right and left away from the axis of the +Range, lavishly fed by the snows of the glacial period. + +In the excursion to Mount Lyell the immediate base of the mountain is +easily reached on meadow walks along the river. Turning to the southward +above the forks of the river, you enter the narrow Lyell branch of the +Valley, narrow enough and deep enough to be called a canyon. It is about +eight miles long and from 2000 to 3000 feet deep. The flat meadow bottom +is from about three hundred to two hundred yards wide, with gently curved +margins about fifty yards wide from which rise the simple massive walls +of gray granite at an angle of about thirty-three degrees, mostly +timbered with a light growth of pine and streaked in many places with +avalanche channels. Towards the upper end of the canyon the Sierra crown +comes in sight, forming a finely balanced picture framed by the massive +canyon walls. In the foreground, when the grass is in flower, you have +the purple meadow willow-thickets on the river banks; in the middle +distance huge swelling bosses of granite that form the base of the +general mass of the mountain, with fringing lines of dark woods marking +the lower curves, smoothly snow-clad except in the autumn. + +If you wish to spend two days on the Lyell trip you will find a good +camp-ground on the east side of the river, about a mile above a fine +cascade that comes down over the canyon wall in telling style and makes +good camp music. From here to the top of the mountains is usually an +easy day's work. At one place near the summit careful climbing is +necessary, but it is not so dangerous or difficult as to deter any one +of ordinary skill, while the views are glorious. To the northward are +Mammoth Mountain, Mounts Gibbs, Dana, Warren, Conness and others, +unnumbered and unnamed; to the southeast the indescribably wild and +jagged range of Mount Ritter and the Minarets; southwestward stretches +the dividing ridge between the north fork of the San Joaquin and the +Merced, uniting with the Obelisk or Merced group of peaks that form the +main fountains of the Illilouette branch of the Merced; and to the +north-westward extends the Cathedral spur. These spurs like distinct +ranges meet at your feet; therefore you look at them mostly in the +direction of their extension, and their peaks seem to be massed and +crowded against one another, while immense amphitheaters, canyons +and subordinate ridges with their wealth of lakes, glaciers, and +snow-fields, maze and cluster between them. In making the ascent in +June or October the glacier is easily crossed, for then its snow mantle +is smooth or mostly melted off. But in midsummer the climbing is +exceedingly tedious because the snow is then weathered into curious +and beautiful blades, sharp and slender, and set on edge in a leaning +position. They lean towards the head of the glacier and extend across +from side to side in regular order in a direction at right angles to the +direction of greatest declivity, the distance between the crests being +about two or three feet, and the depth of the troughs between them about +three feet. A more interesting problem than a walk over a glacier thus +sculptured and adorned is seldom presented to the mountaineer. + +The Lyell Glacier is about a mile wide and less than a mile long, +but presents, nevertheless, all the essential characters of large, +river-like glaciers--moraines, earth-bands, blue veins, crevasses, +etc., while the streams that issue from it are, of course, turbid with +rock-mud, showing its grinding action on its bed. And it is all the +more interesting since it is the highest and most enduring remnant of +the great Tuolumne Glacier, whose traces are still distinct fifty miles +away, and whose influence on the landscape was so profound. The McClure +Glacier, once a tributary of the Lyell, is smaller. Thirty-eight years +ago I set a series of stakes in it to determine its rate of motion. +Towards the end of summer in the middle of the glacier it was only a +little over an inch in twenty-four hours. + +The trip to Mono from the Soda Springs can be made in a day, but many +days may profitably be spent near the shores of the lake, out on its +islands and about the volcanoes. + +In making the trip down the Big Tuolumne Canyon, animals may be led as +far as a small, grassy, forested lake-basin that lies below the crossing +of the Virginia Creek trail. And from this point any one accustomed to +walking on earthquake boulders, carpeted with canyon chaparral, can +easily go down as far as the big cascades and return to camp in one day. +Many, however, are not able to do his, and it is better to go leisurely, +prepared to camp anywhere, and enjoy the marvelous grandeur of the +place. + +The canyon begins near the lower end of the meadows and extends to the +Hetch Hetchy Valley, a distance of about eighteen miles, though it will +seem much longer to any one who scrambles through it. It is from twelve +hundred to about five thousand feet deep, and is comparatively narrow, +but there are several roomy, park-like openings in it, and throughout +its whole extent Yosemite natures are displayed on a grand scale--domes, +El Capitan rocks, gables, Sentinels, Royal Arches, Glacier Points, +Cathedral Spires, etc. There is even a Half Dome among its wealth of +rock forms, though far less sublime than the Yosemite Half Dome. Its +falls and cascades are innumerable. The sheer falls, except when the +snow is melting in early spring, are quite small in volume as compared +with those of Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy; though in any other country +many of them would be regarded as wonders. But it is the cascades or +sloping falls on the main river that are the crowning glory of the +canyon, and these in volume, extent and variety surpass those of any +other canyon in the Sierra. The most showy and interesting of them are +mostly in the upper part of the canyon, above the point of entrance of +Cathedral Creek and Hoffman Creek. For miles the river is one wild, +exulting, on-rushing mass of snowy purple bloom, spreading over glacial +waves of granite without any definite channel, gliding in magnificent +silver plumes, dashing and foaming through huge boulder-dams, leaping +high into the air in wheel-like whirls, displaying glorious enthusiasm, +tossing from side to side, doubling, glinting, singing in exuberance of +mountain energy. + +Every one who is anything of a mountaineer should go on through the +entire length of the canyon, coming out by Hetch Hetchy. There is not +a dull step all the way. With wide variations, it is a Yosemite Valley +from end to end. + +Besides these main, far-reaching, much-seeing excursions from the main +central camp, there are numberless, lovely little saunters and scrambles +and a dozen or so not so very little. Among the best of these are to +Lambert and Fair View Domes; to the topmost spires of Cathedral Peak, +and to those of the North Church, around the base of which you pass +on your way to Mount Conness; to one of the very loveliest of the +glacier-meadows imbedded in the pine woods about three miles north of +the Soda Springs, where forty-two years ago I spent six weeks. It trends +east and west, and you can find it easily by going past the base of +Lambert's Dome to Dog Lake and thence up northward through the woods +about a mile or so; to the shining rock-waves full of ice-burnished, +feldspar crystals at the foot of the meadows; to Lake Tenaya; and, last +but not least, a rather long and very hearty scramble down by the end of +the meadow along the Tioga road toward Lake Tenaya to the crossing of +Cathedral Creek, where you turn off and trace the creek down to its +confluence with the Tuolumne. This is a genuine scramble much of the way +but one of the most wonderfully telling in its glacial rock-forms and +inscriptions. + +If you stop and fish at every tempting lake and stream you come to, a +whole month, or even two months, will not be too long for this grand +High Sierra excursion. My own Sierra trip was ten years long. + + +Other Trips From The Valley + +Short carriage trips are usually made in the early morning to Mirror +Lake to see its wonderful reflections of the Half Dome and Mount +Watkins; and in the afternoon many ride down the Valley to see the +Bridal Veil rainbows or up the river canyon to see those of the Vernal +Fall; where, standing in the spray, not minding getting drenched, +you may see what are called round rainbows, when the two ends of the +ordinary bow are lengthened and meet at your feet, forming a complete +circle which is broken and united again and again as determined by the +varying wafts of spray. A few ambitious scramblers climb to the top of +the Sentinel Rock, others walk or ride down the Valley and up to the +once-famous Inspiration Point for a last grand view; while a good many +appreciative tourists, who slave only day or two, do no climbing or +riding but spend their time sauntering on the meadows by the river, +watching the falls, and the relay of light and shade among the rocks +from morning to night, perhaps gaining more than those who make haste up +the trails in large noisy parties. Those who have unlimited time find +something worth while all the year round on every accessible part of the +vast deeply sculptured walls. At least so I have found it after making +the Valley my home for years. + +Here are a few specimens selected from my own short trips which walkers +may find useful. + +One, up the river canyon, across the bridge between the Vernal and +Nevada Falls, through chaparral beds and boulders to the shoulder of +Half Dome, along the top of the shoulder to the dome itself, down by a +crumbling slot gully and close along the base of the tremendous split +front (the most awfully impressive, sheer, precipice view I ever found +in all my canyon wanderings), thence up the east shoulder and along the +ridge to Clouds' Rest--a glorious sunset--then a grand starry run back +home to my cabin; down through the junipers, down through the firs, now +in black shadows, now in white light, past roaring Nevada and Vernal, +flowering ghost-like beneath their huge frowning cliffs; down the dark, +gloomy canyon, through the pines of the Valley, dreamily murmuring in +their calm, breezy sleep--a fine wild little excursion for good legs +and good eyes--so much sun-, moon- and star-shine in it, and sublime, +up-and-down rhythmical, glacial topography. + +Another, to the head of Yosemite Fall by Indian Canyon; thence up the +Yosemite Creek, tracing it all the way to its highest sources back of +Mount Hoffman, then a wide sweep around the head of its dome-paved +basin, passing its many little lakes and bogs, gardens and groves, +trilling, warbling rills, and back by the Fall Canyon. This was one of +my Sabbath walk, run-and-slide excursions long ago before any trail had +been made on the north side of the Valley. + +Another fine trip was up, bright and early, by Avalanche Canyon to +Glacier Point, along the rugged south wall, tracing all its far outs and +ins to the head of the Bridal Veil Fall, thence back home, bright and +late, by a brushy, bouldery slope between Cathedral rocks and Cathedral +spires and along the level Valley floor. This was one of my long, +bright-day and bright-night walks thirty or forty years ago when, like +river and ocean currents, time flowed undivided, uncounted--a fine free, +sauntery, scrambly, botanical, beauty-filled ramble. The walk up the +Valley was made glorious by the marvelous brightness of the morning +star. So great was her light, she made every tree cast a well-defined +shadow on the smooth sandy ground. + +Everybody who visits Yosemite wants to see the famous Big Trees. Before +the railroad was constructed, all three of the stage-roads that entered +the Valley passed through a grove of these trees by the way; namely, the +Tuolumne, Merced and Mariposa groves. The Tuolumne grove was passed on +the Big Oak Flat road, the Merced grove by the Coulterville road and the +Mariposa grove by the Raymond and Wawona road. Now, to see any one of +these groves, a special trip has to be made. Most visitors go to the +Mariposa grove, the largest of the three. On this Sequoia trip you see +not only the giant Big Trees but magnificent forests of silver fir, +sugar pine, yellow pine, libocedrus and Douglas spruce. The trip need +not require more than two days, spending a night in a good hotel at +Wawona, a beautiful place on the south fork of the Merced River, and +returning to the Valley or to El Portal, the terminus of the railroad. +This extra trip by stage costs fifteen dollars. All the High Sierra +excursions that I have sketched cost from a dollar a week to anything +you like. None of mine when I was exploring the Sierra cost over a +dollar a week, most of them less. + + + +Chapter 13 + +Early History Of The Valley + + +In the wild gold years of 1849 and '50, the Indian tribes along thus +western Sierra foothills became alarmed at the sudden invasion of their +acorn orchard and game fields by miners, and soon began to make war upon +them, in their usual murdering, plundering style. This continued until +the United States Indian Commissioners succeeded in gathering them into +reservations, some peacefully, others by burning their villages and +stores of food. The Yosemite or Grizzly Bear tribe, fancying themselves +secure in their deep mountain stronghold, were the most troublesome and +defiant of all, and it was while the Mariposa battalion, under command +of Major Savage, was trying to capture this warlike tribe and conduct +them to the Fresno reservation that their deep mountain home, the +Yosemite Valley, was discovered. From a camp on the south fork of the +Merced, Major Savage sent Indian runners to the bands who were supposed +to be hiding in the mountains, instructing them to tell the Indians that +if they would come in and make treaty with the Commissioners they would +be furnished with food and clothing and be protected, but if they did +not come in he would make war upon them and kill them all. None of the +Yosemite Indians responded to this general message, but when a special +messenger was sent to the chief he appeared the next day. He came +entirely alone and stood in dignified silence before one of the guards +until invited to enter the camp. He was recognized by one of the +friendly Indians as Tenaya, the old chief of the Grizzlies, and, after +he had been supplied with food, Major Savage, with the aid of Indian +interpreters, informed him of the wishes of the Commissioners. But the +old chief was very suspicious of Savage and feared that he was taking +this method of getting the tribe into his power for the purpose of +revenging his personal wrong. Savage told him if he would go to the +Commissioners and make peace with them as the other tribes had done +there would be no more war. Tenaya inquired what was the object of +taking all the Indians to the San Joaquin plain. "My people," said he, +"do not want anything from the Great Father you tell me about. The Great +Spirit is our father and he has always supplied us with all we need. We +do not want anything from white men. Our women are able to do our work. +Go, then. Let us remain in the mountains where we were born, where the +ashes of our fathers have been given to the wind. I have said enough." + +To this the Major answered abruptly in Indian style: "If you and your +people have all you desire, why do you steal our horses and mules? Why +do you rob the miners' camps? Why do you murder the white men and +plunder and burn their houses?" + +Tenaya was silent for some time. He evidently understood what the Major +had said, for he replied, "My young men have sometimes taken horses +and mules from the whites. This was wrong. It is not wrong to take the +property of enemies who have wronged my people. My young men believed +that the gold diggers were our enemies. We now know they are not and +we shall be glad to live in peace with them. We will stay here and be +friends. My people do not want to go to the plains. Some of the tribes +who have gone there are very bad. We cannot live with them. Here we +can defend ourselves." + +To the Major Savage firmly said, "Your people must go to the +Commissioners. If they do not your young men will again steal horses and +kill and plunder the whites. It was your people who robbed my stores, +burned my houses and murdered my men. It they do not make a treaty, your +whole tribe will be destroyed. Not one of them will be left alive." + +To this the old chief replied, "It is useless to talk to you about who +destroyed your property and killed your people. I am old and you can +kill me if you will, but it is useless to lie to you who know more than +all the Indians. Therefore I will not lie to you but if you will let me +return to my people I will bring them in." He was allowed to go. The +next day he came back and said his people were on the way to our camp to +go with the men sent by the Great Father, who was so good and rich. + +Another day passed but no Indians from the deep Valley appeared. The old +chief said that the snow was so deep and his village was so far down +that it took a long time to climb out of it. After waiting still another +day the expedition started for the Valley. When Tenaya was questioned +as to the route and distance he said that the snow was so deep that the +horses could not go through it. Old Tenaya was taken along as guide. +When the party had gone about half-way to the Valley they met the +Yosemites on their way to the camp on the south fork. There were only +seventy-two of them and when the old chief was asked what had become of +the rest of his band, he replied, "This is all of my people that are +willing to go with me to the plains. All the rest have gone with their +wives end children over the mountains to the Mono and Tuolumne tribes." +Savage told Tenaya that he was not telling the truth, for Indians could +not cross the mountains in the deep snow, and that he knew they must +still be at his village or hiding somewhere near it. The tribe had been +estimated to number over two hundred. Major Savage then said to him, +"You may return to camp with your people and I will take one of your +young men with me to your village to see your people who will not come. +They will come if I find them." "You will not find any of my people +there," said Tenaya; "I do not know where they are. My tribe is small. +Many of the people of my tribe have come from other tribes and if they +go to the plains and are seen they will be killed by the friends of +those with whom they have quarreled. I was told that I was growing old +and it was well that I should go, but that young and strong men can find +plenty in the mountains: therefore, why should they go to the hot plains +to be penned up like horses and cattle? My heart has been sore since +that talk but I am now willing to go, for it is best for my people." + +Pushing ahead, taking turns in breaking a way through the snow, they +arrived in sight of the great Valley early in the afternoon and, guided +by one of Tenaya's Indians, descended by the same route as that followed +by the Mariposa trail, and the weary party went into camp on the river +bank opposite El Capitan. After supper, seated around a big fire, +the wonderful Valley became the topic of conversation and Dr. Bunell +suggested giving it a name. Many were proposed, but after a vote had +been taken the name Yosemite, proposed by Dr. Bunell, was adopted almost +unanimously to perpetuate the name of the tribe who so long had made +their home there. The Indian name of the Valley, however, is Ahwahnee. +The Indians had names for all the different rocks and streams of the +Valley, but very few of them are now in use by the whites, Pohono, the +Bridal Veil, being the principal one. The expedition remained only one +day and two nights in the Valley, hurrying out on the approach of a +storm and reached the south-fork headquarters on the evening of the +third day after starting out. Thus, in three days the round trip had +been made to the Valley, most of it had been explored in a general way +and some of its principal features had been named. But the Indians had +fled up the Tenaya Canyon trail and none of them were seen, except an +old woman unable to follow the fugitives. + +A second expedition was made in the same year under command of Major +Boling. When the Valley was entered no Indians were seen, but the many +wigwams with smoldering fires showed that they had been hurriedly +abandoned that very day. Later, five young Indians who had been left to +watch the movements of the expedition were captured at the foot of the +Three Brothers after a lively chase. Three of the five were sons of the +old chief and the rock was named for them. All of these captives made +good their escape within a few days, except the youngest son of Tenaya, +who was shot by his guard while trying to escape. That same day the old +chief was captured on the cliff on the east side of Indian Canyon by +some of Boling's scouts. As Tenaya walked toward the camp his eye fell +upon the dead body of his favorite son. Captain Boling through an +interpreter, expressed his regret at the occurrence, but not a word +did Tenaya utter in reply. Later, he made an attempt to escape but was +caught as he was about to swim across the river. Tenaya expected to be +shot for this attempt and when brought into the presence of Captain +Boling he said in great emotion, "Kill me, Sir Captain, yes, kill me as +you killed my son, as you would kill my people if they were to come to +you. You would kill all my tribe if you had the power. Yes, Sir America, +you can now tell your warriors to kill the old chief. You have made my +life dark with sorrow. You killed the child of my heart. Why not kill +the father? But wait a little and when I am dead I will call my people +to come and they shall hear me in their sleep and come to avenge the +death of their chief and his son. Yes, Sir America, my spirit will make +trouble for you and your people, as you have made trouble to me and my +people. With the wizards I will follow the white people and make them +fear me. You may kill me, Sir Captain, but you shall not live in peace. +I will follow in your footsteps. I will not leave my home, but be with +the spirits among the rocks, the waterfalls, in the rivers and in the +winds; wherever you go I will be with you. You will not see me but you +will fear the spirit of the old chief and grow cold. The Great Spirit +has spoken. I am done." + +This expedition finally captured the remnants of the tribes at the head +of Lake Tenaya and took them to the Fresno reservation, together with +their chief, Tenaya. But after a short stay they were allowed to return +to the Valley under restrictions. Tenaya promised faithfully to conform +to everything required, joyfully left the hot and dry reservation, and +with his family returned to his Yosemite home. + +The following year a party of miners was attacked by the Indians in +the Valley and two of them were killed. This led to another Yosemite +expedition. A detachment of regular soldiers from Fort Miller under +Lieutenant Moore, U.S.A., was at once dispatched to capture or punish +the murderers. Lieutenant Moore entered the Valley in the night and +surprised and captured a party of five Indians, but an alarm was given +and Tenaya and his people fled from their huts and escaped to the Monos +on the east side of the Range. On examination of the five prisoners in +the morning it was discovered that each of them had some article of +clothing that belonged to the murdered men. The bodies of the two miners +were found and buried on the edge of the Bridal Veil meadow. When the +captives were accused of the murder of the two white men they admitted +that they had killed them to prevent white men from coming to their +Valley, declaring that it was their home and that white men had no right +to come there without their consent. Lieutenant Moore told them through +his interpreter that they had sold their lands to the Government, that +it belonged to the white men now and that they had agreed to live on +the reservation provided for them. To this they replied that Tenaya +had never consented to the sale of their Valley and had never received +pay for it. The other chief, they said, had no right to sell their +territory. The lieutenant being fully satisfied that he had captured the +real murderers, promptly pronounced judgment and had them placed in line +and shot. Lieutenant Moore pursued the fugitives to Mono but was not +successful in finding any of them. After being hospitably entertained +and protected by the Mono and Paute tribes, they stole a number of +stolen horses from their entertainers and made their way by a long, +obscure route by the head of the north fork of the San Joaquin, reached +their Yosemite home once more, but early one morning, after a feast of +horse-flesh, a band of Monos surprised them in their huts, killing +Tenaya and nearly all his tribe. Only a small remnant escaped down the +river canyon. The Tenaya Canyon and Lake were named for the famous old +chief. + +Very few visits were made to the Valley before the summer or 1855, when +Mr. J. M. Hutchings, having heard of its wonderful scenery, collected a +party and made the first regular tourist's visit to the Yosemite and in +his California magazine described it in articles illustrated by a good +artist, who was taken into the Valley by him for that purpose. This +first party was followed by another from Mariposa the same year, +consisting of sixteen or eighteen persons. The next year the regular +pleasure travel began and a trail on the Mariposa side of the Valley was +opened by Mann Brothers. This trail was afterwards purchased by the +citizens of the county and made free to the public. The first house +built in the Yosemite Valley was erected in the autumn of 1856 and was +kept as a hotel the next year by G. A. Hite and later by J. H. Neal and +S. M. Cunningham. It was situated directly opposite the Yosemite Fall. +A little over half a mile farther up the Valley a canvas house was put +up in 1858 by G. A. Hite. Next year a frame house was built and kept as +a hotel by Mr. Peck, afterward by Mr. Longhurst and since 1864 by Mr. +Hutchings. All these hotels have vanished except the frame house built +in 1859, which has been changed beyond recognition. A large hotel built +on the brink of the river in front of the old one is now the only hotel +in the Valley. A large hotel built by the State and located farther up +the Valley was burned. To provide for the overflow of visitors there are +three camps with board floors, wood frame, and covered with canvas, well +furnished, some of them with electric light. A large first-class hotel +is very much needed. + +Travel of late years has been rapidly increasing, especially after the +establishment, by Act of Congress in 1890, of the Yosemite National Park +and the recession in 1905 of the original reservation to the Federal +Government by the State. The greatest increase, of course, was caused +by the construction of the Yosemite Valley railroad from Merced to the +border of the Park, eight miles below the Valley. + +It is eighty miles long, and the entire distance, except the first +twenty-four miles from the town of Merced, is built through the +precipitous Merced River Canyon. The roadbed was virtually blasted out +of the solid rock for the entire distance in the canyon. Work was begun +in September, 1905, and the first train entered El Portal, the terminus, +April 15, 1907. Many miles of the road cost as much as $100,000 per +mile. Its business has increased from 4000 tourists in the first year +it was operated to 15,000 in 1910. + + + +Chapter 14 + +Lamon + + +The good old pioneer, Lamon, was the first of all the early Yosemite +settlers who cordially and unreservedly adopted the Valley as his home. + +He was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, May 10, 1817, emigrated +to Illinois with his father, John Lamon, at the age of nineteen; +afterwards went to Texas and settled on the Brazos, where he raised +melons and hunted alligators for a living. "Right interestin' business," +he said; "especially the alligator part of it." From the Brazos he went +to the Comanche Indian country between Gonzales and Austin, twenty miles +from his nearest neighbor. During the first summer, the only bread he +had was the breast meat of wild turkeys. When the formidable Comanche +Indians were on the war-path he left his cabin after dark and slept in +the woods. From Texas he crossed the plains to California and worked In +the Calaveras and Mariposa gold-fields. + +He first heard Yosemite spoken of as a very beautiful mountain valley +and after making two excursions in the summers of 1857 and 1858 to see +the wonderful place, he made up his mind to quit roving and make a +permanent home in it. In April, 1859, he moved into it, located a garden +opposite the Half Dome, set out a lot of apple, pear and peach trees, +planted potatoes, etc., that he had packed in on a "contrary old mule," +and worked for his board in building a hotel which was afterwards +purchased by Mr. Hutchings. His neighbors thought he was very foolish in +attempting to raise crops in so high and cold a valley, and warned him +that he could raise nothing and sell nothing, and would surely starve. + +For the first year or two lack of provisions compelled him to move out +on the approach of winter, but in 1862 after he had succeeded in raising +some fruit and vegetables he began to winter in the Valley. + +The first winter he had no companions, not even a dog or cat, and one +evening was greatly surprised to see two men coming up the Valley. They +were very glad to see him, for they had come from Mariposa in search of +him, a report having been spread that he had been killed by Indians. He +assured his visitors that he felt safer in his Yosemite home, lying +snug and squirrel-like in his 10 x 12 cabin, than in Mariposa. When the +avalanches began to slip, he wondered where all the wild roaring and +booming came from, the flying snow preventing them from being seen. But, +upon the whole, he wondered most at the brightness, gentleness, and +sunniness of the weather, and hopefully employed the calm days in +tearing ground for an orchard and vegetable garden. + +In the second winter he built a winter cabin under the Royal Arches, +where he enjoyed more sunshine. But no matter how he praised the weather +he could not induce any one to winter with him until 1864. + +He liked to describe the great flood of 1867, the year before I reached +California, when all the walls were striped with thundering waterfalls. + +He was a fine, erect, whole-souled man, between six and seven feet high, +with a broad, open face, bland and guileless as his pet oxen. No +stranger to hunger and weariness, he knew well how to appreciate +suffering of a like kind in others, and many there be, myself among the +number, who can testify to his simple, unostentatious kindness that +found expression in a thousand small deeds. + +After gaining sufficient means to enjoy a long afternoon of life in +comparative affluence and ease, he died in the autumn of 1876. He sleeps +in a beautiful spot near Galen Clark and a monument hewn from a block of +Yosemite granite marks his grave. + + + +Chapter 15 + +Galen Clark + + +Galen Clark was the best mountaineer I ever met, and one of the kindest +and most amiable of all my mountain friends. I first met him at his +Wawona ranch forty-three years ago on my first visit to Yosemite. I had +entered the Valley with one companion by way of Coulterville, and +returned by what was then known as the Mariposa trail. Both trails were +buried in deep snow where the elevation was from 5000 to 7000 feet +above sea level in the sugar pine and silver fir regions. We had no +great difficulty, however, in finding our way by the trends of the +main features of the topography. Botanizing by the way, we made slow, +plodding progress, and were again about out of provisions when we +reached Clark's hospitable cabin at Wawona. He kindly furnished us with +flour and a little sugar and tea, and my companion, who complained of +the be-numbing poverty of a strictly vegetarian diet, gladly accepted +Mr. Clark's offer of a piece of a bear that had just been killed. After +a short talk about bears and the forests and the way to the Big Trees, +we pushed on up through the Wawona firs and sugar pines, and camped in +the now-famous Mariposa grove. + +Later, after making my home in the Yosemite Valley, I became well +acquainted with Mr. Clark, while he was guardian. He was elected again +and again to this important office by different Boards of Commissioners +on account of his efficiency and his real love of the Valley. + +Although nearly all my mountaineering has been done without companions, +I had the pleasure of having Galen Clark with me on three excursions. +About thirty-five years ago I invited him to accompany me on a trip +through the Big Tuolumne Canyon from Hetch Hetchy Valley. The canyon up +to that time had not been explored, and knowing that the difference in +the elevation of the river at the head of the canyon and in Hetch Hetchy +was about 5000 feet, we expected to find some magnificent cataracts +or falls; nor were we disappointed. When we were leaving Yosemite an +ambitious young man begged leave to join us. I strongly advised him not +to attempt such a long, hard trip, for it would undoubtedly prove very +trying to an inexperienced climber. He assured us, however, that he +was equal to anything, would gladly meet every difficulty as it came, +and cause us no hindrance or trouble of any sort. So at last, after +repeating our advice that he give up the trip, we consented to his +joining us. We entered the canyon by way of Hetch Hetchy Valley, each +carrying his own provisions, and making his own tea, porridge, bed, etc. + +In the morning of the second day out from Hetch Hetchy we came to what +is now known as "Muir Gorge," and Mr. Clark without hesitation prepared +to force a way through it, wading and jumping from one submerged boulder +to another through the torrent, bracing and steadying himself with a +long pole. Though the river was then rather low, the savage, roaring, +surging song it was ringing was rather nerve-trying, especially to our +inexperienced companion. With careful assistance, however, I managed to +get him through, but this hard trial, naturally enough, proved too much +and he informed us, pale and trembling, that he could go no farther. I +gathered some wood at the upper throat of the gorge, made a fire for him +and advised him to feel at home and make himself comfortable, hoped he +would enjoy the grand scenery and the songs of the water-ouzels which +haunted the gorge, and assured him that we would return some time in the +night, though it might be late, as we wished to go on through the entire +canyon if possible. We pushed our way through the dense chaparral and +over the earthquake taluses with such speed that we reached the foot of +the upper cataract while we had still an hour or so of daylight for the +return trip. It was long after dark when we reached our adventurous, but +nerve-shaken companion who, of course, was anxious and lonely, not being +accustomed to solitude, however kindly and flowery and full of sweet +bird-song and stream-song. Being tired we simply lay down in restful +comfort on the river bank beside a good fire, instead of trying to +go down the gorge in the dark or climb over its high shoulder to our +blankets and provisions, which we had left in the morning in a tree at +the foot of the gorge. I remember Mr. Clark remarking that if he had +his choice that night between provisions and blankets he would choose +his blankets. + +The next morning in about an hour we had crossed over the ridge through +which the gorge is cut, reached our provisions, made tea, and had a good +breakfast. As soon as we had returned to Yosemite I obtained fresh +provisions, pushed off alone up to the head of Yosemite Creek basin, +entered the canyon by a side canyon, and completed the exploration up to +the Tuolumne Meadows. + +It was on this first trip from Hetch Hetchy to the upper cataracts that +I had convincing proofs of Mr. Clark's daring and skill as mountaineer, +particularly in fording torrents, and in forcing his way through thick +chaparral. I found it somewhat difficult to keep up with him in dense, +tangled brush, though in jumping on boulder taluses and slippery +cobble-beds I had no difficulty in leaving him behind. + +After I had discovered the glaciers on Mount Lyell and Mount McClure, +Mr. Clark kindly made a second excursion with me to assist in +establishing a line of stakes across the McClure glacier to measure its +rate of flow. On this trip we also climbed Mount Lyell together, when +the snow which covered the glacier was melted into upleaning, icy blades +which were extremely difficult to cross, not being strong enough to +support our weight, nor wide enough apart to enable us to stride across +each blade as it was met. Here again I, being lighter, had no difficulty +in keeping ahead of him. While resting after wearisome staggering and +falling he stared at the marvelous ranks of leaning blades, and said, "I +think I have traveled all sorts of trails and canyons, through all kinds +of brush and snow, but this gets me." + +Mr. Clark at my urgent request joined my small party on a trip to the +Kings River yosemite by way of the high mountains, most of the way +without a trail. He joined us at the Mariposa Big Tree grove and +intended to go all the way, but finding that, on account of the +difficulties encountered, the time required was much greater than he +expected, he turned back near the head of the north fork of the Kings +River. + +In cooking his mess of oatmeal porridge and making tea, his pot was +always the first to boil, and I used to wonder why, with all his skill +in scrambling through brush in the easiest way, and preparing his meals, +he was so utterly careless about his beds. He would lie down anywhere on +any ground, rough or smooth, without taking pains even to remove cobbles +or sharp-angled rocks protruding through the grass or gravel, saying +that his own bones were as hard as any stones and could do him no harm. + +His kindness to all Yosemite visitors and mountaineers was marvelously +constant and uniform. He was not a good business man, and in building an +extensive hotel and barns at Wawona, before the travel to Yosemite had +been greatly developed, he borrowed money, mortgaged his property and +lost it all. + +Though not the first to see the Mariposa Big Tree grove, he was the +first to explore it, after he had heard from a prospector, who had +passed through the grove and who gave him the indefinite information, +that there were some wonderful big trees up there on the top of the +Wawona hill and that he believed they must be of the same kind that had +become so famous and well-known in the Calaveras grove farther north. +On this information, Galen Clark told me, he went up and thoroughly +explored the grove, counting the trees and measuring the largest, and +becoming familiar with it. He stated also that he had explored the +forest to the southward and had discovered the much larger Fresno grove +of about two square miles, six or seven miles distant from the Mariposa +grove. Unfortunately most of the Fresno grove has been cut and flumed +down to the railroad near Madera. + +Mr. Clark was truly and literally a gentle-man. I never heard him utter +a hasty, angry, fault-finding word. His voice was uniformly pitched at a +rather low tone, perfectly even, although lances of his eyes and slight +intonations of his voice often indicated that something funny or mildly +sarcastic was coming, but upon the whole he was serious and industrious, +and, however deep and fun-provoking a story might be, he never indulged +in boisterous laughter. + +He was very fond of scenery and once told me after I became acquainted +with him that he liked "nothing in the world better than climbing to the +top of a high ridge or mountain and looking off." He preferred the +mountain ridges and domes in the Yosemite regions on account of the +wealth and beauty of the forests. Often times he would take his rifle, a +few pounds of bacon, a few pound of flour, and a single blanket and go +off hunting, for no other reason than to explore and get acquainted with +the most beautiful points of view within a journey of a week or two from +his Wawona home. On these trips he was always alone and could indulge +in tranquil enjoyment of Nature to his heart's content. He said that +on those trips, when he was a sufficient distance from home in a +neighborhood where he wished to linger, he always shot a deer, sometimes +a grouse, and occasionally a bear. After diminishing the weight of a +deer or bear by eating part of it, he carried as much as possible of the +best of the meat to Wawona, and from his hospitable well-supplied cabin +no weary wanderer ever went away hungry or unrested. + +The value of the mountain air in prolonging life is well examplified in +Mr. Clark's case. While working in the mines he contracted a severe cold +that settled on his lungs and finally caused severe inflammation and +bleeding, and none of his friends thought he would ever recover. The +physicians told him he had but a short time to live. It was then that +he repaired to the beautiful sugar pine woods at Wawona and took up a +claim, including the fine meadows there, and building his cabin, began +his life of wandering and exploring in the glorious mountains about him, +usually going bare-headed. In a remarkably short time his lungs were +healed. + +He was one of the most sincere tree-lovers I ever knew. About twenty +years before his death he made choice of a plot in the Yosemite cemetery +on the north side of the Valley, not far from the Yosemite Fall, and +selecting a dozen or so of seedling sequoias in the Mariposa grove he +brought them to the Valley and planted them around the spot he had +chosen for his last rest. The ground there is gravelly and dry; by +careful watering he finally nursed most of the seedlings into good, +thrifty trees, and doubtless they will long shade the grave of their +blessed lover and friend. + + + +Chapter 16 + +Hetch Hetchy Valley + + +Yosemite is so wonderful that we are apt to regard it as an exceptional +creation, the only valley of its kind in the world; but Nature is not +so poor as to have only one of anything. Several other yosemites have +been discovered in the Sierra that occupy the same relative positions +on the Range and were formed by the same forces in the same kind of +granite. One of these, the Hetch Hetchy Valley, is in the Yosemite +National Park about twenty miles from Yosemite and is easily accessible +to all sorts of travelers by a road and trail that leaves the Big Oak +Flat road at Bronson Meadows a few miles below Crane Flat, and to +mountaineers by way of Yosemite Creek basin and the head of the middle +fork of the Tuolumne. + +It is said to have been discovered by Joseph Screech, a hunter, in 1850, +a year before the discovery of the great Yosemite. After my first visit +to it in the autumn of 1871, I have always called it the "Tuolumne +Yosemite," for it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the Merced +Yosemite, not only in its sublime rocks and waterfalls but in the +gardens, groves and meadows of its flowery park-like floor. The floor of +Yosemite is about 4000 feet above the sea; the Hetch Hetchy floor about +3700 feet. And as the Merced River flows through Yosemite, so does the +Tuolumne through Hetch Hetchy. The walls of both are of gray granite, +rise abruptly from the floor, are sculptured in the same style and in +both every rock is a glacier monument. + +Standing boldly out from the south wall is a strikingly picturesque rock +called by the Indians, Kolana, the outermost of a group 2300 feet high, +corresponding with the Cathedral Rocks of Yosemite both in relative +position and form. On the opposite side of the Valley, facing Kolana, +there is a counterpart of the El Capitan that rises sheer and plain to +a height of 1800 feet, and over its massive brow flows a stream which +makes the most graceful fall I have ever seen. From the edge of the +cliff to the top of an earthquake talus it is perfectly free in the air +for a thousand feet before it is broken into cascades among talus +boulders. It is in all its glory in June, when the snow is melting fast, +but fades and vanishes toward the end of summer. The only fall I know +with which it may fairly be compared is the Yosemite Bridal Veil; but it +excels even that favorite fall both in height and airy-fairy beauty and +behavior. Lowlanders are apt to suppose that mountain streams in their +wild career over cliffs lose control of themselves and tumble in a noisy +chaos of mist and spray. On the contrary, on no part of their travels +are they more harmonious and self-controlled. Imagine yourself in Hetch +Hetchy on a sunny day in June, standing waist-deep in grass and flowers +(as I have often stood), while the great pines sway dreamily with +scarcely perceptible motion. Looking northward across the Valley you +see a plain, gray granite cliff rising abruptly out of the gardens and +groves to a height of 1800 feet, and in front of it Tueeulala's silvery +scarf burning with irised sun-fire. In the first white outburst at the +head there is abundance of visible energy, but it is speedily hushed and +concealed in divine repose, and its tranquil progress to the base of the +cliff is like that of a downy feather in a still room. Now observe the +fineness and marvelous distinctness of the various sun-illumined fabrics +into which the water is woven; they sift and float from form to form +down the face of that grand gray rock in so leisurely and unconfused a +manner that you can examine their texture, and patterns and tones of +color as you would a piece of embroidery held in the hand. Toward the +top of the fall you see groups of booming, comet-like masses, their +solid, white heads separate, their tails like combed silk interlacing +among delicate gray and purple shadows, ever forming and dissolving, +worn out by friction in their rush through the air. Most of these vanish +a few hundred feet below the summit, changing to varied forms of +cloud-like drapery. Near the bottom the width of the fall has increased +from about twenty-five feet to a hundred feet. Here it is composed of +yet finer tissues, and is still without a trace of disorder--air, water +and sunlight woven into stuff that spirits might wear. + +So fine a fall might well seem sufficient to glorify any valley; but +here, as in Yosemite, Nature seems in nowise moderate, for a short +distance to the eastward of Tueeulala booms and thunders the great Hetch +Hetchy Fall, Wapama, so near that you have both of them in full view +from the same standpoint. It is the counterpart of the Yosemite Fall, +but has a much greater volume of water, is about 1700 feet in height, +and appears to be nearly vertical, though considerably inclined, and is +dashed into huge outbounding bosses of foam on projecting shelves and +knobs. No two falls could be more unlike--Tueeulala out in the open +sunshine descending like thistledown; Wapama in a jagged, shadowy gorge +roaring and plundering, pounding its way like an earthquake avalanche. + +Besides this glorious pair there is a broad, massive fall on the main +river a short distance above the head of the Valley. Its position is +something like that of the Vernal in Yosemite, and its roar as it +plunges into a surging trout-pool may be heard a long way, though it +is only about twenty feet high. On Rancheria Creek, a large stream, +corresponding in position with the Yosemite Tenaya Creek, there is a +chain of cascades joined here and there with swift flashing plumes like +the one between the Vernal and Nevada Falls, making magnificent shows +as they go their glacier-sculptured way, sliding, leaping, hurrahing, +covered with crisp clashing spray made glorious with sifting sunshine. +And besides all these a few small streams come over the walls at wide +intervals, leaping from ledge to ledge with birdlike song and watering +many a hidden cliff-garden and fernery, but they are too unshowy to be +noticed in so grand a place. + +The correspondence between the Hetch Hetchy walls in their trends, +sculpture, physical structure, and general arrangement of the main +rock-masses and those of the Yosemite Valley has excited the wondering +admiration of every observer. We have seen that the El Capitan and +Cathedral rocks occupy the same relative positions In both valleys; so +also do their Yosemite points and North Domes. Again, that part of the +Yosemite north wall immediately to the east of the Yosemite Fall has two +horizontal benches, about 500 and 1500 feet above the floor, timbered +with golden-cup oak. Two benches similarly situated and timbered occur +on the same relative portion of the Hetch Hetchy north wall, to the east +of Wapama Fall, and on no other. The Yosemite is bounded at the head by +the great Half Dome. Hetch Hetchy is bounded in the same way though its +head rock is incomparably less wonderful and sublime in form. + +The floor of the Valley is about three and a half miles long, and from a +fourth to half a mile wide. The lower portion is mostly a level meadow +about a mile long, with the trees restricted to the sides and the river +banks, and partially separated from the main, upper, forested portion by +a low bar of glacier-polished granite across which the river breaks in +rapids. + +The principal trees are the yellow and sugar pines, digger pine, incense +cedar, Douglas spruce, silver fir, the California and golden-cup oaks, +balsam cottonwood, Nuttall's flowering dogwood, alder, maple, laurel, +tumion, etc. The most abundant and influential are the great yellow or +silver pines like those of Yosemite, the tallest over two hundred feet +in height, and the oaks assembled in magnificent groves with massive +rugged trunks four to six feet in diameter, and broad, shady, +wide-spreading heads. The shrubs forming conspicuous flowery clumps and +tangles are manzanita, azalea, spiraea, brier-rose, several species of +ceanothus, calycanthus, philadelphus, wild cherry, etc.; with abundance +of showy and fragrant herbaceous plants growing about them or out in the +open in beds by themselves--lilies, Mariposa tulips, brodiaeas, orchids, +iris, spraguea, draperia, collomia, collinsia, castilleja, nemophila, +larkspur, columbine, goldenrods, sunflowers, mints of many species, +honeysuckle, etc. Many fine ferns dwell here also, especially the +beautiful and interesting rock-ferns--pellaea, and cheilanthes of +several species--fringing and rosetting dry rock-piles and ledges; +woodwardia and asplenium on damp spots with fronds six or seven feet +high; the delicate maiden-hair in mossy nooks by the falls, and the +sturdy, broad-shouldered pteris covering nearly all the dry ground +beneath the oaks and pines. + +It appears, therefore, that Hetch Hetchy Valley, far from being a plain, +common, rock-bound meadow, as many who have not seen it seem to suppose, +is a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious +mountain temples. As in Yosemite, the sublime rocks of its walls seem +to glow with life, whether leaning back in repose or standing erect in +thoughtful attitudes, giving welcome to storms and calms alike, their +brows in the sky, their feet set in the groves and gay flowery meadows, +while birds, bees, and butterflies help the river and waterfalls to +stir all the air into music--things frail and fleeting and types of +permanence meeting here and blending, just as they do in Yosemite, to +draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her. + +Sad to say, this most precious and sublime feature of the Yosemite +National Park, one of the greatest of all our natural resources for the +uplifting joy and peace and health of the people, is in danger of being +dammed and made into a reservoir to help supply San Francisco with water +and light, thus flooding it from wall to wall and burying its gardens +and groves one or two hundred feet deep. This grossly destructive +commercial scheme has long been planned and urged (though water as pure +and abundant can be got from outside of the people's park, in a dozen +different places), because of the comparative cheapness of the dam and +of the territory which it is sought to divert from the great uses to +which it was dedicated in the Act of 1890 establishing the Yosemite +National Park. + +The making of gardens and parks goes on with civilization all over the +world, and they increase both in size and number as their value is +recognized. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in +and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body +and soul alike. This natural beauty-hunger is made manifest in the +little window-sill gardens of the poor, though perhaps only a geranium +slip in a broken cup, as well as in the carefully tended rose and lily +gardens of the rich, the thousands of spacious city parks and botanical +gardens, and in our magnificent National parks--the Yellowstone, +Yosemite, Sequoia, etc.--Nature's sublime wonderlands, the admiration +and joy of the world. Nevertheless, like anything else worth while, from +the very beginning, however well guarded, they have always been subject +to attack by despoiling gainseekers and mischief-makers of every degree +from Satan to Senators, eagerly trying to make everything immediately +and selfishly commercial, with schemes disguised in smug-smiling +philanthropy, industriously, shampiously crying, "Conservation, +conservation, panutilization," that man and beast may be fed and the +dear Nation made great. Thus long ago a few enterprising merchants +utilized the Jerusalem temple as a place of business instead of a place +of prayer, changing money, buying and selling cattle and sheep and +doves; and earlier still, the first forest reservation, including only +one tree, was likewise despoiled. Ever since the establishment of the +Yosemite National Park, strife has been going on around its borders and +I suppose this will go on as part of the universal battle between right +and wrong, however much its boundaries may be shorn, or its wild beauty +destroyed. + +The first application to the Government by the San Francisco Supervisors +for the commercial use of Lake Eleanor and the Hetch Hetchy Valley was +made in 1903, and on December 22nd of that year it was denied by the +Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Hitchcock, who truthfully said: + +Presumably the Yosemite National Park was created such by law because +within its boundaries, inclusive alike of its beautiful small lakes, +like Eleanor, and its majestic wonders, like Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite +Valley. It is the aggregation of such natural scenic features that makes +the Yosemite Park a wonderland which the Congress of the United States +sought by law to reserve for all coming time as nearly as practicable +in the condition fashioned by the hand of the Creator--a worthy object +of national pride and a source of healthful pleasure and rest for the +thousands of people who may annually sojourn there during the heated +months. + +In 1907 when Mr. Garfield became Secretary of the Interior the +application was renewed and granted; but under his successor, Mr. +Fisher, the matter has been referred to a Commission, which as this +volume goes to press still has it under consideration. + +The most delightful and wonderful camp grounds in the Park are its three +great valleys--Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy, and Upper Tuolumne; and they are +also the most important places with reference to their positions +relative to the other great features--the Merced and Tuolumne Canyons, +and the High Sierra peaks and glaciers, etc., at the head of the rivers. +The main part of the Tuolumne Valley is a spacious flowery lawn four or +five miles long, surrounded by magnificent snowy mountains, slightly +separated from other beautiful meadows, which together make a series +about twelve miles in length, the highest reaching to the feet of Mount +Dana, Mount Gibbs, Mount Lyell and Mount McClure. It is about 8500 feet +above the sea, and forms the grand central High Sierra camp ground from +which excursions are made to the noble mountains, domes, glaciers, etc.; +across the Range to the Mono Lake and volcanoes and down the Tuolumne +Canyon to Hetch Hetchy. Should Hetch Hetchy be submerged for a +reservoir, as proposed, not only would it be utterly destroyed, but the +sublime canyon way to the heart of the High Sierra would be hopelessly +blocked and the great camping ground, as the watershed of a city +drinking system, virtually would be closed to the public. So far as I +have learned, few of all the thousands who have seen the park and seek +rest and peace in it are in favor of this outrageous scheme. + +One of my later visits to the Valley was made in the autumn of 1907 with +the late William Keith, the artist. The leaf-colors were then ripe, and +the great godlike rocks in repose seemed to glow with life. The artist, +under their spell, wandered day after day along the river and through +the groves and gardens, studying the wonderful scenery; and, after +making about forty sketches, declared with enthusiasm that although its +walls were less sublime in height, in picturesque beauty and charm Hetch +Hetchy surpassed even Yosemite. + +That any one would try to destroy such a place seems incredible; but sad +experience shows that there are people good enough and bad enough for +anything. The proponents of the dam scheme bring forward a lot of bad +arguments to prove that the only righteous thing to do with the people's +parks is to destroy them bit by bit as they are able. Their arguments +are curiously like those of the devil, devised for the destruction of +the first garden--so much of the very best Eden fruit going to waste; so +much of the best Tuolumne water and Tuolumne scenery going to waste. Few +of their statements are even partly true, and all are misleading. + +Thus, Hetch Hetchy, they say, is a "low-lying meadow." On the contrary, +it is a high-lying natural landscape garden, as the photographic +illustrations show. + +"It is a common minor feature, like thousands of others." On the +contrary it is a very uncommon feature; after Yosemite, the rarest and +in many ways the most important in the National Park. + +"Damming and submerging it 175 feet deep would enhance its beauty by +forming a crystal-clear lake." Landscape gardens, places of recreation +and worship, are never made beautiful by destroying and burying them. +The beautiful sham lake, forsooth, should be only an eyesore, a dismal +blot on the landscape, like many others to be seen in the Sierra. For, +instead of keeping it at the same level all the year, allowing Nature +centuries of time to make new shores, it would, of course, be full only +a month or two in the spring, when the snow is melting fast; then it +would be gradually drained, exposing the slimy sides of the basin and +shallower parts of the bottom, with the gathered drift and waste, death +and decay of the upper basins, caught here instead of being swept on to +decent natural burial along the banks of the river or in the sea. Thus +the Hetch Hetchy dam-lake would be only a rough imitation of a natural +lake for a few of the spring months, an open sepulcher for the others. + +"Hetch Hetchy water is the purest of all to be found in the Sierra, +unpolluted, and forever unpollutable." On the contrary, excepting that +of the Merced below Yosemite, it is less pure than that of most of the +other Sierra streams, because of the sewerage of camp grounds draining +into it, especially of the Big Tuolumne Meadows camp ground, occupied by +hundreds of tourists and mountaineers, with their animals, for months +every summer, soon to be followed by thousands from all the world. + +These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to +have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes +to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. + +Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals +and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the +heart of man. + + + +Appendix A + +Legislation About the Yosemite + + +In the year 1864, Congress passed the following act:-- + +ACT OF JUNE 30, 1864 (13 STAT., 325). + +An Act Authorizing a grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite +Valley," and of the land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove." + +"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be, and is +hereby, granted to the State of California, the 'Cleft' or 'Gorge' in +the Granite Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, situated in the county +of Mariposa, in the State aforesaid, and the headwaters of the Merced +River, and known as the Yosemite Valley, with its branches and spurs, in +estimated length fifteen miles, and in average width one mile back from +the main edge of the precipice, on each side of the Valley, with the +stipulation, nevertheless, that the said State shall accept this grant +upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public +use, resort, and recreation; shall be inalienable for all time; but +leases not exceeding ten years may be granted for portions of said +premises. All incomes derived from leases of privileges to be expended +in the preservation and improvement of the property, or the roads +leading thereto; the boundaries to be established at the cost of said +State by the United States Surveyor-General of California, whose +official plat, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land +Office, shall constitute the evidence of the locus, extent, and limits +of the said Cleft or Gorge; the premises to be managed by the Governor +of the State, with eight other Commissioners, to be appointed by the +Executive of California, and who shall receive no compensation for their +services. + +"Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall likewise be, and +there is hereby, granted to the said State of California, the tracts +embracing what is known as the 'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' not to exceed +the area of four sections, and to be taken in legal subdivisions of +one-quarter section each, with the like stipulations as expressed in +the first section of this Act as to the State's acceptance, with like +conditions as in the first section of this Act as to inalienability, +yet with the same lease privileges; the income to be expended in the +preservation, improvement, and protection of the property, the premises +to be managed by Commissioners, as stipulated in the first section of +this Act, and to be taken in legal subdivisions as aforesaid; and the +official plat of the United States Surveyor-General, when affirmed by +the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to be the evidence of the +locus of the said Mariposa Big Tree Grove." + +This important act was approved by the President, June 30, 1864, +and shortly after the Governor of California, F. F. Low, issued a +proclamation taking possession of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa +grove of Big Trees, in the name and on behalf of the State, appointing +commissioners to manage them, and warning all persons against +trespassing or settling there without authority, and especially +forbidding the cutting of timber and other injurious acts. + +The first Board of Commissioners were F. Law Olmsted, J. D. Whitney, +William Ashburner, I. W. Raymond, E. S. Holden, Alexander Deering, +George W. Coulter, and Galen Clark. + + +ACT OF OCTOBER 1, 1890 (26 STAT., 650). + +[Footnote: Sections 1 and 2 of this act pertain to the Yosemite National +Park, while section 3 sets apart General Grant National Park, and also a +portion of Sequoia National Park.] + +An Act To set apart certain tracts of land in the State of California as +forest reservations. + +"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled, That the tracts of land in the +State of California known as described as follows: Commencing at the +northwest corner of township two north, range nineteen east Mount Diablo +meridian, thence eastwardly on the line between townships two and three +north, ranges twenty-four and twenty-five east; thence southwardly on +the line between ranges twenty-four and twenty-five east to the Mount +Diablo base line; thence eastwardly on said base line to the corner +to township one south, ranges twenty-five and twenty-six east; thence +southwardly on the line between ranges twenty-five and twenty-six east +to the southeast corner of township two south, range twenty-five east; +thence eastwardly on the line between townships two and three south, +range twenty-six east to the corner to townships two and three south, +ranges twenty-six and twenty-seven east; thence southwardly on the line +between ranges twenty-six and twenty-seven east to the first standard +parallel south; thence westwardly on the first standard parallel south +to the southwest corner of township four south, range nineteen east; +thence northwardly on the line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east +to the northwest corner of township two south, range nineteen east; +thence westwardly on the line between townships one and two south to +the southwest corner of township one south, range nineteen east; thence +northwardly on the line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east to +the northwest corner of township two north, range nineteen east, the +place of beginning, are hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, +occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and set apart as +reserved forest lands; and all persons who shall locate or settle upon, +or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, +shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom: Provided, +however, That nothing in this act shall be construed as in anywise +affecting the grant of lands made to the State of California by virtue +of the act entitled, 'An act authorizing a grant to the State of +California of the Yosemite Valley, and of the land embracing the +Mariposa Big-Tree Grove,' appeared June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and +sixty-four; or as affecting any bona-fide entry of land made within the +limits above described under any law of the United States prior to the +approval of this act. + +"Sec. 2. That said reservation shall be under the exclusive control +of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, as soon as +practicable, to make and publish such rules and regulations as he may +deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Such +regulations shall provide for the preservation from injury of all +timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said +reservation, and their retention in their natural condition. The +Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for building purposes for +terms not exceeding ten years of small parcels of ground not exceeding +five acres; at such places in said reservation as shall require the +erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the +proceeds of said leases and other revenues that may be derived from +any source connected with said reservation to be expended under his +direction in the management of the same and the construction of roads +and paths therein. He shall provide against the wanton destruction of +the fish, and game found within said reservation, and against their +capture or destruction, for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He +shall also cause all persons trespassing upon the same after the passage +of this act to be removed therefrom, and, generally, shall be authorized +to take all such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully carry +out the objects and purposes of this act. + +"Sec. 3. There shall also be and is hereby reserved and withdrawn from +settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and +shall be set apart as reserved forest lands, as herein before provided, +and subject to all the limitations and provisions herein contained, the +following additional lands, to wit: Township seventeen south, range +thirty east of the Mount Diablo meridian, excepting sections thirty-one, +thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four of said township, included +in a previous bill. And there is also reserved and withdrawn from +settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and +set apart as forest lands, subject to like limitations, conditions, +and provisions, all of townships fifteen and sixteen south, of ranges +twenty-nine and thirty east of the Mount Diablo meridian. And there is +also hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale +under the laws of the United states, and set apart as reserved forest +lands under like limitations, restrictions, and provisions, sections +five and six in township fourteen south, range twenty-eight east of +Mount Diablo meridian, and also sections thirty-one and thirty-two of +township thirteen south, range twenty-eight east of the same meridian. +Nothing in this act shall authorize rules or contracts touching the +protection and improvement of said reservations, beyond the sums that +may be received by the Secretary of the Interior under the foregoing +provisions, or authorize any charge against the Treasury of the United +States." + + +ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, APPROVED +MARCH 3, 1905. + +"Sec. 1. The State of California does hereby recede and regrant unto the +United States of America the 'cleft' or 'gorge' in the granite peak of +the Sierra Nevada Mountains, situated in the county of Mariposa, State +of California, and the headwaters of the Merced River, and known as the +Yosemite Valley, with its branches and spurs, granted unto the State +of California in trust for public use, resort, and recreation by the +act of Congress entitled, 'An act authorizing a grant to the State +of California of the Yosemite Valley and of the land embracing the +Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' approved June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and +sixty-four; and the State of California does hereby relinquish unto the +United States of America and resign the trusts created and granted by +the said act of Congress. + +"Sec. 2. The State of California does hereby recede and regrant unto +the United States of America the tracts embracing what is known as the +'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' planted unto the State of California in trust +for public use, resort, and recreation by the act of Congress referred +to in section one of this act, and the State of California does hereby +relinquish unto the United States of America and resign the trusts +created and granted by the said act of Congress. + +"Sec. 3. This act shall take effect from and after acceptance by the +United States of America of the recessions and regrants herein made +thereby forever releasing the State of California from further cost of +maintaining the said premises, the same to be held for all time by the +United States of America for public use, resort, and recreation and +imposing on the United States of America the cost of maintaining the +same as a national park: Provided, however, That the recession and +regrant hereby made shall not affect vested rights and interests of +third persons." + + + +Appendix B + +Table of Distances + + +From the Guardian's office, in the village, the distances to various +points are in miles as follows: + + Miles. + + Bridal Veil Fall 4.04 + Cascade Falls 7.67 + Cloud's Rest, Summit 11.81 + Columbia Rock, on Eagle Peak Trail 1.98 + Dana, Mt., Summit 40.34 + Eagle Peak 6.59 + El Capitan Bridge 3.63 + Glacier Point, direct trail 4.45 + Glacier Point, by Nevada Falls 16.98 + Lyell, Mt., Summit 38.20 + Merced Bridge 2.03 + Mirror Lake, by Hunt's avenue 2.91 + Nevada Fall (Hotel) 4.63 + Nevada Fall, Bridge above 5.45 + Pohono Bridge 5.29 + Register Rock 3.24 + Ribbon Fall 3.99 + Rocky Point (base of Three Brothers) 1.45 + Tenayah Creek Bridge 2.26 + Tenayah Lake 16.00 + Yosemite Falls, foot 0.90 + Yosemite Falls, foot Upper Fall 2.67 + Yosemite Falls, top 4.33 + Soda Springs (Eagle Peak Trail) 24.50 + Sentinel Dome 5.57 + Union Point, on Glacier Point Trail 3.13 + Vernal Fall 3.50 + + + +Appendix C + +Maximum Rates for Transportation + + +The following rates for transportation in and about the Valley have +been established by the Board of Commissioners: + + +SADDLE-HORSES + + From Route to Amount + + Valley Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome, and return, $3.00 + direct, same day + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, and Fissures, 3.75 + and return, direct, same day + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, and Fissures, 3.00 + passing night at Glacier Point + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, 3.00 + and Casa Nevada, passing night at Casa Nevada + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, 4.00 + Vernal Fall, and thence to Valley same day + Glacier Point Valley direct 2.00 + Glacier Point Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, and Casa Nevada, 2.00 + passing night at Casa Nevada + Glacier Point Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, Vernal Fall, 3.00 + and thence to Valley same day + Valley Summits, Vernal and Nevada Falls, direct, 3.00 + and return to Valley same day + Valley Glacier Point by Casa Nevada, passing night 3.00 + at Glacier Point + Valley Summits, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Sentinel Dome, 4.00 + Glacier Point, and thence to Valley same day + Valley Cloud's Rest and return to Casa Nevada 3.00 + Valley Cloud's Rest and return to Valley same day 5.00 + Casa Nevada Cloud's Rest and return to Casa Nevada or 3.00 + Valley same day + Casa Nevada Valley direct 2.00 + Casa Nevada Nevada Fall, Sentinel Dome, and Glacier Point, 2.00 + passing night at Glacier Point + Valley Nevada Fall, Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, 3.00 + and Valley same day + + Upper Yosemite Fall, Eagle Peak, and return 3.00 + Charge for guide (including horse), when furnished 3.00 + Saddle-horses, on level of Valley, per day 2.50 + +1. The above charges do not include feed for horses when passing night +at Casa Nevada or Glacier Point. + +2. Where Valley is specified as starting-point, the above rates prevail +from any hotel in Valley, or from the foot of any trail. + +3. Any shortening of above trips, without proportionate reduction of +rates, shall be at the option of those hiring horses. + +4. Trips other than those above specified shall be subject to special +arrangement between letter and hirer. + + +CARRIAGES + + From Route to Amount + + + Hotels Mirror Lake and return, direct $1.00 + Hotels Mirror Lake and return by Tissiack Avenue 1.25 + Hotels Mirror Lake and return to foot of Trail, to Vernal 1.00 + and Nevada Falls + Hotels Bridal Veil Falls and return, direct 1.00 + Hotels Pohono Bridge, down either side of Valley, and return 1.50 + on opposite side, stopping at Yosemite and Bridal + Veil Falls + Hotels Cascade Falls, down either side of Valley, and return 2.25 + on opposite side, stopping at Yosemite and Bridal + Veil Falls + Hotels Artist Point and return, direct, stopping at Bridal 2.00 + Veil Falls + Hotels New Inspiration Point and return, direct, stopping at 2.00 + Bridal Veil Falls + Grand Round Drive, including Yosemite and Bridal Veil 2.50 + Falls, excluding Lake and Cascades + Grand Round Drive, including Yosemite and Bridal Veil 3.50 + Falls, Lake, and Cascades + +1. When the value of the seats hired in any vehicle shall exceed $15 +for a two-horse team, or $25 for a four-horse team, for any trip in the +above schedule, the persons hiring the seats shall have the privilege +of paying no more than the aggregate sums of $15 and $25 per trip for a +two-horse and four-horse team, respectively. + +2. If saddle-horses should be substituted for any of the above carriage +trips, carriage rates will apply to each horse. In no case shall the +per diem charge of $2.50 for each saddle-horse, on level of Valley, be +exceeded. + +Any excess of the above rates, as well as any extortion, incivility, +misrepresentation, or the riding of unsafe animals, should be promptly +reported at the Guardian's office. + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE YOSEMITE *** + +This file should be named yosem10.txt or yosem10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, yosem11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, yosem10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/yosem10.zip b/old/yosem10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..47f9acc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/yosem10.zip diff --git a/old/yosem10h.htm b/old/yosem10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..262ef4e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/yosem10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6417 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Yosemite, by John +Muir</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} +blockquote {font-size:14pt} +P {font-size:14pt} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Yosemite, by John +Muir</h1> + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Yosemite + +Author: John Muir + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7091] +[This file was first posted on March 9, 2003] +[Date last updated: August 28, 2006] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE YOSEMITE *** + + + +</pre> + +<pre> +Produced by Dan Anderson and Andrew Sly. +Thanks to the John Muir Exhibit for making this eBook available. +http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/ + + +</pre> + +<h1 align="center">The Yosemite<br> +by John Muir</h1> + +<blockquote>Affectionately dedicated to my friend,<br> +Robert Underwood Johnson,<br> +faithful lover and defender of our glorious forests<br> +and originator of the Yosemite National Park.</blockquote> + +<h3 align="center">Acknowledgment</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +On the early history of Yosemite the writer is indebted to Prof. J. D. +Whitney for quotations from his volume entitled "Yosemite Guide-Book," +and to Dr. Bunnell for extracts from his interesting volume entitled +"Discovery of the Yosemite." +</pre> + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<pre> + 1. The Approach to the Valley + 2. Winter Storms and Spring Floods + 3. Snow-Storms + 4. Snow Banners + 5. The Trees of the Valley + 6. The Forest Trees in General + 7. The Big Trees + 8. The Flowers + 9. The Birds + 10. The South Dome + 11. The Ancient Yosemite Glaciers: How the Valley Was Formed + 12. How Best to Spend One's Yosemite Time + 13. Early History of the Valley + 14. Lamon + 15. Galen Clark + 16. Hetch Hetchy Valley + Appendix A. Legislation About the Yosemite + Appendix B. Table of Distances + Appendix C. Maximum Rates for Transportation + + +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 1<br> +The Approach to the Valley</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +When I set out on the long excursion that finally led to California I +wandered afoot and alone, from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico, with a +plant-press on my back, holding a generally southward course, like the +birds when they are going from summer to winter. From the west coast +of Florida I crossed the gulf to Cuba, enjoyed the rich tropical flora +there for a few months, intending to go thence to the north end of South +America, make my way through the woods to the headwaters of the Amazon, +and float down that grand river to the ocean. But I was unable to find a +ship bound for South America--fortunately perhaps, for I had incredibly +little money for so long a trip and had not yet fully recovered from +a fever caught in the Florida swamps. Therefore I decided to visit +California for a year or two to see its wonderful flora and the famous +Yosemite Valley. All the world was before me and every day was a +holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the world's +wildernesses I first should wander. +<br> +Arriving by the Panama steamer, I stopped one day in San Francisco and +then inquired for the nearest way out of town. "But where do you want to +go?" asked the man to whom I had applied for this important information. +"To any place that is wild," I said. This reply startled him. He seemed +to fear I might be crazy and therefore the sooner I was out of town the +better, so he directed me to the Oakland ferry. +<br> +So on the first of April, 1868, I set out afoot for Yosemite. It was the +bloom-time of the year over the lowlands and coast ranges the landscapes +of the Santa Clara Valley were fairly drenched with sunshine, all the +air was quivering with the songs of the meadow-larks, and the hills were +so covered with flowers that they seemed to be painted. Slow indeed was +my progress through these glorious gardens, the first of the California +flora I had seen. Cattle and cultivation were making few scars as yet, +and I wandered enchanted in long wavering curves, knowing by my pocket +map that Yosemite Valley lay to the east and that I should surely find +it. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Sierra From The West</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Looking eastward from the summit of the Pacheco Pass one shining +morning, a landscape was displayed that after all my wanderings still +appears as the most beautiful I have ever beheld. At my feet lay the +Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of +pure sunshine, forty or fifty miles wide, five hundred miles long, one +rich furred garden of yellow <i>Compositœ</i>. And from the eastern boundary +of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, +and so gloriously colored and so radiant, it seemed not clothed with +light, but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city. +Along the top and extending a good way down, was a rich pearl-gray belt +of snow; below it a belt of blue and dark purple, marking the extension +of the forests; and stretching along the base of the range a broad belt +of rose-purple; all these colors, from the blue sky to the yellow +valley smoothly blending as they do in a rainbow, making a wall of light +ineffably fine. Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, +not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten +years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it, rejoicing in its +glorious floods of light, the white beams of the morning streaming +through the passes, the noonday radiance on the crystal rocks, the +flush of the alpenglow, and the irised spray of countless waterfalls, +it still seems above all others the Range of Light. +<br> +In general views no mark of man is visible upon it, nor any thing to +suggest the wonderful depth and grandeur of its sculpture. None of its +magnificent forest-crowned ridges seems to rise much above the general +level to publish its wealth. No great valley or river is seen, or group +of well-marked features of any kind standing out as distinct pictures. +Even the summit peaks, marshaled in glorious array so high in the sky, +seem comparatively regular in form. Nevertheless the whole range five +hundred miles long is furrowed with cañons 2000 to 5000 feet deep, in +which once flowed majestic glaciers, and in which now flow and sing the +bright rejoicing rivers. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Characteristics Of The Cañons</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Though of such stupendous depth, these cañons are not gloom gorges, +savage and inaccessible. With rough passages here and there they are +flowery pathways conducting to the snowy, icy fountains; mountain +streets full of life and light, graded and sculptured by the ancient +glaciers, and presenting throughout all their course a rich variety of +novel and attractive scenery--the most attractive that has yet been +discovered in the mountain ranges of the world. In many places, +especially in the middle region of the western flank, the main cañons +widen into spacious valleys or parks diversified like landscape gardens +with meadows and groves and thickets of blooming bushes, while the lofty +walls, infinitely varied in form are fringed with ferns, flowering +plants, shrubs of many species and tall evergreens and oaks that find +footholds on small benches and tables, all enlivened and made glorious +with rejoicing stream that come chanting in chorus over the cliffs and +through side cañons in falls of every conceivable form, to join the +river that flow in tranquil, shining beauty down the middle of each +one of them. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Incomparable Yosemite</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The most famous and accessible of these cañon valleys, and also the one +that presents their most striking and sublime features on the grandest +scale, is the Yosemite, situated in the basin of the Merced River at an +elevation of 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It is about seven +miles long, half a mile to a mile wide, and nearly a mile deep in the +solid granite flank of the range. The walls are made up of rocks, +mountains in size, partly separated from each other by side cañons, and +they are so sheer in front, and so compactly and harmoniously arranged +on a level floor, that the Valley, comprehensively seen, looks like an +immense hall or temple lighted from above. +<br> +But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in +its walls seems to glow with life. Some lean back in majestic repose; +others, absolutely sheer or nearly so for thousands of feet, advance +beyond their companions in thoughtful attitudes, giving welcome to +storms and calms alike, seemingly aware, yet heedless, of everything +going on about them. Awful in stern, immovable majesty, how softly these +rocks are adorned, and how fine and reassuring the company they keep: +their feet among beautiful groves and meadows, their brows in the sky, +a thousand flowers leaning confidingly against their feet, bathed in +floods of water, floods of light, while the snow and waterfalls, the +winds and avalanches and clouds shine and sing and wreathe about them +as the years go by, and myriads of small winged creatures birds, bees, +butterflies--give glad animation and help to make all the air into +music. Down through the middle of the Valley flows the crystal Merced, +River of Mercy, peacefully quiet, reflecting lilies and trees and the +onlooking rocks; things frail and fleeting and types of endurance +meeting here and blending in countless forms, as if into this one +mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, to draw +her lovers into close and confiding communion with her. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Approach To The Valley</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Sauntering up the foothills to Yosemite by any of the old trails or +roads in use before the railway was built from the town of Merced up the +river to the boundary of Yosemite Park, richer and wilder become the +forests and streams. At an elevation of 6000 feet above the level of the +sea the silver firs are 200 feet high, with branches whorled around the +colossal shafts in regular order, and every branch beautifully pinnate +like a fern frond. The Douglas spruce, the yellow and sugar pines and +brown-barked Libocedrus here reach their finest developments of beauty +and grandeur. The majestic Sequoia is here, too, the king of conifers, +the noblest of all the noble race. These colossal trees are as wonderful +in fineness of beauty and proportion as in stature--an assemblage of +conifers surpassing all that have ever yet been discovered in the +forests of the world. Here indeed is the tree-lover's paradise; the +woods, dry and wholesome, letting in the light in shimmering masses of +half sunshine, half shade; the night air as well as the day air +indescribably spicy and exhilarating; plushy fir-boughs for campers' +beds and cascades to sing us to sleep. On the highest ridges, over which +these old Yosemite ways passed, the silver fir (<i>Abies magnifica</i>) forms +the bulk of the woods, pressing forward in glorious array to the very +brink of the Valley walls on both sides, and beyond the Valley to a +height of from 8000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. Thus it +appears that Yosemite, presenting such stupendous faces of bare granite, +is nevertheless imbedded in magnificent forests, and the main species of +pine, fir, spruce and libocedrus are also found in the Valley itself, +but there are no "big trees" (<i>Sequoia gigantea</i>) in the Valley or about +the rim of it. The nearest are about ten and twenty miles beyond the +lower end of the valley on small tributaries of the Merced and Tuolumne +Rivers. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The First View: The Bridal Veil</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +From the margin of these glorious forests the first general view of the +Valley used to be gained--a revelation in landscape affairs that +enriches one's life forever. Entering the Valley, gazing overwhelmed +with the multitude of grand objects about us, perhaps the first to fix +our attention will be the Bridal Veil, a beautiful waterfall on our +right. Its brow, where it first leaps free from the cliff, is about 900 +feet above us; and as it sways and sings in the wind, clad in gauzy, +sun-sifted spray, half falling, half floating, it seems infinitely +gentle and fine; but the hymns it sings tell the solemn fateful power +hidden beneath its soft clothing. +<br> +The Bridal Veil shoots free from the upper edge of the cliff by the +velocity the stream has acquired in descending a long slope above the +head of the fall. Looking from the top of the rock-avalanche talus +on the west side, about one hundred feet above the foot of the fall, +the under surface of the water arch is seen to be finely grooved and +striated; and the sky is seen through the arch between rock and water, +making a novel and beautiful effect. +<br> +Under ordinary weather conditions the fall strikes on flat-topped slabs, +forming a kind of ledge about two-thirds of the way down from the top, +and as the fall sways back and forth with great variety of motions +among these flat-topped pillars, kissing and plashing notes as well as +thunder-like detonations are produced, like those of the Yosemite Fall, +though on a smaller scale. +<br> +The rainbows of the Veil, or rather the spray- and foam-bows, are +superb, because the waters are dashed among angular blocks of granite +at the foot, producing abundance of spray of the best quality for iris +effects, and also for a luxuriant growth of grass and maiden-hair on +the side of the talus, which lower down is planted with oak, laurel +and willows. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">General Features Of The Valley</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +On the other side of the Valley, almost immediately opposite the Bridal +Veil, there is another fine fall, considerably wider than the Veil when +the snow is melting fast and more than 1000 feet in height, measured +from the brow of the cliff where it first springs out into the air to +the head of the rocky talus on which it strikes and is broken up into +ragged cascades. It is called the Ribbon Fall or Virgin's Tears. During +the spring floods it is a magnificent object, but the suffocating blasts +of spray that fill the recess in the wall which it occupies prevent a +near approach. In autumn, however when its feeble current falls in a +shower, it may then pass for tear with the sentimental onlooker fresh +from a visit to the Bridal Veil. +<br> +Just beyond this glorious flood the El Capitan Rock, regarded by many as +the most sublime feature of the Valley, is seen through the pine groves, +standing forward beyond the general line of the wall in most imposing +grandeur, a type of permanence. It is 3300 feet high, a plain, severely +simple, glacier-sculptured face of granite, the end of one of the most +compact and enduring of the mountain ridges, unrivaled in height and +breadth and flawless strength. +<br> +Across the Valley from here, next to the Bridal Veil, are the +picturesque Cathedral Rocks, nearly 2700 feet high, making a noble +display of fine yet massive sculpture. They are closely related to El +Capitan, having been eroded from the same mountain ridge by the great +Yosemite Glacier when the Valley was in process of formation. +<br> +Next to the Cathedral Rocks on the south side towers the Sentinel Rock +to a height of more than 3000 feet, a telling monument of the glacial +period. +<br> +Almost immediately opposite the Sentinel are the Three Brothers, an +immense mountain mass with three gables fronting the Valley, one above +another, the topmost gable nearly 4000 feet high. They were named for +three brothers, sons of old Tenaya, the Yosemite chief, captured here +during the Indian War, at the time of the discovery of the Valley in +1852. +<br> +Sauntering up the Valley through meadow and grove, in the company of +these majestic rocks, which seem to follow us as we advance, gazing, +admiring, looking for new wonders ahead where all about us is so +wonderful, the thunder of the Yosemite Fall is heard, and when we +arrive in front of the Sentinel Rock it is revealed in all its glory +from base to summit, half a mile in height, and seeming to spring out +into the Valley sunshine direct from the sky. But even this fall, +perhaps the most wonderful of its kind in the world, cannot at first +hold our attention, for now the wide upper portion of the Valley is +displayed to view, with the finely modeled North Dome, the Royal Arches +and Washington Column on our left; Glacier Point, with its massive, +magnificent sculpture on the right; and in the middle, directly in +front, looms Tissiack or Half Dome, the most beautiful and most sublime +of all the wonderful Yosemite rocks, rising in serene majesty from +flowery groves and meadows to a height of 4750 feet. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Upper Cañons</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Here the Valley divides into three branches, the Tenaya, Nevada, and +Illilouette Cañons, extending back into the fountains of the High +Sierra, with scenery every way worthy the relation they bear to +Yosemite. +<br> +In the south branch, a mile or two from the main Valley, is the +Illilouette Fall, 600 feet high, one of the most beautiful of all the +Yosemite choir, but to most people inaccessible as yet on account of its +rough, steep, boulder-choked cañon. Its principal fountains of ice and +snow lie in the beautiful and interesting mountains of the Merced group, +while its broad open basin between its fountain mountains and cañon is +noted for the beauty of its lakes and forests and magnificent moraines. +<br> +Returning to the Valley, and going up the north branch of Tenaya Cañon, +we pass between the North Dome and Half Dome, and in less than an hour +come to Mirror Lake, the Dome Cascade and Tenaya Fall. Beyond the Fall, +on the north side of the cañon is the sublime Ed Capitan-like rock +called Mount Watkins; on the south the vast granite wave of Clouds' Rest, +a mile in height; and between them the fine Tenaya Cascade with silvery +plumes outspread on smooth glacier-polished folds of granite, making a +vertical descent in all of about 700 feet. +<br> +Just beyond the Dome Cascades, on the shoulder of Mount Watkins, there +is an old trail once used by Indians on their was across the range to +Mono, but in the cañon above this point there is no trail of any sort. +Between Mount Watkins and Clouds' Rest the cañon is accessible only to +mountaineers, and it is so dangerous that I hesitate to advise even good +climbers, anxious to test their nerve and skill, to attempt to pass +through it. Beyond the Cascades no great difficulty will be encountered. +A succession of charming lily gardens and meadows occurs in filled-up +lake basins among the rock-waves in the bottom of the cañon, and +everywhere the surface of the granite has a smooth-wiped appearance, and +in many places reflects the sunbeams like glass, a phenomenon due to +glacial action, the cañon having been the channel of one of the main +tributaries of the ancient Yosemite Glacier. +<br> +About ten miles above the Valley we come to the beautiful Tenaya Lake, +and here the cañon terminates. A mile or two above the lake stands the +grand Sierra Cathedral, a building of one stone, sewn from the living +rock, with sides, roof, gable, spire and ornamental pinnacles, fashioned +and finished symmetrically like a work of art, and set on a well-graded +plateau about 9000 feet high, as if Nature in making so fine a building +had also been careful that it should be finely seen. From every +direction its peculiar form and graceful, majestic beauty of expression +never fail to charm. Its height from its base to the ridge of the roof +is about 2500 feet, and among the pinnacles that adorn the front grand +views may be gained of the upper basins of the Merced and Tuolumne +Rivers. +<br> +Passing the Cathedral we descend into the delightful, spacious Tuolumne +Valley, from which excursions may be made to Mounts Dana, Lyell, Ritter, +Conness, and Mono Lake, and to the many curious peaks that rise above +the meadows on the south, and to the Big Tuolumne Cañon, with its +glorious abundance of rock and falling, gliding, tossing water. For all +these the beautiful meadows near the Soda Springs form a delightful +center. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Natural Features Near The Valley</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Returning now to Yosemite and ascending the middle or Nevada branch of +the Valley, occupied by the main Merced River, we come within a few +miles to the Vernal and Nevada Falls, 400 and 600 feet high, pouring +their white, rejoicing waters in the midst of the most novel and sublime +rock scenery to be found in all the World. Tracing the river beyond the +head of the Nevada Fall we are lead into the Little Yosemite, a valley +like the great Yosemite in form, sculpture and vegetation. It is about +three miles long, with walls 1500 to 2000 feet high, cascades coming +over them, and the ever flowing through the meadows and groves of the +level bottom in tranquil, richly-embowered reaches. +<br> +Beyond this Little Yosemite in the main cañon, there are three other +little yosemites, the highest situated a few miles below the base of +Mount Lyell, at an elevation of about 7800 feet above the sea. To +describe these, with all their wealth of Yosemite furniture, and the +wilderness of lofty peaks above them, the home of the avalanche and +treasury of the fountain snow, would take us far beyond the bounds of a +single book. Nor can we here consider the formation of these mountain +landscapes--how the crystal rock were brought to light by glaciers made +up of crystal snow, making beauty whose influence is so mysterious on +every one who sees it. +<br> +Of the small glacier lakes so characteristic of these upper regions, +there are no fewer than sixty-seven in the basin of the main middle +branch, besides countless smaller pools. In the basin of the Illilouette +there are sixteen, in the Tenaya basin and its branches thirteen, in the +Yosemite Creek basin fourteen, and in the Pohono or Bridal Veil one, +making a grand total of one hundred and eleven lakes whose waters come +to sing at Yosemite. So glorious is the background of the great Valley, +so harmonious its relations to its widespreading fountains. +<br> +The same harmony prevails in all the other features of the adjacent +landscapes. Climbing out of the Valley by the subordinate cañons, we +find the ground rising from the brink of the walls: on the south side to +the fountains of the Bridal Veil Creek, the basin of which is noted for +the beauty of its meadows and its superb forests of silver fir; on the +north side through the basin of the Yosemite Creek to the dividing ridge +along the Tuolumne Cañon and the fountains of the Hoffman Range. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Down The Yosemite Creek</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +In general views the Yosemite Creek basin seems to be paved with +domes and smooth, whaleback masses of granite in every stage of +development--some showing only their crowns; others rising high and free +above the girdling forests, singly or in groups. Others are developed +only on one side, forming bold outstanding bosses usually well fringed +with shrubs and trees, and presenting the polished surfaces given them +by the glacier that brought them into relief. On the upper portion of +the basin broad moraine beds have been deposited and on these fine, +thrifty forests are growing. Lakes and meadows and small spongy bogs +may be found hiding here and there in the woods or back in the fountain +recesses of Mount Hoffman, while a thousand gardens are planted along +the banks of the streams. +<br> +All the wide, fan-shaped upper portion of the basin is covered with a +network of small rills that go cheerily on their way to their grand fall +in the Valley, now flowing on smooth pavements in sheets thin as glass, +now diving under willows and laving their red roots, oozing through +green, plushy bogs, plashing over small falls and dancing down slanting +cascades, calming again, gliding through patches of smooth glacier +meadows with sod of alpine agrostis mixed with blue and white violets +and daisies, breaking, tossing among rough boulders and fallen trees, +resting in calm pools, flowing together until, all united, they go to +their fate with stately, tranquil gestures like a full-grown river. At +the crossing of the Mono Trail, about two miles above the head of the +Yosemite Fall, the stream is nearly forty feet wide, and when the snow +is melting rapidly in the spring it is about four feet deep, with a +current of two and a half miles an hour. This is about the volume of +water that forms the Fall in May and June when there had been much snow +the preceding winter; but it varies greatly from month to month. The +snow rapidly vanishes from the open portion of the basin, which faces +southward, and only a few of the tributaries reach back to perennial +snow and ice fountains in the shadowy amphitheaters on the precipitous +northern slopes of Mount Hoffman. The total descent made by the stream +from its highest sources to its confluence with the Merced in the Valley +is about 6000 feet, while the distance is only about ten miles, an +average fall of 600 feet per mile. The last mile of its course lies +between the sides of sunken domes and swelling folds of the granite that +are clustered and pressed together like a mass of bossy cumulus clouds. +Through this shining way Yosemite Creek goes to its fate, swaying and +swirling with easy, graceful gestures and singing the last of its +mountain songs before it reaches the dizzy edge of Yosemite to fall 2600 +feet into another world, where climate, vegetation, inhabitants, all are +different. Emerging from this last cañon the stream glides, in flat +lace-like folds, down a smooth incline into a small pool where it seems +to rest and compose itself before taking the grand plunge. Then calmly, +as if leaving a lake, it slips over the polished lip of the pool down +another incline and out over the brow of the precipice in a magnificent +curve thick-sown with rainbow spray. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Yosemite Fall</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Long ago before I had traced this fine stream to its head back of Mount +Hoffman, I was eager to reach the extreme verge to see how it behaved in +flying so far through the air; but after enjoying this view and getting +safely away I have never advised any one to follow my steps. The last +incline down which the stream journeys so gracefully is so steep and +smooth one must slip cautiously forward on hands and feet alongside the +rushing water, which so near one's head is very exciting. But to gain a +perfect view one must go yet farther, over a curving brow to a slight +shelf on the extreme brink. This shelf, formed by the flaking off of a +fold of granite, is about three inches wide, just wide enough for a safe +rest for one's heels. To me it seemed nerve-trying to slip to this +narrow foothold and poise on the edge of such precipice so close to the +confusing whirl of the waters; and after casting longing glances over +the shining brow of the fall and listening to its sublime psalm, I +concluded not to attempt to go nearer, but, nevertheless, against +reasonable judgment, I did. Noticing some tufts of artemisia in a cleft +of rock, I filled my mouth with the leaves, hoping their bitter taste +might help to keep caution keen and prevent giddiness. In spite of +myself I reached the little ledge, got my heels well set, and worked +sidewise twenty or thirty feet to a point close to the out-plunging +current. Here the view is perfectly free down into the heart of the +bright irised throng of comet-like streamers into which the whole +ponderous volume of the fall separates, two or three hundred feet below +the brow. So glorious a display of pure wildness, acting at close range +while cut off from all the world beside, is terribly impressive. A less +nerve-trying view may be obtained from a fissured portion of the edge of +the cliff about forty yards to the eastward of the fall. Seen from this +point towards noon, in the spring, the rainbow on its brow seems to be +broken up and mingled with the rushing comets until all the fall is +stained with iris colors, leaving no white water visible. This is the +best of the safe views from above, the huge steadfast rocks, the flying +waters, and the rainbow light forming one of the most glorious pictures +conceivable. +<br> +The Yosemite Fall is separated into an upper and a lower fall with a +series of falls and cascades between them, but when viewed in front from +the bottom of the Valley they all appear as one. +<br> +So grandly does this magnificent fall display itself from the floor of +the Valley, few visitors take the trouble to climb the walls to gain +nearer views, unable to realize how vastly more impressive it is near by +than at a distance of one or two miles. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">A Wonderful Ascent</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The views developed in a walk up the zigzags of the trail leading to +the foot of the Upper Fall are about as varied and impressive as those +displayed along the favorite Glacier Point Trail. One rises as if on +wings. The groves, meadows, fern-flats and reaches of the river gain +new interest, as if never seen before; all the views changing in a most +striking manner as we go higher from point to point. The foreground +also changes every few rods in the most surprising manner, although the +earthquake talus and the level bench on the face of the wall over which +the trail passes seem monotonous and commonplace as seen from the bottom +of the Valley. Up we climb with glad exhilaration, through shaggy +fringes of laurel, ceanothus, glossy-leaved manzanita and live-oak, from +shadow to shadow across bars and patches of sunshine, the leafy openings +making charming frames for the Valley pictures beheld through gem, and +for the glimpses of the high peaks that appear in the distance. The +higher we go the farther we seem to be from the summit of the vast +granite wall. Here we pass a projecting buttress hose grooved and +rounded surface tells a plain story of the time when the Valley, now +filled with sunshine, was filled with ice, when the grand old Yosemite +Glacier, flowing river-like from its distant fountains, swept through +it, crushing, grinding, wearing its way ever deeper, developing and +fashioning these sublime rocks. Again we cross a white, battered gully, +the pathway of rock avalanches or snow avalanches. Farther on we come +to a gentle stream slipping down the face of the Cliff in lace-like +strips, and dropping from ledge to ledge--too small to be called a +fall--trickling, dripping, oozing, a pathless wanderer from one of +the upland meadow lying a little way back of the Valley rim, seeking +a way century after century to the depths of the Valley without any +appreciable channel. Every morning after a cool night, evaporation being +checked, it gathers strength and sings like a bird, but as the day +advances and the sun strikes its thin currents outspread on the heated +precipices, most of its waters vanish ere the bottom of the Valley is +reached. Many a fine, hanging-garden aloft on breezy inaccessible heights +owes to it its freshness and fullness of beauty; ferneries in shady +nooks, filled with Adiantum, Woodwardia, Woodsia, Aspidium, Pellaea, +and Cheilanthes, rosetted and tufted and ranged in lines, daintily +overlapping, thatching the stupendous cliffs with softest beauty, some +of the delicate fronds seeming to float on the warm moist air, without +any connection with rock or stream. Nor is there any lack of colored +plants wherever they can find a place to cling to; lilies and mints, +the showy cardinal mimulus, and glowing cushions of the golden bahia, +enlivened with butterflies and bees and all the other small, happy +humming creatures that belong to them. +<br> +After the highest point on the lower division of the trail is gained it +leads up into the deep recess occupied by the great fall, the noblest +display of falling water to be found in the Valley, or perhaps in the +world. When it first comes in sight it seems almost within reach of +one's hand, so great in the spring is its volume and velocity, yet it is +still nearly a third of a mile away and appears to recede as we advance. +The sculpture of the walls about it is on a scale of grandeur, according +nobly with the fall plain and massive, though elaborately finished, like +all the other cliffs about the Valley. +<br> +In the afternoon an immense shadow is cast athwart the plateau in front +of the fall, and over the chaparral bushes that clothe the slopes and +benches of the walls to the eastward, creeping upward until the fall is +wholly overcast, the contrast between the shaded and illumined sections +being very striking in these near views. +<br> +Under this shadow, during the cool centuries immediately following the +breaking-up of the Glacial Period, dwelt a small residual glacier, one +of the few that lingered on this sun-beaten side of the Valley after the +main trunk glacier had vanished. It sent down a long winding current +through the narrow cañon on the west side of the fall, and must have +formed a striking feature of the ancient scenery of the Valley; the +lofty fall of ice and fall of water side by side, yet separate and +distinct. +<br> +The coolness of the afternoon shadow and the abundant dewy spray make a +fine climate for the plateau ferns and grasses, and for the beautiful +azalea bushes that grow here in profusion and bloom in September, long +after the warmer thickets down on the floor of the Valley have withered +and gone to seed. Even close to the fall, and behind it at the base of +the cliff, a few venturesome plants may be found undisturbed by the +rock-shaking torrent. +<br> +The basin at the foot of the fall into which the current directly pours, +when it is not swayed by the wind, is about ten feet deep and fifteen to +twenty feet in diameter. That it is not much deeper is surprising, when +the great height and force of the fall is considered. But the rock where +the water strikes probably suffers less erosion than it would were the +descent less than half as great, since the current is outspread, and +much of its force is spent ere it reaches the bottom--being received on +the air as upon an elastic cushion, and borne outward and dissipated +over a surface more than fifty yards wide. +<br> +This surface, easily examined when the water is low, is intensely clean +and fresh looking. It is the raw, quick flesh of the mountain wholly +untouched by the weather. In summer droughts when the snowfall of the +preceding winter has been light, the fall is reduced to a mere shower of +separate drops without any obscuring spray. Then we may safely go back +of it and view the crystal shower from beneath, each drop wavering and +pulsing as it makes its way through the air, and flashing off jets of +colored light of ravishing beauty. But all this is invisible from the +bottom of the Valley, like a thousand other interesting things. One must +labor for beauty as for bread, here as elsewhere. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Grandeur Of The Yosemite Fall</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +During the time of the spring floods the best near view of the fall is +obtained from Fern Ledge on the east side above the blinding spray at a +height of about 400 feet above the base of the fall. A climb of about +1400 feet from the Valley has to be made, and there is no trail, but +to any one fond of climbing this will make the ascent all the more +delightful. A narrow part of the ledge extends to the side of the fall +and back of it, enabling us to approach it as closely as we wish. When +the afternoon sunshine is streaming through the throng of comets, ever +wasting, ever renewed, fineness, firmness and variety of their forms are +beautifully revealed. At the top of the fall they seem to burst forth in +irregular spurts from some grand, throbbing mountain heart. Now and then +one mighty throb sends forth a mass of solid water into the free air +far beyond the others which rushes alone to the bottom of the fall with +long streaming tail, like combed silk, while the others, descending in +clusters, gradually mingle and lose their identity. But they all rush +past us with amazing velocity and display of power though apparently +drowsy and deliberate in their movements when observed from a distance +of a mile or two. The heads of these comet-like masses are composed of +nearly solid water, and are dense white in color like pressed snow, from +the friction they suffer in rushing through the air, the portion worn +off forming the tail between the white lustrous threads and films of +which faint, grayish pencilings appear, while the outer, finer sprays of +water-dust, whirling in sunny eddies, are pearly gray throughout. At the +bottom of the fall there is but little distinction of form visible. It +is mostly a hissing, clashing, seething, upwhirling mass of scud and +spray, through which the light sifts in gray and purple tones while +at times when the sun strikes at the required angle, the whole wild +and apparently lawless, stormy, striving mass is changed to brilliant +rainbow hues, manifesting finest harmony. The middle portion of the +fall is the most openly beautiful; lower, the various forms into which +the waters are wrought are more closely and voluminously veiled, while +higher, towards the head, the current is comparatively simple and +undivided. But even at the bottom, in the boiling clouds of spray, +there is no confusion, while the rainbow light makes all divine, adding +glorious beauty and peace to glorious power. This noble fall has far the +richest, as well as the most powerful, voice of all the falls of the +Valley, its tones varying from the sharp hiss and rustle of the wind +in the glossy leaves of the live-oak and the soft, sifting, hushing +tones of the pines, to the loudest rush and roar of storm winds and +thunder among the crags of the summit peaks. The low bass, booming, +reverberating tones, heard under favorable circumstances five or six +miles away are formed by the dashing and exploding of heavy masses +mixed with air upon two projecting ledges on the face of the cliff, the +one on which we are standing and another about 200 feet above it. The +torrent of massive comets is continuous at time of high water, while +the explosive, booming notes are wildly intermittent, because, unless +influenced by the wind, most of the heavier masses shoot out from the +face of the precipice, and pass the ledges upon which at other times +they are exploded. Occasionally the whole fall is swayed away from the +front of the cliff, then suddenly dashed flat against it, or vibrated +from side to side like a pendulum, giving rise to endless variety of +forms and sounds. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Nevada Fall</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Nevada Fall is 600 feet high and is usually ranked next to the +Yosemite in general interest among the five main falls of the Valley. +Coming through the Little Yosemite in tranquil reaches, the river is +first broken into rapids on a moraine boulder-bar that crosses the lower +end of the Valley. Thence it pursues its way to the head of the fall in +a rough, solid rock channel, dashing on side angles, heaving in heavy +surging masses against elbow knobs, and swirling and swashing in +pot-holes without a moment's rest. Thus, already chafed and dashed to +foam, overfolded and twisted, it plunges over the brink of the precipice +as if glad to escape into the open air. But before it reaches the bottom +it is pulverized yet finer by impinging upon a sloping portion of the +cliff about half-way down, thus making it the whitest of all the falls +of the Valley, and altogether one of the most wonderful in the world. +<br> +On the north side, close to its head, a slab of granite projects over the +brink, forming a fine point for a view, over its throng of streamers and +wild plunging, into its intensely white bosom, and through the broad +drifts of spray, to the river far below, gathering its spent waters and +rushing on again down the cañon in glad exultation into Emerald Pool, +where at length it grows calm and gets rest for what still lies before +it. All the features of the view correspond with the waters in grandeur +and wildness. The glacier sculptured walls of the cañon on either hand, +with the sublime mass of the Glacier Point Ridge in front, form a huge +triangular pit-like basin, which, filled with the roaring of the falling +river seems as if it might be the hopper of one of the mills of the gods +in which the mountains were being ground. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Vernal Fall</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Vernal, about a mile below the Nevada, is 400 feet high, a staid, +orderly, graceful, easy-going fall, proper and exact in every movement +and gesture, with scarce a hint of the passionate enthusiasm of the +Yosemite or of the impetuous Nevada, whose chafed and twisted waters +hurrying over the cliff seem glad to escape into the open air, while its +deep, booming, thunder-tones reverberate over the listening landscape. +Nevertheless it is a favorite with most visitors, doubtless because it +is more accessible than any other, more closely approached and better +seen and heard. A good stairway ascends the cliff beside it and the +level plateau at the head enables one to saunter safely along the edge +of the river as it comes from Emerald Pool and to watch its waters, +calmly bending over the brow of the precipice, in a sheet eighty feet +wide, changing in color from green to purplish gray and white until +dashed on a boulder talus. Thence issuing from beneath its fine broad +spray-clouds we see the tremendously adventurous river still unspent, +beating its way down the wildest and deepest of all its cañons in +gray roaring rapids, dear to the ouzel, and below the confluence of +the Illilouette, sweeping around the shoulder of the Half Dome on its +approach to the head of the tranquil levels of the Valley. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Illilouette Fall</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Illilouette in general appearance most resembles the Nevada. The +volume of water is less than half as great, but it is about the same +height (600 feet) and its waters receive the same kind of preliminary +tossing in a rocky, irregular channel. Therefore it is a very white and +fine-grained fall. When it is in full springtime bloom it is partly +divided by rocks that roughen the lip of the precipice, but this +division amounts only to a kind of fluting and grooving of the column, +which has a beautiful effect. It is not nearly so grand a fall as the +upper Yosemite, or so symmetrical as the Vernal, or so airily graceful +and simple as the Bridal Veil, nor does it ever display so tremendous +an outgush of snowy magnificence as the Nevada; but in the exquisite +fineness and richness of texture of its flowing folds it surpasses +them all. +<br> +One of the finest effects of sunlight on falling water I ever saw in +Yosemite or elsewhere I found on the brow of this beautiful fall. It +was in the Indian summer, when the leaf colors were ripe and the great +cliffs and domes were transfigured in the hazy golden air. I had +scrambled up its rugged talus-dammed cañon, oftentimes stopping to take +breath and look back to admire the wonderful views to be had there of +the great Half Dome, and to enjoy the extreme purity of the water, which +in the motionless pools on this stream is almost perfectly invisible; +the colored foliage of the maples, dogwoods, <i>Rubus</i> tangles, etc., and +the late goldenrods and asters. The voice of the fall was now low, and +the grand spring and summer floods had waned to sifting, drifting gauze +and thin-broidered folds of linked and arrowy lace-work. When I reached +the foot of the fall sunbeams were glinting across its head, leaving all +the rest of it in shadow; and on its illumined brow a group of yellow +spangles of singular form and beauty were playing, flashing up and +dancing in large flame-shaped masses, wavering at times, then steadying, +rising and falling in accord with the shifting forms of the water. But +the color of the dancing spangles changed not at all. Nothing in clouds +or flowers, on bird-wings or the lips of shells, could rival it in +fineness. It was the most divinely beautiful mass of rejoicing yellow +light I ever beheld--one of Nature's precious gifts that perchance may +come to us but once in a lifetime. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Minor Falls</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +There are many other comparatively small falls and cascades in the +Valley. The most notable are the Yosemite Gorge Fall and Cascades, +Tenaya Fall and Cascades, Royal Arch Falls, the two Sentinel Cascades +and the falls of Cascade and Tamarack Creeks, a mile or two below the +lower end of the Valley. These last are often visited. The others are +seldom noticed or mentioned; although in almost any other country they +would be visited and described as wonders. +<br> +The six intermediate falls in the gorge between the head of the Lower +and the base of the Upper Yosemite Falls, separated by a few deep pools +and strips of rapids, and three slender, tributary cascades on the west +side form a series more strikingly varied and combined than any other +in the Valley, yet very few of all the Valley visitors ever see them or +hear of them. No available standpoint commands a view of them all. The +best general view is obtained from the mouth of the gorge near the head +of the Lower Fall. The two lowest of the series, together with one of +the three tributary cascades, are visible from this standpoint, but in +reaching it the last twenty or thirty feet of the descent is rather +dangerous in time of high water, the shelving rocks being then slippery +on account of spray, but if one should chance to slip when the water is +low, only a bump or two and a harmless plash would be the penalty. No +part of the gorge, however, is safe to any but cautious climbers. +<br> +Though the dark gorge hall of these rejoicing waters is never flushed by +the purple light of morning or evening, it is warmed and cheered by the +white light of noonday, which, falling into so much foam and and spray +of varying degrees of fineness, makes marvelous displays of rainbow +colors. So filled, indeed, is it with this precious light, at favorable +times it seems to take the place of common air. Laurel bushes shed +fragrance into it from above and live-oaks, those fearless mountaineers, +hold fast to angular seams and lean out over it with their fringing +sprays and bright mirror leaves. +<br> +One bird, the ouzel, loves this gorge and flies through it merrily, or +cheerily, rather, stopping to sing on foam-washed bosses where other +birds could find no rest for their feet. I have even seen a gray +squirrel down in the heart of it beside the wild rejoicing water. +<br> +One of my favorite night walks was along the rim of this wild gorge in +times of high water when the moon was full, to see the lunar bows in the +spray. +<br> +For about a mile above Mirror Lake the Tenaya Cañon is level, and +richly planted with fir, Douglas spruce and libocedrus, forming a +remarkably fine grove, at the head of which is the Tenaya Fall. Though +seldom seen or described, this is, I think, the most picturesque of all +the small falls. A considerable distance above it, Tenaya Creek comes +hurrying down, white and foamy, over a flat pavement inclined at an +angle of about eighteen degrees. In time of high water this sheet of +rapids is nearly seventy feet wide, and is varied in a very striking way +by three parallel furrows that extend in the direction of its flow. +These furrows, worn by the action of the stream upon cleavage joints, +vary in width, are slightly sinuous, and have large boulders firmly +wedged in them here and there in narrow places, giving rise, of course, +to a complicated series of wild dashes, doublings, and upleaping arches +in the swift torrent. Just before it reaches the head of the fall the +current is divided, the left division making a vertical drop of about +eighty feet in a romantic, leafy, flowery, mossy nook, while the other +forms a rugged cascade. +<br> +The Royal Arch Fall in time of high water is a magnificent object, +forming a broad ornamental sheet in front of the arches. The two +Sentinel Cascades, 3000 feet high, are also grand spectacles when the +snow is melting fast in the spring, but by the middle of summer they +have diminished to mere streaks scarce noticeable amid their sublime +surroundings. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Beauty Of The Rainbows</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Bridal Veil and Vernal Falls are famous for their rainbows; and +special visits to them are often made when the sun shines into the spray +at the most favorable angle. But amid the spray and foam and fine-ground +mist ever rising from the various falls and cataracts there is an +affluence and variety of iris bows scarcely known to visitors who stay +only a day or two. Both day and night, winter and summer, this divine +light may be seen wherever water is falling dancing, singing; telling +the heart-peace of Nature amid the wildest displays of her power. In the +bright spring mornings the black-walled recess at the foot of the Lower +Yosemite Fall is lavishly fine with irised spray; and not simply does +this span the dashing foam, but the foam itself, the whole mass of it, +beheld at a certain distance, seems to be colored, and drips and wavers +from color to color, mingling with the foliage of the adjacent trees, +without suggesting any relationship to the ordinary rainbow. This is +perhaps the largest and most reservoir-like fountain of iris colors to +be found in the Valley. +<br> +Lunar rainbows or spray-bows also abound in the glorious affluence of +dashing, rejoicing, hurrahing, enthusiastic spring floods, their colors +as distinct as those of the sun and regularly and obviously banded, +though less vivid. Fine specimens may be found any night at the foot of +the Upper Yosemite Fall, glowing gloriously amid the gloomy shadows and +thundering waters, whenever there is plenty of moonlight and spray. Even +the secondary bow is at times distinctly visible. +<br> +The best point from which to observe them is on Fern Ledge. For some +time after moonrise, at time of high water, the arc has a span of about +five hundred feet, and is set upright; one end planted in the boiling +spray at the bottom, the other in the edge of the fall, creeping lower, +of course, and becoming less upright as the moon rises higher. This +grand arc of color, glowing in mild, shapely beauty in so weird and huge +a chamber of night shadows, and amid the rush and roar and tumultuous +dashing of this thunder-voiced fall, is one of the most impressive and +most cheering of all the blessed mountain evangels. +<br> +Smaller bows may be seen in the gorge on the plateau between the Upper +and Lower Falls. Once toward midnight, after spending a few hours with +the wild beauty of the Upper Fall, I sauntered along the edge of the +gorge, looking in here and there, wherever the footing felt safe, to see +what I could learn of the night aspects of the smaller falls that dwell +there. And down in an exceedingly black, pit-like portion of the gorge, +at the foot of the highest of the intermediate falls, into which the +moonbeams were pouring through a narrow opening, I saw a well-defined +spray-bow, beautifully distinct in colors, spanning the pit from side +to side, while pure white foam-waves beneath the beautiful bow were +constantly springing up out of the dark into the moonlight like dancing +ghosts. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">An Unexpected Adventure</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +A wild scene, but not a safe one, is made by the moon as it appears +through the edge of the Yosemite Fall when one is behind it. Once, after +enjoying the night-song of the waters and watching the formation of the +colored bow as the moon came round the domes and sent her beams into the +wild uproar, I ventured out on the narrow bench that extends back of the +fall from Fern Ledge and began to admire the dim-veiled grandeur of the +view. I could see the fine gauzy threads of the fall's filmy border by +having the light in front; and wishing to look at the moon through the +meshes of some of the denser portions of the fall, I ventured to creep +farther behind it while it was gently wind-swayed, without taking +sufficient thought about the consequences of its swaying back to its +natural position after the wind-pressure should be removed. The effect +was enchanting: fine, savage music sounding above, beneath, around me; +while the moon, apparently in the very midst of the rushing waters, +seemed to be struggling to keep her place, on account of the +ever-varying form and density of the water masses through which she was +seen, now darkly veiled or eclipsed by a rush of thick-headed comets, +now flashing out through openings between their tails. I was in +fairyland between the dark wall and the wild throng of illumined waters, +but suffered sudden disenchantment; for, like the witch-scene in Alloway +Kirk, "in an instant all was dark." Down came a dash of spent comets, +thin and harmless-looking in the distance, but they felt desperately +solid and stony when they struck my shoulders, like a mixture of choking +spray and gravel and big hailstones. Instinctively dropping on my knees, +I gripped an angle of the rock, curled up like a young fern frond with +my face pressed against my breast, and in this attitude submitted as +best I could to my thundering bath. The heavier masses seemed to strike +like cobblestones, and there was a confused noise of many waters about +my ears--hissing, gurgling, clashing sounds that were not heard as +music. The situation was quickly realized. How fast one's thoughts burn +in such times of stress! I was weighing chances of escape. Would the +column be swayed a few inches away from the wall, or would it come yet +closer? The fall was in flood and not so lightly would its ponderous +mass be swayed. My fate seemed to depend on a breath of the "idle wind." +It was moved gently forward, the pounding ceased, and I was once more +visited by glimpses of the moon. But fearing I might be caught at a +disadvantage in making too hasty a retreat, I moved only a few feet +along the bench to where a block of ice lay. I wedged myself between the +ice and the wall and lay face downwards, until the steadiness of the +light gave encouragement to rise and get away. Somewhat nerve-shaken, +drenched, and benumbed, I made out to build a fire, warmed myself, ran +home, reached my cabin before daylight, got an hour or two of sleep, +and awoke sound and comfortable, better, not worse for my hard midnight +bath. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Climate And Weather</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Owing to the westerly trend of the Valley and its vast depth there +is a great difference between the climates of the north and south +sides--greater than between many countries far apart; for the south wall +is in shadow during the winter months, while the north is bathed in +sunshine every clear day. Thus there is mild spring weather on one side +of the Valley while winter rules the other. Far up the north-side cliffs +many a nook may be found closely embraced by sun-beaten rock-bosses in +which flowers bloom every month of the year. Even butterflies may be +seen in these high winter gardens except when snow-storms are falling +and a few days after they have ceased. Near the head of the lower +Yosemite Fall in January I found the ant lions lying in wait in their +warm sand-cups, rock ferns being unrolled, club mosses covered with +fresh-growing plants, the flowers of the laurel nearly open, and the +honeysuckle rosetted with bright young leaves; every plant seemed to be +thinking about summer. Even on the shadow-side of the Valley the frost +is never very sharp. The lowest temperature I ever observed during four +winters was 7° Fahrenheit. The first twenty-four days of January +had an average temperature at 9 A.M. of 32°, minimum 22°; +at 3 P.M. the average was 40° 30′, the minimum 32°. Along +the top of the walls, 7000 and 8000 feet high, the temperature was, of +course, much lower. But the difference in temperature between the north +and south sides is due not so much to the winter sunshine as to the heat +of the preceding summer, stored up in the rocks, which rapidly melts the +snow in contact with them. For though summer sun-heat is stored in the +rocks of the south side also, the amount is much less because the rays +fall obliquely on the south wall even in summer and almost vertically +on the north. +<br> +The upper branches of the Yosemite streams are buried every winter +beneath a heavy mantle of snow, and set free in the spring in +magnificent floods. Then, all the fountains, full and overflowing, every +living thing breaks forth into singing, and the glad exulting streams +shining and falling in the warm sunny weather, shake everything into +music making all the mountain-world a song. +<br> +The great annual spring thaw usually begins in May in the forest region, +and in June and July on the high Sierra, varying somewhat both in time +and fullness with the weather and the depth of the snow. Toward the end +of summer the streams are at their lowest ebb, few even of the strongest +singing much above a whisper they slip and ripple through gravel and +boulder-beds from pool to pool in the hollows of their channels, and +drop in pattering showers like rain, and slip down precipices and fall +in sheets of embroidery, fold over fold. But, however low their singing, +it is always ineffably fine in tone, in harmony with the restful time of +the year. +<br> +The first snow of the season that comes to the help of the streams +usually falls in September or October, sometimes even is the latter part +of August, in the midst of yellow Indian summer when the goldenrods and +gentians of the glacier meadows are is their prime. This Indian-summer +snow, however, soon melts, the chilled flowers spread their petals to +the sun, and the gardens as well as the streams are refreshed as if only +a warm shower had fallen. The snow-storms that load the mountains to +form the main fountain supply for the year seldom set in before the +middle or end of November. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Winter Beauty Of The Valley</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +When the first heavy storms stopped work on the high mountains, I made +haste down to my Yosemite den, not to "hole up" and sleep the white +months away; I was out every day, and often all night, sleeping but +little, studying the so-called wonders and common things ever on show, +wading, climbing, sauntering among the blessed storms and calms, +rejoicing in almost everything alike that I could see or hear: the +glorious brightness of frosty mornings; the sunbeams pouring over the +white domes and crags into the groves end waterfalls, kindling marvelous +iris fires in the hoarfrost and spray; the great forests and mountains +in their deep noon sleep; the good-night alpenglow; the stars; the +solemn gazing moon, drawing the huge domes and headlands one by one +glowing white out of the shadows hushed and breathless like an audience +in awful enthusiasm, while the meadows at their feet sparkle with +frost-stars like the sky; the sublime darkness of storm-nights, when all +the lights are out; the clouds in whose depths the frail snow-flowers +grow; the behavior and many voices of the different kinds of storms, +trees, birds, waterfalls, and snow-avalanches in the ever-changing +weather. +<br> +Every clear, frosty morning loud sounds are heard booming and +reverberating from side to side of the Valley at intervals of a few +minutes, beginning soon after sunrise and continuing an hour or two like +a thunder-storm. In my first winter in the Valley I could not make out +the source of this noise. I thought of falling boulders, rock-blasting, +etc. Not till I saw what looked like hoarfrost dropping from the side of +the Fall was the problem explained. The strange thunder is made by the +fall of sections of ice formed of spray that is frozen on the face of +the cliff along the sides of the Upper Yosemite Fan--a sort of crystal +plaster, a foot or two thick, racked off by the sunbeams, awakening all +the Valley like cock-crowing, announcing the finest weather, shouting +aloud Nature's infinite industry and love of hard work in creating +beauty. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Exploring An Ice Cone</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +This frozen spray gives rise to one of the most interesting winter +features of the Valley--a cone of ice at the foot of the fall, four or +five hundred feet high. From the Fern Ledge standpoint its crater-like +throat is seen, down which the fall plunges with deep, gasping +explosions of compressed air, and, after being well churned in the wormy +interior, the water bursts forth through arched openings at its base, +apparently scourged and weary and glad to escape, while belching spray, +spouted up out of the throat past the descending current, is wafted +away in irised drifts to the adjacent rocks and groves. It is built +during the night and early hours of the morning; only in spells of +exceptionally cold and cloudy weather is the work continued through the +day. The greater part of the spray material falls in crystalline showers +direct to its place, something like a small local snow-storm; but a +considerable portion is first frozen on the face of the cliff along the +sides of the fall and stays there until expanded and cracked off in +irregular masses, some of them tons in weight, to be built into the +walls of the cone; while in windy, frosty weather, when the fall is +swayed from side to side, the cone is well drenched and the loose ice +masses and spray-dust are all firmly welded and frozen together. Thus +the finest of the downy wafts and curls of spray-dust, which in mild +nights fall about as silently as dew, are held back until sunrise to +make a store of heavy ice to reinforce the waterfall's thunder-tones. +<br> +While the cone is in process of formation, growing higher and wider in +the frosty weather, it looks like a beautiful smooth, pure-white hill; +but when it is wasting and breaking up in the spring its surface is +strewn with leaves, pine branches, stones, sand, etc., that have been +brought over the fall, making it look like a heap of avalanche detritus. +<br> +Anxious to learn what I could about the structure of this curious hill +I often approached it in calm weather and tried to climb it, carrying +an ax to cut steps. Once I nearly succeeded in gaining the summit. At +the base I was met by a current of spray and wind that made seeing and +breathing difficult. I pushed on backward however, and soon gained the +slope of the hill, where by creeping close to the surface most of the +choking blast passed over me and I managed to crawl up with but little +difficulty. Thus I made my way nearly to the summit, halting at times +to peer up through the wild whirls of spray at the veiled grandeur of +the fall, or to listen to the thunder beneath me; the whole hill was +sounding as if it were a huge, bellowing drum. I hoped that by waiting +until the fall was blown aslant I should be able to climb to the lip of +the crater and get a view of the interior; but a suffocating blast, half +air, half water, followed by the fall of an enormous mass of frozen +spray from a spot high up on the wall, quickly discouraged me. The whole +cone was jarred by the blow and some fragments of the mass sped past me +dangerously near; so I beat a hasty retreat, chilled and drenched, and +lay down on a sunny rock to dry. +<br> +Once during a wind-storm when I saw that the fall was frequently blown +westward, leaving the cone dry, I ran up to Fern Ledge hoping to gain a +clear view of the interior. I set out at noon. All the way up the storm +notes were so loud about me that the voice of the fall was almost +drowned by them. Notwithstanding the rocks and bushes everywhere were +drenched by the wind-driven spray, I approached the brink of the +precipice overlooking the mouth of the ice cone, but I was almost +suffocated by the drenching, gusty spray, and was compelled to seek +shelter. I searched for some hiding-place in the wall from whence I +might run out at some opportune moment when the fall with its whirling +spray and torn shreds of comet tails and trailing, tattered skirts was +borne westward, as I had seen it carried several times before, leaving +the cliffs on the east side and the ice hill bare in the sunlight. I had +not long to wait, for, as if ordered so for my special accommodation, +the mighty downrush of comets with their whirling drapery swung westward +and remained aslant for nearly half an hour. The cone was admirably +lighted and deserted by the water, which fell most of the time on the +rocky western slopes mostly outside of the cone. The mouth into which +the fall pours was, as near as I could guess, about one hundred feet in +diameter north and south and about two hundred feet east and west, which +is about the shape and size of the fall at its best in its normal +condition at this season. +<br> +The crater-like opening was not a true oval, but more like a huge coarse +mouth. I could see down the throat about one hundred feet or perhaps +farther. +<br> +The fall precipice overhangs from a height of 400 feet above the base; +therefore the water strikes some distance from the base off the cliff, +allowing space for the accumulation of a considerable mass of ice +between the fall and the wall. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 2<br> +Winter Storms and Spring Floods</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +The Bridal Veil and the Upper Yosemite Falls, on account of their height +and exposure, are greatly influenced by winds. The common summer winds +that come up the river cañon from the plains are seldom very strong; +but the north winds do some very wild work, worrying the falls and the +forests, and hanging snow-banners on the comet-peaks. One wild winter +morning I was awakened by storm-wind that was playing with the falls as +if they were mere wisps of mist and making the great pines bow and sing +with glorious enthusiasm. The Valley had been visited a short time +before by a series of fine snow-storms, and the floor and the cliffs and +all the region round about were lavishly adorned with its best winter +jewelry, the air was full of fine snow-dust, and pine branches, tassels +and empty cones were flying in an almost continuous flock. +<br> +Soon after sunrise, when I was seeking a place safe from flying +branches, I saw the Lower Yosemite Fall thrashed and pulverized from top +to bottom into one glorious mass of rainbow dust; while a thousand feet +above it the main Upper Fall was suspended on the face of the cliff in +the form of an inverted bow, all silvery white and fringed with short +wavering strips. Then, suddenly assailed by a tremendous blast, the +whole mass of the fall was blown into thread and ribbons, and driven +back over the brow of the cliff whence it came, as if denied admission +to the Valley. This kind of storm-work was continued about ten or +fifteen minutes; then another change in the play of the huge exulting +swirls and billows and upheaving domes of the gale allowed the baffled +fall to gather and arrange its tattered waters, and sink down again in +its place. As the day advanced, the gale gave no sign of dying, +excepting brief lulls, the Valley was filled with its weariless roar, +and the cloudless sky grew garish-white from myriads of minute, +sparkling snow-spicules. In the afternoon, while I watched the Upper +Fall from the shelter of a big pine tree, it was suddenly arrested in +its descent at a point about half-way down, and was neither blown upward +nor driven aside, but simply held stationary in mid-air, as if +gravitation below that point in the path of its descent had ceased to +act. The ponderous flood, weighing hundreds of tons, was sustained, +hovering, hesitating, like a bunch of thistledown, while I counted one +hundred and ninety. All this time the ordinary amount of water was +coming over the cliff and accumulating in the air, swedging and widening +and forming an irregular cone about seven hundred feet high, tapering to +the top of the wall, the whole standing still, jesting on the invisible +arm of the North Wind. At length, as if commanded to go on again, scores +of arrowy comets shot forth from the bottom of the suspended mass as if +escaping from separate outlets. +<br> +The brow of El Capitan was decked with long snow-streamers like hair, +Clouds' Rest was fairly enveloped in drifting gossamer elms, and the Half +Dome loomed up in the garish light like a majestic, living creature clad +in the same gauzy, wind-woven drapery, while upward currents meeting at +times overhead made it smoke like a volcano. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">An Extraordinary Storm And Flood</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Glorious as are these rocks and waters arrayed in storm robes, or +chanting rejoicing in every-day dress, they are still more glorious when +rare weather conditions meet to make them sing with floods. Only once +during all the years I have lived in the Valley have I seen it in full +flood bloom. In 1871 the early winter weather was delightful; the days +all sunshine, the nights all starry and calm, calling forth fine crops +of frost-crystals on the pines and withered ferns and grasses for the +morning sunbeams to sift through. In the afternoon of December 16, when +I was sauntering on the meadows, I noticed a massive crimson cloud +growing in solitary grandeur above the Cathedral Rocks, its form +scarcely less striking than its color. It had a picturesque, bulging +base like an old sequoia, a smooth, tapering stem, and a bossy, +down-curling crown like a mushroom; all its parts were colored alike, +making one mass of translucent crimson. Wondering what the meaning of +that strange, lonely red cloud might be, I was up betimes next morning +looking at the weather, but all seemed tranquil as yet. Towards noon +gray clouds with a lose, curly grain like bird's-eye maple began to +grow, and late at night rain fell, which soon changed to snow. Next +morning the snow on the meadows was about ten inches deep, and it was +still falling in a fine, cordial storm. During the night of the 18th +heavy rain fell on the snow, but as the temperature was 34 degrees, the +snow-line was only a few hundred feet above the bottom of the Valley, and +one had only to climb a little higher than the tops of the pines to get +out of the rain-storm into the snow-storm. The streams, instead of being +increased in volume by the storm, were diminished, because the snow +sponged up part of their waters and choked the smaller tributaries. But +about midnight the temperature suddenly rose to 42°, carrying +the snow-line far beyond the Valley walls, and next morning Yosemite +was rejoicing in a glorious flood. The comparatively warm rain falling +on the snow was at first absorbed and held back, and so also was that +portion of the snow that the rain melted, and all that was melted by the +warm wind, until the whole mass of snow was saturated and became sludgy, +and at length slipped and rushed simultaneously from a thousand slopes +in wildest extravagance, heaping and swelling flood over flood, and +plunging into the Valley in stupendous avalanches. +<br> +Awakened by the roar, I looked out and at once recognized the +extraordinary character of the storm. The rain was still pouring in +torrent abundance and the wind at gale speed was doing all it could with +the flood-making rain. +<br> +The section of the north wall visible from my cabin was fairly streaked +with new falls--wild roaring singers that seemed strangely out of place. +Eager to get into the midst of the show, I snatched a piece of bread for +breakfast and ran out. The mountain waters, suddenly liberated, seemed +to be holding a grand jubilee. The two Sentinel Cascades rivaled the +great falls at ordinary stages, and across the Valley by the Three +Brothers I caught glimpses of more falls than I could readily count; +while the whole Valley throbbed and trembled, and was filled with an +awful, massive, solemn, sea-like roar. After gazing a while enchanted +with the network of new falls that were adorning and transfiguring every +rock in sight, I tried to reach the upper meadows, where the Valley is +widest, that I might be able to see the walls on both sides, and thus +gain general views. But the river was over its banks and the meadows +were flooded, forming an almost continuous lake dotted with blue sludgy +islands, while innumerable streams roared like lions across my path and +were sweeping forward rocks and logs with tremendous energy over ground +where tiny gilias had been growing but a short time before. Climbing +into the talus slopes, where these savage torrents were broken among +earthquake boulders, I managed to cross them, and force my way up the +Valley to Hutchings' Bridge, where I crossed the river and waded to the +middle of the upper meadow. Here most of the new falls were in sight, +probably the most glorious assemblage of waterfalls ever displayed from +any one standpoint. On that portion of the south wall between Hutchings' +and the Sentinel there were ten falls plunging and booming from a height +of nearly three thousand feet, the smallest of which might have been +heard miles away. In the neighborhood of Glacier Point there were six; +between the Three Brothers and Yosemite Fall, nine; between Yosemite and +Royal Arch Falls, ten; from Washington Column to Mount Watkins, ten; on +the slopes of Half Dome and Clouds' Rest, facing Mirror Lake and Tenaya +Cañon, eight; on the shoulder of Half Dome, facing the Valley, three; +fifty-six new falls occupying the upper end of the Valley, besides a +countless host of silvery threads gleaming everywhere. In all the Valley +there must have been upwards of a hundred. As if celebrating some +great event, falls and cascades in Yosemite costume were coming down +everywhere from fountain basins, far and near; and, though newcomers, +they behaved and sang as if they had lived here always. +<br> +All summer-visitors will remember the comet forms of the Yosemite Fall +and the laces of the Bridal Veil and Nevada. In the falls of this +winter jubilee the lace forms predominated, but there was no lack of +thunder-toned comets. The lower portion of one of the Sentinel Cascades +was composed of two main white torrents with the space between them +filled in with chained and beaded gauze of intricate pattern, through +the singing threads of which the purplish-gray rock could be dimly seen. +The series above Glacier Point was still more complicated in structure, +displaying every form that one could imagine water might be dashed and +combed and woven into. Those on the north wall between Washington Column +and the Royal Arch Fall were so nearly related they formed an almost +continuous sheet, and these again were but slightly separated from those +about Indian Cañon. The group about the Three Brothers and El Capitan, +owing to the topography and cleavage of the cliffs back of them, was +more broken and irregular. The Tissiack Cascades were comparatively +small, yet sufficient to give that noblest of mountain rocks a glorious +voice. In the midst of all this extravagant rejoicing the great Yosemite +Fall was scarce heard until about three o'clock in the afternoon. Then I +was startled by a sudden thundering crash as if a rock avalanche had +come to the help of the roaring waters. This was the flood-wave of +Yosemite Creek, which had just arrived delayed by the distance it had to +travel, and by the choking snows of its widespread fountains. Now, with +volume tenfold increased beyond its springtime fullness, it took its +place as leader of the glorious choir. +<br> +And the winds, too, were singing in wild accord, playing on every tree +and rock, surging against the huge brows and domes and outstanding +battlements, deflected hither and thither and broken into a thousand +cascading, roaring currents in the cañons, and low bass, drumming +swirls in the hollows. And these again, reacting on the clouds, eroded +immense cavernous spaces in their gray depths and swept forward the +resulting detritus in ragged trains like the moraines of glaciers. These +cloud movements in turn published the work of the winds, giving them +a visible body, and enabling us to trace them. As if endowed with +independent motion, a detached cloud would rise hastily to the very top +of the wall as if on some important errand, examining the faces of the +cliffs, and then perhaps as suddenly descend to sweep imposingly along +the meadows, trailing its draggled fringes through the pines, fondling +the waving spires with infinite gentleness, or, gliding behind a grove +or a single tree, bringing it into striking relief, as it bowed and +waved in solemn rhythm. Sometimes, as the busy clouds drooped and +condensed or dissolved to misty gauze, half of the Valley would be +suddenly veiled, leaving here and there some lofty headland cut off from +all visible connection with the walls, looming alone, dim, spectral, as +if belonging to the sky--visitors, like the new falls, come to take part +in the glorious festival. Thus for two days and nights in measureless +extravagance the storm went on, and mostly without spectators, at least +of a terrestrial kind. I saw nobody out--bird, bear, squirrel, or man. +Tourists had vanished months before, and the hotel people and laborers +were out of sight, careful about getting cold, and satisfied with views +from windows. The bears, I suppose, were in their cañon-boulder dens, +the squirrels in their knot-hole nests, the grouse in close fir groves, +and the small singers in the Indian Cañon chaparral, trying to keep +warm and dry. Strange to say, I did not see even the water-ouzels, +though they must have greatly enjoyed the storm. +<br> +This was the most sublime waterfall flood I ever saw--clouds, winds, +rocks, waters, throbbing together as one. And then to contemplate what +was going on simultaneously with all this in other mountain temples; the +Big Tuolumne Cañon--how the white waters and the winds were singing +there! And in Hetch Hetchy Valley and the great King's River yosemite, +and in all the other Sierra cañons and valleys from Shasta to the +southernmost fountains of the Kern, thousands of rejoicing flood +waterfalls chanting together in jubilee dress. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 3<br> +Snow-Storms</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +As has been already stated, the first of the great snow-storms that +replenish the Yosemite fountains seldom sets in before the end of +November. Then, warned by the sky, wide-awake mountaineers, together +with the deer and most of the birds, make haste to the lowlands or +foothills; and burrowing marmots, mountain beavers, wood-rats, and other +small mountain people, go into winter quarters, some of them not again +to see the light of day until the general awakening and resurrection of +the spring in June or July. The fertile clouds, drooping and condensing +in brooding silence, seem to be thoughtfully examining the forests and +streams with reference to the work that lies before them. At length, all +their plans perfected, tufted flakes and single starry crystals come in +sight, solemnly swirling and glinting to their blessed appointed places; +and soon the busy throng fills the sky and makes darkness like night. +The first heavy fall is usually from about two to four feet in depth +then with intervals of days or weeks of bright weather storm succeeds +storm, heaping snow on snow, until thirty to fifty feet has fallen. But +on account of its settling and compacting, and waste from melting and +evaporation, the average depth actually found at any time seldom exceeds +ten feet in the forest regions, or fifteen feet along the slopes of the +summit peaks. After snow-storms come avalanches, varying greatly in +form, size, behavior and in the songs they sing; some on the smooth +slopes of the mountains are short and broad; others long and river-like +in the side cañons of yosemites and in the main cañons, flowing in +regular channels and booming like waterfalls, while countless smaller +ones fall everywhere from laden trees and rocks and lofty cañon walls. +Most delightful it is to stand in the middle of Yosemite on still clear +mornings after snow-storms and watch the throng of avalanches as they +come down, rejoicing, to their places, whispering, thrilling like birds, +or booming and roaring like thunder. The noble yellow pines stand hushed +and motionless as if under a spell until the morning sunshine begins to +sift through their laden spires; then the dense masses on the ends of +the leafy branches begin to shift and fall, those from the upper +branches striking the lower ones in succession, enveloping each tree in +a hollow conical avalanche of fairy fineness; while the relieved +branches spring up and wave with startling effect in the general +stillness, as if each tree was moving of its own volition. Hundreds of +broad cloud-shaped masses may also be seen, leaping over the brows of +the cliffs from great heights, descending at first with regular +avalanche speed until, worn into dust by friction, they float in front +of the precipices like irised clouds. Those which descend from the brow +of El Capitan are particularly fine; but most of the great Yosemite +avalanches flow in regular channels like cascades and waterfalls. When +the snow first gives way on the upper slopes of their basins, a dull +rushing, rumbling sound is heard which rapidly increases and seems to +draw nearer with appalling intensity of tone. Presently the white flood +comes bounding into sight over bosses and sheer places, leaping from +bench to bench, spreading and narrowing and throwing off clouds of +whirling dust like the spray of foaming cataracts. Compared with +waterfalls and cascades, avalanches are short-lived, few of them lasting +more than a minute or two, and the sharp, clashing sounds so common in +falling water are mostly wanting; but in their low massy thundertones +and purple-tinged whiteness, and in their dress, gait, gestures and +general behavior, they are much alike. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Avalanches</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Besides these common after-storm avalanches that are to be found not +only in the Yosemite but in all the deep, sheer-walled cañon of the +Range there are two other important kinds, which may be called annual +and century avalanches, which still further enrich the scenery. The only +place about the Valley where one may be sure to see the annual kind is +on the north slope of Clouds' Rest. They are composed of heavy, compacted +snow, which has been subjected to frequent alternations of freezing and +thawing. They are developed on cañon and mountain-sides at an elevation +of from nine to ten thousand feet, where the slopes are inclined at an +angle too low to shed off the dry winter snow, and which accumulates +until the spring thaws sap their foundations and make them slippery; +then away in grand style go the ponderous icy masses without any fine +snow-dust. Those of Clouds' Rest descend like thunderbolts for more than +a mile. +<br> +The great century avalanches and the kind that mow wide swaths through +the upper forests occur on mountain-sides about ten or twelve thousand +feet high, where under ordinary weather conditions the snow accumulated +from winter to winter lies at rest for many years, allowing trees, fifty +to a hundred feet high, to grow undisturbed on the slopes beneath them. +On their way down through the woods they seldom fail to make a perfectly +clean sweep, stripping off the soil as well as the trees, clearing paths +two or three hundred yards wide from the timber line to the glacier +meadows or lakes, and piling their uprooted trees, head downward, in +rows along the sides of the gaps like lateral moraines. Scars and broken +branches of the trees standing on the sides of the gaps record the depth +of the overwhelming flood; and when we come to count the annual +wood-rings on the uprooted trees we learn that some of these immense +avalanches occur only once in a century or even at still wider +intervals. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">A Ride On An Avalanche</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Few Yosemite visitors ever see snow avalanches and fewer still know the +exhilaration of riding on them. In all my mountaineering I have enjoyed +only one avalanche ride, and the start was so sudden and the end came +so soon I had but little time to think of the danger that attends this +sort of travel, though at such times one thinks fast. One fine Yosemite +morning after a heavy snowfall, being eager to see as many avalanches +as possible and wide views of the forest and summit peaks in their new +white robes before the sunshine had time to change them, I set out early +to climb by a side cañon to the top of a commanding ridge a little over +three thousand feet above the Valley. On account of the looseness of +the snow that blocked the cañon I knew the climb would require a long +time, some three or four hours as I estimated; but it proved far more +difficult than I had anticipated. Most of the way I sank waist deep, +almost out of sight in some places. After spending the whole day to +within half an hour or so of sundown, I was still several hundred feet +below the summit. Then my hopes were reduced to getting up in time to +see the sunset. But I was not to get summit views of any sort that day, +for deep trampling near the cañon head, where the snow was strained, +started an avalanche, and I was swished down to the foot of the cañon +as if by enchantment. The wallowing ascent had taken nearly all day, the +descent only about a minute. When the avalanche started I threw myself +on my back and spread my arms to try to keep from sinking. Fortunately, +though the grade of the cañon is very steep, it is not interrupted by +precipices large enough to cause outbounding or free plunging. On no +part of the rush was I buried. I was only moderately imbedded on the +surface or at times a little below it, and covered with a veil of +back-streaming dust particles; and as the whole mass beneath and about +me joined in the flight there was no friction, though I was tossed here +and there and lurched from side to side. When the avalanche swedged and +came to rest I found myself on top of the crumpled pile without bruise +or scar. This was a fine experience. Hawthorne says somewhere that steam +has spiritualized travel; though unspiritual smells, smoke, etc., still +attend steam travel. This flight in what might be called a milky way of +snow-stars was the most spiritual and exhilarating of all the modes of +motion I have ever experienced. Elijah's flight in a chariot of fire +could hardly have been more gloriously exciting. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Streams In Other Seasons</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +In the spring, after all the avalanches are down and the snow is melting +fast, then all the Yosemite streams, from their fountains to their +falls, sing their grandest songs. Countless rills make haste to the +rivers, running and singing soon after sunrise, louder and louder with +increasing volume until sundown; then they gradually fail through the +frosty hours of the night. In this way the volume of the upper branches +of the river is nearly doubled during the day, rising and falling as +regularly as the tides of the sea. Then the Merced overflows its banks, +flooding the meadows, sometimes almost from wall to wall in some places, +beginning to rise towards sundown just when the streams on the fountains +are beginning to diminish, the difference in time of the daily rise and +fall being caused by the distance the upper flood streams have to travel +before reaching the Valley. In the warmest weather they seem fairly to +shout for joy and clash their upleaping waters together like clapping +of hands; racing down the cañons with white manes flying in glorious +exuberance of strength, compelling huge, sleeping boulders to wake up +and join in their dance and song, to swell their exulting chorus. +<br> +In early summer, after the flood season, the Yosemite streams are in +their prime, running crystal clear, deep and full but not overflowing +their banks--about as deep through the night as the day, the difference +in volume so marked in spring being now too slight to be noticed. Nearly +all the weather is cloudless and everything is at its brightest--lake, +river, garden and forest with all their life. Most of the plants are in +full flower. The blessed ouzels have built their mossy huts and are now +singing their best songs with the streams. +<br> +In tranquil, mellow autumn, when the year's work is about done and +the fruits are ripe, birds and seeds out of their nests, and all the +landscape is glowing like a benevolent countenance, then the streams +are at their lowest ebb, with scarce a memory left of their wild spring +floods. The small tributaries that do not reach back to the lasting +snow fountains of the summit peaks shrink to whispering, tinkling +currents. After the snow is gone from the basins, excepting occasional +thundershowers, they are now fed only by small springs whose waters +are mostly evaporated in passing over miles of warm pavements, and in +feeling their way slowly from pool to pool through the midst of boulders +and sand. Even the main rivers are so low they may easily be forded, and +their grand falls and cascades, now gentle and approachable, have waned +to sheets of embroidery. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 4<br> +Snow Banners</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +But it is on the mountain tops, when they are laden with loose, dry snow +and swept by a gale from the north, that the most magnificent storm +scenery is displayed. The peaks along the axis of the Range are then +decorated with resplendent banners, some of them more than a mile long, +shining, streaming, waving with solemn exuberant enthusiasm as if +celebrating some surpassingly glorious event. +<br> +The snow of which these banners are made falls on the high Sierra in +most extravagant abundance, sometimes to a depth of fifteen or twenty +feet, coming from the fertile clouds not in large angled flakes such as +one oftentimes sees in Yosemite, seldom even in complete crystals, for +many of the starry blossoms fall before they are ripe, while most of +those that attain perfect development as six-petaled flowers are more +or less broken by glinting and chafing against one another on the +way down to their work. This dry frosty snow is prepared for the grand +banner-waving celebrations by the action of the wind. Instead of at +once finding rest like that which falls into the tranquil depths of +the forest, it is shoved and rolled and beaten against boulders and +out-jutting rocks, swirled in pits and hollows like sand in river +pot-holes, and ground into sparkling dust. And when storm winds find +this snow-dust in a loose condition on the slopes above the timber-line +they toss it back into the sky and sweep it onward from peak to peak +in the form of smooth regular banners, or in cloudy drifts, according +to the velocity and direction of the wind, and the conformation of the +slopes over which it is driven. While thus flying through the air a +small portion escapes from the mountains to the sky as vapor; but far +the greater part is at length locked fast in bossy overcurling cornices +along the ridges, or in stratified sheets in the glacier cirques, some +of it to replenish the small residual glaciers and remain silent and +rigid for centuries before it is finally melted and sent singing down +home to the sea. +<br> +But, though snow-dust and storm-winds abound on the mountains, regular +shapely banners are, for causes we shall presently see, seldom produced. +During the five winters that I spent in Yosemite I made many excursions +to high points above the walls in all kinds of weather to see what was +going on outside; from all my lofty outlooks I saw only one banner-storm +that seemed in every way perfect. This was in the winter of 1873, when +the snow-laden peaks were swept by a powerful norther. I was awakened +early in the morning by a wild storm-wind and of course I had to make +haste to the middle of the Valley to enjoy it. Rugged torrents and +avalanches from the main wind-flood overhead were roaring down the side +cañons and over the cliffs, arousing the rocks and the trees and the +streams alike into glorious hurrahing enthusiasm, shaking the whole +Valley into one huge song. Yet inconceivable as it must seem even to +those who love all Nature's wildness, the storm was telling its story +on the mountains in still grander characters. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">A Wonderful Winter Scene</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +I had long been anxious to study some points in the structure of the +ice-hill at the foot of the Upper Yosemite Fall, but, as I have already +explained, blinding spray had hitherto prevented me from getting +sufficiently near it. This morning the entire body of the Fall was +oftentimes torn into gauzy strips and blown horizontally along the face +of the cliff, leaving the ice-hill dry; and while making my way to the +top of Fern Ledge to seize so favorable an opportunity to look down its +throat, the peaks of the Merced group came in sight over the shoulder of +the South Dome, each waving a white glowing banner against the dark blue +sky, as regular in form and firm and fine in texture as if it were made +of silk. So rare and splendid a picture, of course, smothered everything +else and I at once began to scramble and wallow up the snow-choked +Indian Cañon to a ridge about 8000 feet high, commanding a general +view of the main summits along the axis of the Range, feeling assured I +should find them bannered still more gloriously; nor was I in the least +disappointed. I reached the top of the ridge in four or five hours, and +through an opening in the woods the most imposing wind-storm effect I +ever beheld came full in sight; unnumbered mountains rising sharply +into the cloudless sky, their bases solid white their sides plashed with +snow, like ocean rocks with foam, and on every summit a magnificent +silvery banner, from two thousand to six thousand feet in length, +slender at the point of attachment, and widening gradually until about +a thousand or fifteen hundred feet in breadth, and as shapely and as +substantial looking in texture as the banners of the finest silk, all +streaming and waving free and clear in the sun-glow with nothing to blur +the sublime picture they made. +<br> +Fancy yourself standing beside me on this Yosemite Ridge. There is a +strange garish glitter in the air and the gale drives wildly overhead, +but you feel nothing of its violence, for you are looking out through a +sheltered opening in the woods, as through a window. In the immediate +foreground there is a forest of silver fir their foliage warm +yellow-green, and the snow beneath them strewn with their plumes, +plucked off by the storm; and beyond broad, ridgy, cañon-furrowed, +dome-dotted middle ground, darkened here and there with belts of pines, +you behold the lofty snow laden mountains in glorious array, waving +their banners with jubilant enthusiasm as if shouting aloud for joy. +They are twenty miles away, but you would not wish them nearer, for +every feature is distinct and the whole wonderful show is seen in its +right proportions, like a painting on the sky. +<br> +And now after this general view, mark how sharply the ribs and +buttresses and summits of the mountains are defined, excepting the +portions veiled by the banners; how gracefully and nobly the banners +are waving in accord with the throbbing of the wind flood; how trimly +each is attached to the very summit of its peak like a streamer at a +mast-head; how bright and glowing white they are, and how finely their +fading fringes are penciled on the sky! See how solid white and opaque +they are at the point of attachment and how filmy and translucent toward +the end, so that the parts of the peaks past which they are streaming +look dim as if seen through a veil of ground glass. And see how some of +the longest of the banners on the highest peaks are streaming perfectly +free from peak to peak across intervening notches or passes, while +others overlap and partly hide one another. +<br> +As to their formation, we find that the main causes of the wondrous +beauty and perfection of those we are looking at are the favorable +direction and force of the wind, the abundance of snow-dust, and the +form of the north sides of the peaks. In general, the north sides are +concave in both their horizontal and vertical sections, having been +sculptured into this shape by the residual glaciers that lingered in +the protecting northern shadows, while the sun-beaten south sides, +having never been subjected to this kind of glaciation, are convex or +irregular. It is essential, therefore, not only that the wind should +move with great velocity and steadiness to supply a sufficiently copious +and continuous stream of snow-dust, but that it should come from the +north. No perfect banner is ever hung on the Sierra peaks by the south +wind. Had the gale today blown from the south, leaving the other +conditions unchanged, only swirling, interfering, cloudy drifts would +have been produced; for the snow, instead of being spouted straight up +and over the tops of the peaks in condensed currents to be drawn out as +streamers, would have been driven over the convex southern slopes from +peak to peak like white pearly fog. +<br> +It appears, therefore, that shadows in great part determine not only the +forms of lofty ice mountains, but also those of the snow banners that +the wild winds hang upon them. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Earthquake Storms</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The avalanche taluses, leaning against the walls at intervals of a mile +or two, are among the most striking and interesting of the secondary +features of the Valley. They are from about three to five hundred feet +high, made up of huge, angular, well-preserved, unshifting boulders, and +instead of being slowly weathered from the cliffs like ordinary taluses, +they were all formed suddenly and simultaneously by a great earthquake +that occurred at least three centuries ago. And though thus hurled into +existence in a few seconds or minutes, they are the least changeable of +all the Sierra soil-beds. Excepting those which were launched directly +into the channels of swift rivers, scarcely one of their wedged and +interlacing boulders has moved since the day of their creation; and +though mostly made up of huge blocks of granite, many of them from ten +to fifty feet cube, weighing thousands of tons with only a few small +chips, trees and shrubs make out to live and thrive on them and even +delicate herbaceous plants--draperia, collomia, zauschneria, etc., +soothing and coloring their wild rugged slopes with gardens and groves. +<br> +I was long in doubt on some points concerning the origin of those +taluses. Plainly enough they were derived from the cliffs above them, +because they are of the size of scars on the wall, the rough angular +surface of which contrasts with the rounded, glaciated, unfractured +parts. It was plain, too, that instead of being made up of material +slowly and gradually weathered from the cliffs like ordinary taluses, +almost every one of them had been formed suddenly in a single avalanche, +and had not been increased in size during the last three or four +centuries, for trees three or four hundred years old are growing on +them, some standing at the top close to the wall without a bruise or +broken branch, showing that scarcely a single boulder had ever fallen +among them. Furthermore, all these taluses throughout the Range seemed +by the trees and lichens growing on them to be of the same age. All +the phenomena thus pointed straight to a grand ancient earthquake. But +for years I left the question open, and went on from cañon to cañon, +observing again and again; measuring the heights of taluses throughout +the Range on both flanks, and the variations in the angles of their +surface slopes; studying the way their boulders had been assorted and +related and brought to rest, and their correspondence in size with the +cleavage joints of the cliffs from whence they were derived, cautious +about making up my mind. But at last all doubt as to their formation +vanished. +<br> +At half-past two o'clock of a moonlit morning in March, I was awakened +by a tremendous earthquake, and though I had never before enjoyed a +storm of this sort, the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, +and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, "A noble +earthquake! A noble earthquake!" feeling sure I was going to learn +something. The shocks were so violent and varied, and succeeded one +another so closely, that I had to balance myself carefully in walking as +if on the deck of a ship among waves, and it seemed impossible that the +high cliffs of the Valley could escape being shattered. In particular, +I feared that the sheer-fronted Sentinel Rock, towering above my cabin, +would be shaken down, and I took shelter back of a large yellow pine, +hoping that it might protect me from at least the smaller outbounding +boulders. For a minute or two the shocks became more and more +violent--flashing horizontal thrusts mixed with a few twists and +battering, explosive, upheaving jolts,--as if Nature were wrecking her +Yosemite temple, and getting ready to build a still better one. +<br> +I was now convinced before a single boulder had fallen that earthquakes +were the talus-makers and positive proof soon came. It was a calm +moonlight night, and no sound was heard for the first minute or so, save +low, muffled, underground, bubbling rumblings, and the whispering and +rustling of the agitated trees, as if Nature were holding her breath. +Then, suddenly, out of the strange silence and strange motion there came +a tremendous roar. The Eagle Rock on the south wall, about a half a mile +up the Valley, gave way and I saw it falling in thousands of the great +boulders I had so long been studying, pouring to the Valley floor +in a free curve luminous from friction, making a terribly sublime +spectacle--an arc of glowing, passionate fire, fifteen hundred feet +span, as true in form and as serene in beauty as a rainbow in the midst +of the stupendous, roaring rock-storm. The sound was so tremendously +deep and broad and earnest, the whole earth like a living creature +seemed to have at last found a voice and to be calling to her sister +planets. In trying to tell something of the size of this awful sound it +seems to me that if all the thunder of all the storms I had ever heard +were condensed into one roar it would not equal this rock-roar at the +birth of a mountain talus. Think, then, of the roar that arose to heaven +at the simultaneous birth of all the thousands of ancient cañon-taluses +throughout the length and breadth of the Range! +<br> +The first severe shocks were soon over, and eager to examine the +new-born talus I ran up the Valley in the moonlight and climbed upon it +before the huge blocks, after their fiery flight, had come to complete +rest. They were slowly settling into their places, chafing, grating +against one another, groaning, and whispering; but no motion was visible +except in a stream of small fragments pattering down the face of the +cliff. A cloud of dust particles, lighted by the moon, floated out +across the whole breadth of the Valley, forming a ceiling that lasted +until after sunrise, and the air was filled with the odor of crushed +Douglas spruces from a grove that had been mowed down and mashed like +weeds. +<br> +After the ground began to calm I ran across the meadow to the river to +see in what direction it was flowing and was glad to find that <i>down</i> +the Valley was still down. Its waters were muddy from portions of its +banks having given way, but it was flowing around its curves and over +its ripples and shallows with ordinary tones and gestures. The mud would +soon be cleared away and the raw slips on the banks would be the only +visible record of the shaking it suffered. +<br> +The Upper Yosemite Fall, glowing white in the moonlight, seemed to know +nothing of the earthquake, manifesting no change in form or voice, as +far as I could see or hear. +<br> +After a second startling shock, about half-past three o'clock, the +ground continued to tremble gently, and smooth, hollow rumbling sounds, +not always distinguishable from the rounded, bumping, explosive tones of +the falls, came from deep in the mountains in a northern direction. +<br> +The few Indians fled from their huts to the middle of the Valley, +fearing that angry spirits were trying to kill them; and, as I afterward +learned, most of the Yosemite tribe, who were spending the winter at +their village on Bull Creek forty miles away, were so terrified that +they ran into the river and washed themselves,--getting themselves clean +enough to say their prayers, I suppose, or to die. I asked Dick, one of +the Indians with whom I was acquainted, "What made the ground shake and +jump so much?" He only shook his head and said, "No good. No good," and +looked appealingly to me to give him hope that his life was to be +spared. +<br> +In the morning I found the few white settlers assembled in front of +the old Hutchings Hotel comparing notes and meditating flight to the +lowlands, seemingly as sorely frightened as the Indians. Shortly after +sunrise a low, blunt, muffled rumbling, like distant thunder, was +followed by another series of shocks, which, though not nearly so severe +as the first, made the cliffs and domes tremble like jelly, and the big +pines and oaks thrill and swish and wave their branches with startling +effect. Then the talkers were suddenly hushed, and the solemnity on +their faces was sublime. One in particular of these winter neighbors, a +somewhat speculative thinker with whom I had often conversed, was a firm +believer in the cataclysmic origin of the Valley; and I now jokingly +remarked that his wild tumble-down-and-engulfment hypothesis might soon +be proved, since these underground rumblings and shakings might be the +forerunners of another Yosemite-making cataclysm, which would perhaps +double the depth of the Valley by swallowing the floor, leaving the ends +of the roads and trails dangling three or four thousand feet in the air. +Just then came the third series of shocks, and it was fine to see how +awfully silent and solemn he became. His belief in the existence of a +mysterious abyss, into which the suspended floor of the Valley and all +the domes and battlements of the walls might at any moment go roaring +down, mightily troubled him. To diminish his fears and laugh him into +something like reasonable faith, I said, "Come, cheer up; smile a little +and clap your hands, now that kind Mother Earth is trotting us on her +knee to amuse us and make us good." But the well-meant joke seemed +irreverent and utterly failed, as if only prayerful terror could rightly +belong to the wild beauty-making business. Even after all the heavier +shocks were over I could do nothing to reassure him, on the contrary, +he handed me the keys of his little store to keep, saying that with a +companion of like mind he was going to the lowlands to stay until the +fate of poor, trembling Yosemite was settled. In vain I rallied them on +their fears, calling attention to the strength of the granite walls of +our Valley home, the very best and solidest masonry in the world, and +less likely to collapse and sink than the sedimentary lowlands to which +they were looking for safety; and saying that in any case they sometime +would have to die, and so grand a burial was not to be slighted. But +they were too seriously panic-stricken to get comfort from anything I +could say. +<br> +During the third severe shock the trees were so violently shaken that +the birds flew out with frightened cries. In particular, I noticed two +robins flying in terror from a leafless oak, the branches of which +swished and quivered as if struck by a heavy battering-ram. Exceedingly +interesting were the flashing and quivering of the elastic needles of +the pines in the sunlight and the waving up and down of the branches +while the trunks stood rigid. There was no swaying, waving or swirling +as in wind-storms, but quick, quivering jerks, and at times the heavy +tasseled branches moved as if they had all been pressed down against the +trunk and suddenly let go, to spring up and vibrate until they came to +rest again. Only the owls seemed to be undisturbed. Before the rumbling +echoes had died away a hollow-voiced owl began to hoot in philosophical +tranquillity from near the edge of the new talus as if nothing +extraordinary had occurred, although, perhaps, he was curious to know +what all the noise was about. His "hoot-too-hoot-too-whoo" might have +meant, "what's a' the steer, kimmer?" +<br> +It was long before the Valley found perfect rest. The rocks trembled +more or less every day for over two months, and I kept a bucket of water +on my table to learn what I could of the movements. The blunt thunder +in the depths of the mountains was usually followed by sudden jarring, +horizontal thrusts from the northward, often succeeded by twisting, +upjolting movements. More than a month after the first great shock, when +I was standing on a fallen tree up the Valley near Lamon's winter cabin, +I heard a distinct bubbling thunder from the direction of Tenaya Cañon +Carlo, a large intelligent St. Bernard dog standing beside me seemed +greatly astonished, and looked intently in that direction with mouth +open and uttered a low <i>Wouf!</i> as if saying, "What's that?" He +must have known that it was not thunder, though like it. The air was +perfectly still, not the faintest breath of wind perceptible, and a +fine, mellow, sunny hush pervaded everything, in the midst of which came +that subterranean thunder. Then, while we gazed and listened, came the +corresponding shocks, distinct as if some mighty hand had shaken the +ground. After the sharp horizontal jars died away, they were followed +by a gentle rocking and undulating of the ground so distinct that Carlo +looked at the log on which he was standing to see who was shaking it. It +was the season of flooded meadows and the pools about me, calm as sheets +of glass, were suddenly thrown into low ruffling waves. +<br> +Judging by its effects, this Yosemite, or Inyo earthquake, as it is +sometimes called, was gentle as compared with the one that gave rise +to the grand talus system of the Range and did so much for the cañon +scenery. Nature, usually so deliberate in her operations, then created, +as we have seen, a new set of features, simply by giving the mountains +a shake--changing not only the high peaks and cliffs, but the streams. +As soon as these rock avalanches fell the streams began to sing new +songs; for in many places thousands of boulders were hurled into their +channels, roughening and half-damming them, compelling the waters to +surge and roar in rapids where before they glided smoothly. Some of +the streams were completely dammed; driftwood, leaves, etc., gradually +filling the interstices between the boulders, thus giving rise to lakes +and level reaches; and these again, after being gradually filled in, +were changed to meadows, through which the streams are now silently +meandering; while at the same time some of the taluses took the places +of old meadows and groves. Thus rough places were made smooth, and +smooth places rough. But, on the whole, by what at first sight seemed +pure confounded confusion and ruin, the landscapes were enriched; for +gradually every talus was covered with groves and gardens, and made a +finely proportioned and ornamental base for the cliffs. In this work of +beauty, every boulder is prepared and measured and put in its place more +thoughtfully than are the stones of temples. If for a moment you are +inclined to regard these taluses as mere draggled, chaotic dumps, climb +to the top of one of them, and run down without any haggling, puttering +hesitation, boldly jumping from boulder to boulder with even speed. You +will then find your feet playing a tune, and quickly discover the music +and poetry of these magnificent rock piles--a fine lesson; and all +Nature's wildness tells the same story--the shocks and outbursts of +earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, roaring, thundering waves and floods, +the silent uprush of sap in plants, storms of every sort--each and all +are the orderly beauty-making love-beats of Nature's heart. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 5<br> +The Trees of the Valley</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +The most influential of the Valley trees is the yellow pine (<i>Pinus +ponderosa</i>). It attains its noblest dimensions on beds of water-washed, +coarsely-stratified moraine material, between the talus slopes and +meadows, dry on the surface, well-watered below and where not too +closely assembled in groves the branches reach nearly to the ground, +forming grand spires 200 to 220 feet in height. The largest that I have +measured is standing alone almost opposite the Sentinel Rock, or a +little to the westward of it. It is a little over eight feet in diameter +and about 220 feet high. Climbing these grand trees, especially when +they are waving and singing in worship in wind-storms, is a glorious +experience. Ascending from the lowest branch to the topmost is like +stepping up stairs through a blaze of white light, every needle +thrilling and shining as if with religious ecstasy. +<br> +Unfortunately there are but few sugar pines in the Valley, though in +the King's yosemite they are in glorious abundance. The incense cedar +(<i>Libocedrus decurrens</i>) with cinnamon-colored bark and yellow-green +foliage is one of the most interesting of the Yosemite trees. Some of +them are 150 feet high, from six to ten feet in diameter, and they are +never out of sight as you saunter among the yellow pines. Their bright +brown shafts and towers of flat, frondlike branches make a striking +feature of the landscapes throughout all the seasons. In midwinter, when +most of the other trees are asleep, this cedar puts forth its flowers +in millions,--the pistillate pale green and inconspicuous, but the +staminate bright yellow, tingeing all the branches and making the trees +as they stand in the snow look like gigantic goldenrods. The branches, +outspread in flat plumes and, beautifully fronded, sweep gracefully +downward and outward, except those near the top, which aspire; the +lowest, especially in youth and middle age, droop to the ground, +overlapping one another, shedding off rain and snow like shingles, and +making fine tents for birds and campers. This tree frequently lives more +than a thousand years and is well worthy its place beside the great +pines and the Douglas spruce. +<br> +The two largest specimens I know of the Douglas spruce, about eight feet +in diameter, are growing at the foot of the Liberty Cap near the Nevada +Fall, and on the terminal moraine of the small residual glacier that +lingered in the shady Illilouette Cañon. +<br> +After the conifers, the most important of the Yosemite trees are the +oaks, two species; the California live-oak (<i>Quercus agrifolia</i>), with +black trunks, reaching a thickness of from four to nearly seven feet, +wide spreading branches and bright deeply-scalloped leaves. It occupies +the greater part of the broad sandy flats of the upper end of the +Valley, and is the species that yields the acorns so highly prized by +the Indians and woodpeckers. +<br> +The other species is the mountain live-oak, or goldcup oak (<i>Quercus +chrysolepis</i>), a sturdy mountaineer of a tree, growing mostly on the +earthquake taluses and benches of the sunny north wall of the Valley. +In tough, unwedgeable, knotty strength, it is the oak of oaks, a +magnificent tree. +<br> +The largest and most picturesque specimen in the Valley is near the foot +of the Tenaya Fall, a romantic spot seldom seen on account of the rough +trouble of getting to it. It is planted on three huge boulders and yet +manages to draw sufficient moisture and food from this craggy soil to +maintain itself in good health. It is twenty feet in circumference, +measured above a large branch between three and four feet in diameter +that has been broken off. The main knotty trunk seems to be made up of +craggy granite boulders like those on which it stands, being about the +same color as the mossy, lichened boulders and about as rough. Two +moss-lined caves near the ground open back into the trunk, one on the +north side, the other on the west, forming picturesque, romantic seats. +The largest of the main branches is eighteen feet and nine inches in +circumference, and some of the long pendulous branchlets droop over the +stream at the foot of the fall where it is gray with spray. The leaves +are glossy yellow-green, ever in motion from the wind from the fall. It +is a fine place to dream in, with falls, cascades, cool rocks lined with +hypnum three inches thick; shaded with maple, dogwood, alder, willow; +grand clumps of lady-ferns where no hand may touch them; light filtering +through translucent leaves; oaks fifty feet high; lilies eight feet high +in a filled lake basin near by, and the finest libocedrus groves and +tallest ferns and goldenrods. +<br> +In the main river cañon below the Vernal Fall and on the shady south +side of the Valley there are a few groves of the silver fir (<i>Abies +concolor</i>), and superb forests of the magnificent species round the rim +of the Valley. +<br> +On the tops of the domes is found the sturdy, storm-enduring red cedar +(<i>Juniperus occidentalis</i>). It never makes anything like a forest here, +but stands out separate and independent in the wind, clinging by slight +joints to the rock, with scarce a handful of soil in sight of it, +seeming to depend chiefly on snow and air for nourishment, and yet it +has maintained tough health on this diet for two thousand years or more. +The largest hereabouts are from five to six feet in diameter and fifty +feet in height. +<br> +The principal river-side trees are poplar, alder, willow, broad-leaved +maple, and Nuttall's flowering dogwood. The poplar (<i>Populus +trichocarpa</i>), often called balm-of-Gilead from the gum on its buds, is +a tall tree, towering above its companions and gracefully embowering +the banks of the river. Its abundant foliage turns bright yellow in the +fall, and the Indian-summer sunshine sifts through it in delightful +tones over the slow-gliding waters when they are at their lowest ebb. +<br> +Some of the involucres of the flowering dogwood measure six to eight +inches in diameter, and the whole tree when in flower looks as if +covered with snow. In the spring when the streams are in flood it is the +whitest of trees. In Indian summer the leaves become bright crimson, +making a still grander show than the flowers. +<br> +The broad-leaved maple and mountain maple are found mostly in the cool +cañons at the head of the Valley, spreading their branches in beautiful +arches over the foaming streams. +<br> +Scattered here and there are a few other trees, mostly small--the +mountain mahogany, cherry, chestnut-oak, and laurel. The California +nutmeg (<i>Torreya californica</i>), a handsome evergreen belonging to the +yew family, forms small groves near the cascades a mile or two below +the foot of the Valley. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 6<br> +The Forest Trees in General</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +For the use of the ever-increasing number of Yosemite visitors who make +extensive excursions into the mountains beyond the Valley, a sketch of +the forest trees in general will probably be found useful. The different +species are arranged in zones and sections, which brings the forest as +a whole within the comprehension of every observer. These species are +always found as controlled by the climates of different elevations, +by soil and by the comparative strength of each species in taking and +holding possession of the ground; and so appreciable are these relations +the traveler need never be at a loss in determining within a few +hundred feet his elevation above sea level by the trees alone; for, +notwithstanding some of the species range upward for several thousand +feet and all pass one another more or less, yet even those species +possessing the greatest vertical range are available in measuring +the elevation; inasmuch as they take on new forms corresponding with +variations in altitude. Entering the lower fringe of the forest composed +of Douglas oaks and Sabine pines, the trees grow so far apart that not +one-twentieth of the surface of the ground is in shade at noon. After +advancing fifteen or twenty miles towards Yosemite and making an ascent +of from two to three thousand feet you reach the lower margin of the +main pine belt, composed of great sugar pine, yellow pine, incense cedar +and sequoia. Next you come to the magnificent silver-fir belt and lastly +to the upper pine belt, which sweep up to the feet of the summit peaks +in a dwarfed fringe, to a height of from ten to twelve thousand feet. +That this general order of distribution depends on climate as affected +by height above the sea, is seen at once, but there are other harmonies +that become manifest only after observation and study. One of the most +interesting of these is the arrangement of the forest in long curving +bands, braided together into lace-like patterns in some places and +out-spread in charming variety. The key to these striking arrangements +is the system of ancient glaciers; where they flowed the trees followed, +tracing their courses along the sides of cañons, over ridges, and high +plateaus. The cedar of Lebanon, said Sir Joseph Hooker, occurs upon one +of the moraines of an ancient glacier. All the forests of the Sierra are +growing upon moraines, but moraines vanish like the glaciers that make +them. Every storm that falls upon them wastes them, carrying away their +decaying, disintegrating material into new formations, until they are no +longer recognizable without tracing their transitional forms down the +Range from those still in process of formation in some places through +those that are more and more ancient and more obscured by vegetation and +all kinds of post-glacial weathering. It appears, therefore, that the +Sierra forests indicate the extent and positions of ancient moraines as +well as they do belts of climate. +<br> +One will have no difficulty in knowing the Nut Pine (<i>Pinus Sabiniana</i>), +for it is the first conifer met in ascending the Range from the west, +springing up here and there among Douglas oaks and thickets of ceanothus +and manzanita; its extreme upper limit being about 4000 feet above the +sea, its lower about from 500 to 800 feet. It is remarkable for its +loose, airy, wide-branching habit and thin gray foliage. Full-grown +specimens are from forty to fifty feet in height and from two to three +feet in diameter. The trunk usually divides into three or four main +branches about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground that, after +bearing away from one another, shoot straight up and form separate +summits. Their slender, grayish needles are from eight to twelve inches +long, and inclined to droop, contrasting with the rigid, dark-colored +trunk and branches. No other tree of my acquaintance so substantial in +its body has foliage so thin and pervious to the light. The cones are +from five to eight inches long and about as large in thickness; rich +chocolate-brown in color and protected by strong, down-curving nooks +which terminate the scales. Nevertheless the little Douglas Squirrel can +open them. Indians climb the trees like bears and beat off the cones or +recklessly cut off the more fruitful branches with hatchets, while the +squaws gather and roast them until the scales open sufficiently to +allow the hard-shell seeds to be beaten out. The curious little <i>Pinus +attenuata</i> is found at an elevation of from 1500 to 3000 feet, growing in +close groves and belts. It is exceedingly slender and graceful, although +trees that chance to stand alone send out very long, curved branches, +making a striking contrast to the ordinary grove form. The foliage is of +the same peculiar gray-green color as that of the nut pine, and is worn +about as loosely, so that the body of the tree is scarcely obscured +by it. At the age of seven or eight years it begins to bear cones in +whorls on the main axis, and as they never fall off, the trunk is soon +picturesquely dotted with them. Branches also soon become fruitful. The +average size of the tree is about thirty or forty feet in height and +twelve to fourteen inches in diameter. The cones are about four inches +long and covered with a sort of varnish and gum, rendering them +impervious to moisture. +<br> +No observer can fail to notice the admirable adaptation of this curious +pine to the fire-swept regions where alone it is found. After a running +fire has scorched and killed it the cones open and the ground beneath it +is then sown broadcast with all the seeds ripened during its whole life. +Then up spring a crowd of bright, hopeful seedlings, giving beauty for +ashes in lavish abundance. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Sugar Pine, King Of Pine Trees</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Of all the world's eighty or ninety species of pine trees, the Sugar +Pine (<i>Pinus Lambertiana</i>) is king, surpassing all others, not merely in +size but in lordly beauty and majesty. In the Yosemite region it grows +at an elevation of from 3000 to 7000 feet above the sea and attains +most perfect development at a height of about 5000 feet. The largest +specimens are commonly about 220 feet high and from six to eight feet +in diameter four feet from the ground, though some grand old patriarch +may be met here and there that has enjoyed six or eight centuries of +storms and attained a thickness of ten or even twelve feet, still sweet +and fresh in every fiber. The trunk is a remarkably smooth, round, +delicately-tapered shaft, straight and regular as if turned in a lathe, +mostly without limbs, purplish brown in color and usually enlivened with +tufts of a yellow lichen. Toward the head of this magnificent column +long branches sweep gracefully outward and downward, sometimes forming +a palm-like crown, but far more impressive than any palm crown I ever +beheld. The needles are about three inches long in fascicles of five, +and arranged in rather close tassels at the ends of slender branchlets +that clothe the long outsweeping limbs. How well they sing in the wind, +and how strikingly harmonious an effect is made by the long cylindrical +cones, depending loosely from the ends of the long branches! The cones +are about fifteen to eighteen inches long, and three in diameter; +green, shaded with dark purple on their sunward sides. They are ripe in +September and October of the second year from the flower. Then the flat, +thin scales open and the seeds take wing, but the empty cones become +still more beautiful and effective as decorations, for their diameter is +nearly doubled by the spreading of the scales, and their color changes +to yellowish brown while they remain, swinging on the tree all the +following winter and summer, and continue effectively beautiful even on +the ground many years after they fall. The wood is deliciously fragrant, +fine in grain and texture and creamy yellow, as if formed of condensed +sunbeams. The sugar from which the common name is derived is, I think, +the best of sweets. It exudes from the heart-wood where wounds have been +made by forest fires or the ax, and forms irregular, crisp, candy-like +kernels of considerable size, something like clusters of resin beads. +When fresh it is white, but because most of the wounds on which it is +found have been made by fire the sap is stained and the hardened sugar +becomes brown. Indians are fond of it, but on account of its laxative +properties only small quantities may be eaten. No tree lover will ever +forget his first meeting with the sugar pine. In most pine trees there +is the sameness of expression which to most people is apt to become +monotonous, for the typical spiral form of conifers, however beautiful, +affords little scope for appreciable individual character. The sugar +pine is as free from conventionalities as the most picturesque oaks. No +two are alike, and though they toss out their immense arms in what might +seem extravagant gestures they never lose their expression of serene +majesty. They are the priests of pines and seem ever to be addressing +the surrounding forest. The yellow pine is found growing with them on +warm hillsides, and the silver fir on cool northern slopes but, noble +as these are, the sugar pine is easily king, and spreads his arms above +them in blessing while they rock and wave in sign of recognition. The +main branches are sometimes forty feet long, yet persistently simple, +seldom dividing at all, excepting near the end; but anything like a +bare cable appearance is prevented by the small, tasseled branchlets +that extend all around them; and when these superb limbs sweep out +symmetrically on all sides, a crown sixty or seventy feet wide is +formed, which, gracefully poised on the summit of the noble shaft, is +a glorious object. Commonly, however, there is a preponderance of +limbs toward the east, away from the direction of the prevailing winds. +<br> +Although so unconventional when full-grown, the sugar pine is a +remarkably proper tree in youth--a strict follower of coniferous +fashions--slim, erect, with leafy branches kept exactly in place, each +tapering in outline and terminating in a spiry point. The successive +forms between the cautious neatness of youth and the bold freedom of +maturity offer a delightful study. At the age of fifty or sixty years, +the shy, fashionable form begins to be broken up. Specialized branches +push out and bend with the great cones, giving individual character, +that becomes more marked from year to year. Its most constant companion +is the yellow pine. The Douglas spruce, libocedrus, sequoia, and the +silver fir are also more or less associated with it; but on many +deep-soiled mountain-sides, at an elevation of about 5000 feet above the +sea, it forms the bulk of the forest, filling every swell and hollow and +down-plunging ravine. The majestic crowns, approaching each other in +bold curves, make a glorious canopy through which the tempered sunbeams +pour, silvering the needles, and gilding the massive boles and the +flowery, park-like ground into a scene of enchantment. On the most sunny +slopes the white-flowered, fragrant chamaebatia is spread like a carpet, +brightened during early summer with the crimson sarcodes, the wild rose, +and innumerable violets and gilias. Not even in the shadiest nooks will +you find any rank, untidy weeds or unwholesome darkness. In the north +sides of ridges the boles are more slender, and the ground is mostly +occupied by an underbrush of hazel, ceanothus, and flowering dogwood, +but not so densely as to prevent the traveler from sauntering where he +will; while the crowning branches are never impenetrable to the rays of +the sun, and never so interblended as to lose their individuality. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Yellow Or Silver Pine</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Silver Pine (<i>Pinus ponderosa</i>), or Yellow Pine, as it is commonly +called, ranks second among the pines of the Sierra as a lumber tree, and +almost rivals the sugar pine in stature and nobleness of port. Because +of its superior powers of enduring variations of climate and soil, it +has a more extensive range than any other conifer growing on the Sierra. +On the western slope it is first met at an elevation of about 2000 feet, +and extends nearly to the upper limit of the timber-line. Thence, +crossing the range by the lowest passes, it descends to the eastern +base, and pushes out for a considerable distance into the hot, volcanic +plains, growing bravely upon well-watered moraines, gravelly lake +basins, climbing old volcanoes and dropping ripe cones among ashes and +cinders. +<br> +The average size of full-grown trees on the western slope where it is +associated with the sugar pine, is a little less than 200 feet in height +and from five to six feet in diameter, though specimens considerably +larger may easily be found. Where there is plenty of free sunshine and +other conditions are favorable, it presents a striking contrast in form +to the sugar pine, being a symmetrical spire, formed of a straight round +trunk, clad with innumerable branches that are divided over and over +again. Unlike the Yosemite form about one-half of the trunk is commonly +branchless, but where it grows at all close three-fourths or more is +naked, presenting then a more slender and elegant shaft than any other +tree in the woods. The bark is mostly arranged in massive plates, some +of them measuring four or five feet in length by eighteen inches in +width, with a thickness of three or four inches, forming a quite +marked and distinguishing feature. The needles are of a fine, warm, +yellow-green color, six to eight inches long, firm and elastic, and +crowded in handsome, radiant tassels on the upturning ends of the +branches. The cones are about three or four inches long, and two and +a half wide, growing in close, sessile clusters among the leaves. +<br> +The species attains its noblest form in filled-up lake basins, +especially in those of the older yosemites, and as we have seen, so +prominent a part does it form of their groves that it may well be called +the Yosemite Pine. +<br> +The Jeffrey variety attains its finest development in the northern +portion of the Range, in the wide basins of the McCloud and Pitt Rivers, +where it forms magnificent forests scarcely invaded by any other tree. +It differs from the ordinary form in size, being only about half as tall, +in its redder and more closely-furrowed bark grayish-green foliage, less +divided branches, and much larger cones; but intermediate forms come in +which make a clear separation impossible, although some botanists regard +it as a distinct species. It is this variety of ponderosa that climbs +storm-swept ridges alone, and wanders out among the volcanoes of the +Great Basin. Whether exposed to extremes of heat or cold, it is dwarfed +like many other trees, and becomes all knots and angles, wholly unlike +the majestic forms we have been sketching. Old specimens, bearing cones +about as big as pineapples, may sometimes be found clinging to rifted +rocks at an elevation of 7000 or 8000 feet, whose highest branches +scarce reach above one's shoulders. +<br> +I have often feasted on the beauty of these noble trees when they were +towering in all their winter grandeur, laden with snow--one mass of +bloom; in summer, too, when the brown, staminate clusters hang thick +among the shimmering needles, and the big purple burrs are ripening in +the mellow light; but it is during cloudless wind-storms that these +colossal pines are most impressively beautiful. Then they bow like +willows, their leaves streaming forward all in one direction, and, when +the sun shines upon them at the required angle, entire groves glow as if +every leaf were burnished silver. The fall of tropic light on the crown +of a palm is a truly glorious spectacle, the fervid sun-flood breaking +upon the glossy leaves in long lance-rays, like mountain water among +boulders at the foot of an enthusiastic cataract. But to me there is +something more impressive in the fall of light upon these noble, silver +pine pillars: it is beaten to the finest dust and shed off in myriads +of minute sparkles that seem to radiate from the very heart of the tree +as if like rain, falling upon fertile soil, it had been absorbed to +reappear in flowers of light. This species also gives forth the finest +wind music. After listening to it in all kinds of winds, night and +day, season after season, I think I could approximate to my position +on the mountain by this pine music alone. If you would catch the tone +of separate needles climb a tree in breezy weather. Every needle is +carefully tempered and gives forth no uncertain sound each standing out +with no interference excepting during head gales; then you may detect +the click of one needle upon another, readily distinguishable from the +free wind-like hum. +<br> +When a sugar pine and one of this species equal in size are observed +together, the latter is seen to be more simple in manners, more lively +and graceful, and its beauty is of a kind more easily appreciated; on +the other hand it is less dignified and original in demeanor. The yellow +pine seems ever eager to shoot aloft, higher and higher. Even while it +is drowsing in autumn sun-gold you may still detect a skyward +aspiration, but the sugar pine seems too unconsciously noble and too +complete in every way to leave room for even a heavenward care. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Douglas Spruce</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Douglas Spruce (<i>Pseudotsuga Douglasii</i>) is one of the largest and +longest-lived of the giants that flourish throughout the main pine belt, +often attaining a height of nearly 200 feet, and a diameter of six or +seven feet. Where the growth is not too close, the stout, spreading +branches, covering more than half of the trunk, are hung with +innumerable slender, drooping sprays, handsomely feathered with the +short leaves which radiate at right angles all around them. This +vigorous tree is ever beautiful, welcoming the mountain winds and the +snow as well as the mellow summer light; and it maintains its youthful +freshness undiminished from century to century through a thousand +storms. It makes its finest appearance during the months of June and +July, when the brown buds at the ends of the sprays swell and open, +revealing the young leaves, which at first are bright yellow, making the +tree appear as if covered with gay blossoms; while the pendulous bracted +cones, three or four inches long, with their shell-like scales, are a +constant adornment. +<br> +The young trees usually are assembled in family groups, each sapling +exquisitely symmetrical. The primary branches are whorled regularly +around the axis, generally in fives, while each is draped with long, +feathery sprays that descend in lines as free and as finely drawn as +those of falling water. +<br> +In Oregon and Washington it forms immense forests, growing tall and +mast-like to a height of 300 feet, and is greatly prized as a lumber +tree. Here it is scattered among other trees, or forms small groves, +seldom ascending higher than 5500 feet, and never making what would be +called a forest. It is not particular in its choice of soil: wet or dry, +smooth or rocky, it makes out to live well on them all. Two of the +largest specimens, as we have seen, are in Yosemite; one of these, more +than eight feet in diameter, is growing on a moraine; the other, nearly +as large, on angular blocks of granite. No other tree in the Sierra +seems so much at home on earthquake taluses and many of these huge +boulder-slopes are almost exclusively occupied by it. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Incense Cedar</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Incense Cedar (<i>Libocedrus decurrens</i>), already noticed among the Yosemite +trees, is quite generally distributed throughout the pine belt without +exclusively occupying any considerable area, or even making extensive +groves. On the warmer mountain slopes it ascends to about 5000 feet, and +reaches the climate most congenial to it at a height of about 4000 feet, +growing vigorously at this elevation in all kinds of soil and, in +particular, it is capable of enduring more moisture about its roots +than any of its companions excepting only the sequoia. +<br> +Casting your eye over the general forest from some ridge-top you +can identify it by the color alone of its spiry summits, a warm +yellow-green. In its youth up to the age of seventy or eighty years, +none of its companions forms so strictly tapered a cone from top to +bottom. As it becomes older it oftentimes grows strikingly irregular +and picturesque. Large branches push out at right angles to the trunk, +forming stubborn elbows and shoot up parallel with the axis. Very +old trees are usually dead at the top. The flat fragrant plumes are +exceedingly beautiful: no waving fern-frond is finer in form and +texture. In its prime the whole tree is thatched with them, but if you +would see the libocedrus in all its glory you must go to the woods in +midwinter when it is laden with myriads of yellow flowers about the +size of wheat grains, forming a noble illustration of Nature's immortal +virility and vigor. The mature cones, about three-fourths of an inch +long, born on the ends of the plumy branchlets, serve to enrich still +more the surpassing beauty of this winter-blooming tree-goldenrod. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Silver Firs</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +We come now to the most regularly planted and most clearly defined +of the main forest belts, composed almost exclusively of two Silver +Firs--<i>Abies concolor</i> and <i>Abies magnifica</i>--extending with but little +interruption 450 miles at an elevation of from 5000 to 9000 feet above +the sea. In its youth <i>A. concolor</i> is a charmingly symmetrical tree +with its flat plumy branches arranged in regular whorls around the +whitish-gray axis which terminates in a stout, hopeful shoot, pointing +straight to the zenith, like an admonishing finger. The leaves are +arranged in two horizontal rows along branchlets that commonly are less +than eight years old, forming handsome plumes, pinnated like the fronds +of ferns. The cones are grayish-green when ripe, cylindrical, from three +to four inches long, and one and a half to two inches wide, and stand +upright on the upper horizontal branches. Full-grown trees in favorable +situations are usually about 200 feet high and five or six feet in +diameter. As old age creeps on, the rough bark becomes rougher and +grayer, the branches lose their exact regularity of form, many that are +snow-bent are broken off and the axis often becomes double or otherwise +irregular from accidents to the terminal bud or shoot. Nevertheless, +throughout all the vicissitudes of its three or four centuries of life, +come what may, the noble grandeur of this species, however obscured, is +never lost. +<br> +The magnificent Silver Fir, or California Red Fir (<i>Abies magnifica</i>) +is the most symmetrical of all the Sierra giants, far surpassing its +companion species in this respect and easily distinguished from it by +the purplish-red bark, which is also more closely furrowed than that +of the white, and by its larger cones, its more regularly whorled and +fronded branches, and its shorter leaves, which grow all around the +branches and point upward instead of being arranged in two horizontal +rows. The branches are mostly whorled in fives, and stand out from the +straight, red-purple bole in level, or in old trees in drooping collars, +every branch regularly pinnated like fern-fronds, making broad plumes, +singularly rich and sumptuous-looking. The flowers are in their prime +about the middle of June; the male red, growing on the underside of the +branches in crowded profusion, giving a very rich color to all the +trees; the female greenish-yellow, tinged with pink, standing erect on +the upper side of the topmost branches, while the tufts of young leaves, +about as brightly colored as those of the Douglas spruce, make another +grand show. The cones mature in a single season from the flowers. When +mature they are about six to eight inches long, three or four in +diameter, covered with a fine gray down and streaked and beaded with +transparent balsam, very rich and precious-looking, and stand erect like +casks on the topmost branches. The inside of the cone is, if possible, +still more beautiful. The scales and bracts are tinged with red and the +seed-wings are purple with bright iridescence. Both of the silver firs +live between two and three centuries when the conditions about them +are at all favorable. Some venerable patriarch may be seen heavily +storm-marked, towering in severe majesty above the rising generation, +with a protecting grove of hopeful saplings pressing close around his +feet, each dressed with such loving care that not a leaf seems wanting. +Other groups are made up of trees near the prime of life, nicely +arranged as if Nature had culled them with discrimination from all +the rest of the woods. It is from this tree, called Red Fir by the +lumbermen, that mountaineers cut boughs to sleep on when they are so +fortunate as to be within its limit. Two or three rows of the sumptuous +plushy-fronded branches, overlapping along the middle, and a crescent of +smaller plumes mixed to one's taste with ferns and flowers for a pillow, +form the very best bed imaginable. The essence of the pressed leaves +seems to fill every pore of one's body. Falling water makes a soothing +hush, while the spaces between the grand spires afford noble openings +through which to gaze dreamily into the starry sky. The fir woods are +fine sauntering-grounds at almost any time of the year, but finest in +autumn when the noble trees are hushed in the hazy light and drip with +balsam; and the flying, whirling seeds, escaping from the ripe cones, +mottle the air like flocks of butterflies. Even in the richest part of +these unrivaled forests where so many noble trees challenge admiration +we linger fondly among the colossal firs and extol their beauty again +and again, as if no other tree in the world could henceforth claim our +love. It is in these woods the great granite domes arise that are so +striking and characteristic a feature of the Sierra. Here, too, we find +the best of the garden-meadows full of lilies. A dry spot a little +way back from the margin of a silver fir lily-garden makes a glorious +camp-ground, especially where the slope is toward the east with a view +of the distant peaks along the summit of the Range. The tall lilies are +brought forward most impressively like visitors by the light of your +camp-fire and the nearest of the trees with their whorled branches tower +above you like larger lilies and the sky seen through the garden-opening +seems one vast meadow of white lily stars. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Two-Leaved Pine</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Two-Leaved Pine (<i>Pinus contorta</i>, var. <i>Murrayana</i>), above the Silver +Fir zone, forms the bulk of the alpine forests up to a height of from +8000 to 9500 feet above the sea, growing in beautiful order on moraines +scarcely changed as yet by post-glacial weathering. Compared with the +giants of the lower regions this is a small tree, seldom exceeding a +height of eighty or ninety feet. The largest I ever measured was ninety +feet high and a little over six feet in diameter. The average height of +mature trees throughout the entire belt is probably not far from fifty +or sixty feet with a diameter of two feet. It is a well-proportioned, +rather handsome tree with grayish-brown bark and crooked, much-divided +branches which cover the greater part of the trunk, but not so densely +as to prevent it being seen. The lower limbs, like those of most other +conifers that grow in snowy regions, curve downward, gradually take a +horizontal position about half-way up the trunk, then aspire more and +more toward the summit. The short, rigid needles in fascicles of two are +arranged in comparatively long cylindrical tassels at the ends of the +tough up-curving branches. The cones are about two inches long, growing +in clusters among the needles without any striking effect except while +very young, when the flowers are of a vivid crimson color and the whole +tree appears to be dotted with brilliant flowers. The staminate flowers +are still more showy on account of their great abundance, often giving a +reddish-yellow tinge to the whole mass of foliage and filling the air +with pollen. No other pine on the Range is so regularly planted as this +one, covering moraines that extend along the sides of the high rocky +valleys for miles without interruption. The thin bark is streaked and +sprinkled with resin as though it had been showered upon the forest like +rain. +<br> +Therefore this tree more than any other is subject to destruction by +fire. During strong winds extensive forests are destroyed, the flames +leaping from tree to tree in continuous belts that go surging and racing +onward above the bending wood like prairie-grass fires. During the +calm season of Indian summer the fire creeps quietly along the ground, +feeding on the needles and cones; arriving at the foot of a tree, the +resiny bark is ignited and the heated air ascends in a swift current, +increasing in velocity and dragging the flames upward. Then the leaves +catch forming an immense column of fire, beautifully spired on the edges +and tinted a rose-purple hue. It rushes aloft thirty or forty feet above +the top of the tree, forming a grand spectacle, especially at night. It +lasts, however, only a few seconds, vanishing with magical rapidity, to +be succeeded by others along the fire-line at irregular intervals, tree +after tree, upflashing and darting, leaving the trunks and branches +scarcely scarred. The heat, however, is sufficient to kill the tree and +in a few years the bark shrivels and falls off. Forests miles in extent +are thus killed and left standing, with the branches on, but peeled +and rigid, appearing gray in the distance like misty clouds. Later the +branches drop off, leaving a forest of bleached spars. At length the +roots decay and the forlorn gray trunks are blown down during some +storm and piled one upon another, encumbering the ground until, dry and +seasoned, they are consumed by another fire and leave the ground ready +for a fresh crop. +<br> +In sheltered lake-hollows, on beds of alluvium, this pine varies so far +from the common form that frequently it could be taken for a distinct +species, growing in damp sods like grasses from forty to eighty feet +high, bending all together to the breeze and whirling in eddying gusts +more lively than any other tree in the woods. I frequently found +specimens fifty feet high less than five inches in diameter. Being so +slender and at the same time clad with leafy boughs, it is often bent +and weighed down to the ground when laden with soft snow; thus forming +fine ornamental arches, many of them to last until the melting of the +snow in the spring. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Mountain Pine</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Mountain Pine (<i>Pinus monticola</i>) is the noblest tree of the alpine +zone--hardy and long-lived towering grandly above its companions and +becoming stronger and more imposing just where other species begin to +crouch and disappear. At its best it is usually about ninety feet high +and five or six feet in diameter, though you may find specimens here and +there considerably larger than this. It is as massive and suggestive of +enduring strength as an oak. About two-thirds of the trunk is commonly +free of limbs, but close, fringy tufts of spray occur nearly all the way +down to the ground. On trees that occupy exposed situations near its +upper limit the bark is deep reddish-brown and rather deeply furrowed, +the main furrows running nearly parallel to each other and connected on +the old trees by conspicuous cross-furrows. The cones are from four to +eight inches long, smooth, slender, cylindrical and somewhat curved. +They grow in clusters of from three to six or seven and become pendulous +as they increase in weight. This species is nearly related to the sugar +pine and, though not half so tall, it suggests its noble relative in the +way that it extends its long branches in general habit. It is first met +on the upper margin of the silver fir zone, singly, in what appears as +chance situations without making much impression on the general forest. +Continuing up through the forests of the two-leaved pine it begins to +show its distinguishing characteristic in the most marked way at an +elevation of about 10,000 feet extending its tough, rather slender arms +in the frosty air, welcoming the storms and feeding on them and reaching +sometimes to the grand old age of 1000 years. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Western Juniper</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Juniper or Red Cedar (<i>Juniperus occidentalis</i>) is preëminently a +rock tree, occupying the baldest domes and pavements in the upper silver +fir and alpine zones, at a height of from 7000 to 9500 feet. In such +situations, rooted in narrow cracks or fissures, where there is scarcely +a handful of soil, it is frequently over eight feet in diameter and not +much more in height. The tops of old trees are almost always dead, and +large stubborn-looking limbs push out horizontally, most of them broken +and dead at the end, but densely covered, and imbedded here and there +with tufts or mounds of gray-green scalelike foliage. Some trees are +mere storm-beaten stumps about as broad as long, decorated with a few +leafy sprays, reminding one of the crumbling towers of old castles +scantily draped with ivy. Its homes on bare, barren dome and ridge-top +seem to have been chosen for safety against fire, for, on isolated +mounds of sand and gravel free from grass and bushes on which fire could +feed, it is often found growing tall and unscathed to a height of forty +to sixty feet, with scarce a trace of the rocky angularity and broken +limbs so characteristic a feature throughout the greater part of its +range. It never makes anything like a forest; seldom even a grove. +Usually it stands out separate and independent, clinging by slight +joints to the rocks, living chiefly on snow and thin air and maintaining +sound health on this diet for 2000 years or more. Every feature or every +gesture it makes expresses steadfast, dogged endurance. The bark is of +a bright cinnamon color and is handsomely braided and reticulated on +thrifty trees, flaking off in thin, shining ribbons that are sometimes +used by the Indians for tent matting. Its fine color and picturesqueness +are appreciated by artists, but to me the juniper seems a singularly +strange and taciturn tree. I have spent many a day and night in its +company and always have found it silent and rigid. It seems to be a +survivor of some ancient race, wholly unacquainted with its neighbors. +Its broad stumpiness, of course, makes wind-waving or even shaking out +of the question, but it is not this rocky rigidity that constitutes its +silence. In calm, sun-days the sugar pine preaches like an enthusiastic +apostle without moving a leaf. On level rocks the juniper dies standing +and wastes insensibly out of existence like granite, the wind exerting +about as little control over it, alive or dead, as is does over a +glacier boulder. +<br> +I have spent a good deal of time trying to determine the age of these +wonderful trees, but as all of the very old ones are honey-combed with +dry rot I never was able to get a complete count of the largest. Some +are undoubtedly more than 2000 years old, for though on deep moraine +soil they grow about as fast as some of the pines, on bare pavements and +smoothly glaciated, overswept ridges in the dome region they grow very +slowly. One on the Starr King Ridge only two feet eleven inches in +diameter was 1140 years old forty years ago. Another on the same ridge, +only one foot seven and a half inches in diameter, had reached the age +of 834 years. The first fifteen inches from the bark of a medium-size +tree six feet in diameter, on the north Tenaya pavement, had 859 layers +of wood. Beyond this the count was stopped by dry rot and scars. The +largest examined was thirty-three feet in girth, or nearly ten feet in +diameter and, although I have failed to get anything like a complete +count, I learned enough from this and many other specimens to convince +me that most of the trees eight or ten feet thick, standing on +pavements, are more than twenty centuries old rather than less. Barring +accidents, for all I can see they would live forever; even then +overthrown by avalanches, they refuse to lie at rest, lean stubbornly +on their big branches as if anxious to rise, and while a single root +holds to the rock, put forth fresh leaves with a grim, never-say-die +expression. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Mountain Hemlock</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +As the juniper is the most stubborn and unshakeable of trees in the +Yosemite region, the Mountain Hemlock (<i>Tsuga Mertensiana</i>) is the most +graceful and pliant and sensitive. Until it reaches a height of fifty or +sixty feet it is sumptuously clothed down to the ground with drooping +branches, which are divided again and again into delicate waving +sprays, grouped and arranged in ways that are indescribably beautiful, +and profusely adorned with small brown cones. The flowers also are +peculiarly beautiful and effective; the female dark rich purple, the +male blue, of so fine and pure a tone. What the best azure of the +mountain sky seems to be condensed in them. Though apparently the most +delicate and feminine of all the mountain trees, it grows best where +the snow lies deepest, at a height of from 9000 to 9500 feet, in +hollows on the northern slopes of mountains and ridges. But under all +circumstances, sheltered from heavy winds or in bleak exposure to them, +well fed or starved, even at its highest limit, 10,500 feet above the +sea, on exposed ridge-tops where it has to crouch and huddle close in +low thickets, it still contrives to put forth its sprays and branches in +forms of invincible beauty, while on moist, well-drained moraines it +displays a perfectly tropical luxuriance of foliage, flowers and fruit. +The snow of the first winter storm is frequently soft, and lodges in due +dense leafy branches, weighing them down against the trunk, and the +slender, drooping axis, bending lower and lower as the load increases, +at length reaches the ground, forming an ornamental arch. Then, as storm +succeeds storm and snow is heaped on snow, the whole tree is at last +buried, not again to see the light of day or move leaf or limb until set +free by the spring thaws in June or July. Not only the young saplings +are thus carefully covered and put to sleep in the whitest of white beds +for five or six months of the year, but trees thirty feet high or more. +From April to May, when the snow by repeated thawing and freezing is +firmly compacted, you may ride over the prostrate groves without seeing +a single branch or leaf of them. No other of our alpine conifers so +finely veils its strength; poised in thin, white sunshine, clad with +branches from head to foot, it towers in unassuming majesty, drooping +as if unaffected with the aspiring tendencies of its race, loving the +ground, conscious of heaven and joyously receptive of its blessings, +reaching out its branches like sensitive tentacles, feeling the light +and reveling in it. The largest specimen I ever found was nineteen +feet seven inches in circumference. It was growing on the edge of Lake +Hollow, north of Mount Hoffman, at an elevation of 9250 feet above the +level of the sea, and was probably about a hundred feet in height. Fine +groves of mature trees, ninety to a hundred feet in height, are growing +near the base of Mount Conness. It is widely distributed from near the +south extremity of the high Sierra northward along the Cascade Mountains +of Oregon and Washington and the coast ranges of British Columbia to +Alaska, where it was first discovered in 1827. Its northernmost limit, +so far as I have observed, is in the icy fiords of Prince William Sound +in latitude 61°, where it forms pure forests at the level of the +sea, growing tall and majestic on the banks of glaciers. There, as in +the Yosemite region, it is ineffably beautiful, the very loveliest of +all the American conifers. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The White-Bark Pine</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The Dwarf Pine, or White-Bark Pine (<i>Pinus albicaulis</i>), forms the extreme +edge of the timberline throughout nearly the whole extent of the Range +on both flanks. It is first met growing with the two-leaved pine on the +upper margin of the alpine belt, as an erect tree from fifteen to thirty +feet high and from one to two feet in diameter hence it goes straggling +up the flanks of the summit peaks, upon moraines or crumbling ledges, +wherever it can get a foothold, to an elevation of from 10,000 to 12,000 +feet, where it dwarfs to a mass of crumpled branches, covered with +slender shoots, each tipped with a short, close-packed, leaf tassel. The +bark is smooth and purplish, in some places almost white. The flowers +are bright scarlet and rose-purple, giving a very flowery appearance +little looked for in such a tree. The cones are about three inches long, +an inch and a half in diameter, grow in rigid clusters, and are dark +chocolate in color while young, and bear beautiful pearly-white seeds +about the size of peas, most of which are eaten by chipmunks and the +Clarke's crows. Pines are commonly regarded as sky-loving trees that +must necessarily aspire or die. This species forms a marked exception, +crouching and creeping in compliance with the most rigorous demands of +climate; yet enduring bravely to a more advanced age than many of its +lofty relatives in the sun-lands far below it. Seen from a distance it +would never be taken for a tree of any kind. For example, on Cathedral +Peak there is a scattered growth of this pine, creeping like mosses over +the roof, nowhere giving hint of an ascending axis. While, approached +quite near, it still appears matty and heathy, and one experiences no +difficulty in walking over the top of it, yet it is seldom absolutely +prostrate, usually attaining a height of three or four feet with a main +trunk, and with branches outspread above it, as if in ascending they +had been checked by a ceiling against which they had been compelled to +spread horizontally. The winter snow is a sort of ceiling, lasting half +the year; while the pressed surface is made yet smoother by violent +winds armed with cutting sand-grains that bear down any shoot which +offers to rise much above the general level, and that carve the dead +trunks and branches in beautiful patterns. +<br> +During stormy nights I have often camped snugly beneath the interlacing +arches of this little pine. The needles, which have accumulated for +centuries, make fine beds, a fact well known to other mountaineers, such +as deer and wild sheep, who paw out oval hollows and lie beneath the +larger trees in safe and comfortable concealment. This lowly dwarf +reaches a far greater age than would be guessed. A specimen that I +examined, growing at an elevation of 10,700 feet, yet looked as though +it might be plucked up by the roots, for it was only three and a half +inches in diameter and its topmost tassel reached hardly three feet +above the ground. Cutting it half through and counting the annual rings +with the aid of a lens, I found its age to be no less than 255 years. +Another specimen about the same height, with a trunk six inches in +diameter, I found to be 426 years old, forty years ago; and one of its +supple branchlets hardly an eighth of an inch in diameter inside the +bark, was seventy-five years old, and so filled with oily balsam and +seasoned by storms that I tied it in knots like a whip-cord. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Nut Pine</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +In going across the Range from the Tuolumne River Soda Springs to Mono +Lake one makes the acquaintance of the curious little Nut Pine (<i>Pinus +monophylla</i>). It dots the eastern flank of the Sierra to which it is +mostly restricted in grayish bush-like patches, from the margin of the +sage-plains to an elevation of from 7000 to 8000 feet. A more contented, +fruitful and unaspiring conifer could not be conceived. All the species +we have been sketching make departures more or less distant from the +typical spire form, but none goes so far as this. Without any apparent +cause it keeps near the ground, throwing out crooked, divergent branches +like an orchard apple-tree, and seldom pushes a single shoot higher than +fifteen or twenty feet above the ground. +<br> +The average thickness of the trunk is, perhaps, about ten or twelve +inches. The leaves are mostly undivided, like round awls, instead of +being separated, like those of other pines, into twos and threes and +fives. The cones are green while growing, and are usually found over all +the tree, forming quite a marked feature as seen against the bluish-gray +foliage. They are quite small, only about two inches in length, and seem +to have but little space for seeds; but when we come to open them, we +find that about half the entire bulk of the cone is made up of sweet, +nutritious nuts, nearly as large as hazel-nuts. This is undoubtedly the +most important food-tree on the Sierra, and furnishes the Mona, Carson, +and Walker River Indians with more and better nuts than all the other +species taken together. It is the Indian's own tree, and many a white +man have they killed for cutting it down. Being so low, the cones are +readily beaten off with poles, and the nuts procured by roasting them +until the scales open. In bountiful seasons a single Indian may gather +thirty or forty bushels. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 7<br> +The Big Trees</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +Between the heavy pine and silver fir zones towers the Big Tree (<i>Sequoia +gigantea</i>), the king of all the conifers in the world, "the noblest of +the noble race." The groves nearest Yosemite Valley are about twenty +miles to the westward and southward and are called the Tuolumne, Merced +and Mariposa groves. It extends, a widely interrupted belt, from a very +small grove on the middle fork of the American River to the head of Deer +Creek, a distance of about 260 miles, its northern limit being near the +thirty-ninth parallel, the southern a little below the thirty-sixth. The +elevation of the belt above the sea varies from about 5000 to 8000 feet. +From the American River to Kings River the species occurs only in small +isolated groups so sparsely distributed along the belt that three of +the gaps in it are from forty to sixty miles wide. But from Kings River +south-ward the sequoia is not restricted to mere groves but extends +across the wide rugged basins of the Kaweah and Tule Rivers in noble +forests, a distance of nearly seventy miles, the continuity of this part +of the belt being broken only by the main cañons. The Fresno, the +largest of the northern groves, has an area of three or four square +miles, a short distance to the southward of the famous Mariposa grove. +Along the south rim of the cañon of the south fork of Kings River there +is a majestic sequoia forest about six miles long by two wide. This is +the northernmost group that may fairly be called a forest. Descending +the divide between the Kings and Kaweah Rivers you come to the grand +forests that form the main continuous portion of the belt. Southward +the giants become more and more irrepressibly exuberant, heaving their +massive crowns into the sky from every ridge and slope, waving onward in +graceful compliance with the complicated topography of the region. The +finest of the Kaweah section of the belt is on the broad ridge between +Marble Creek and the middle fork, and is called the Giant Forest. It +extends from the granite headlands, overlooking the hot San Joaquin +plains, to within a few miles of the cool glacial fountains of the +summit peaks. The extreme upper limit of the belt is reached between the +middle and south forks of the Kaweah at a height of 8400 feet, but the +finest block of big tree forests in the entire belt is on the north fork +of Tule River, and is included in the Sequoia National Park. +<br> +In the northern groves there are comparatively few young trees or +saplings. But here for every old storm-beaten giant there are many in +their prime and for each of these a crowd of hopeful young trees and +saplings, growing vigorously on moraines, rocky edges, along water +courses and meadows. But though the area occupied by the big tree +increases so greatly from north to south, here is no marked increase +in the size of the trees. The height of 275 feet or thereabouts and a +diameter of about twenty feet, four feet from the ground is, perhaps, +about the average size of what may be called full-grown trees, where +they are favorably located. The specimens twenty-five feet in diameter +are not very rare and a few are nearly three hundred feet high. In +the Calaveras grove there are four trees over 300 feet in height, the +tallest of which as measured by the Geological Survey is 325 feet. The +very largest that I have yet met in the course of my explorations is +a majestic old fire-scarred monument in the Kings River forest. It is +thirty-five feet and eight inches in diameter inside the bark, four +feet above the ground. It is burned half through, and I spent a day +in clearing away the charred surface with a sharp ax and counting the +annual wood-rings with the aid of a pocket lens. I succeeded in laying +bare a section all the way from the outside to the heart and counted a +little over four thousand rings, showing that this tree was in its prime +about twenty-seven feet in diameter at the beginning of the Christian +era. No other tree in the world, as far as I know, has looked down on so +many centuries as the sequoia or opens so many impressive and suggestive +views into history. Under the most favorable conditions these giants +probably live 5000 years or more though few of even the larger trees are +half as old. The age of one that was felled in Calaveras grove, for the +sake of having its stump for a dancing-floor, was about 1300 years, and +its diameter measured across the stump twenty-four feet inside the bark. +Another that was felled in the Kings River forest was about the same +size but nearly a thousand years older (2200 years), though not a very +old-looking tree. +<br> +So harmonious and finely balanced are even the mightiest of these +monarchs in all their proportions that there is never anything overgrown +or monstrous about them. Seeing them for the first time you are more +impressed with their beauty than their size, their grandeur being in +great part invisible; but sooner or later it becomes manifest to the +loving eye, stealing slowly on the senses like the grandeur of Niagara +or of the Yosemite Domes. When you approach them and walk around them +you begin to wonder at their colossal size and try to measure them. They +bulge considerably at the base, but not more than is required for beauty +and safety and the only reason that this bulging seems in some cases +excessive is that only a comparatively small section is seen in near +views. One that I measured in the Kings River forest was twenty-five +feet in diameter at the ground and ten feet in diameter 220 feet above +the ground showing the fineness of the taper of the trunk as a whole. No +description can give anything like an adequate idea of their singular +majesty, much less of their beauty. Except the sugar pine, most of their +neighbors with pointed tops seem ever trying to go higher, while the big +tree, soaring above them all, seems satisfied. Its grand domed head +seems to be poised about as lightly as a cloud, giving no impression +of seeking to rise higher. Only when it is young does it show like +other conifers a heavenward yearning, sharply aspiring with a long +quick-growing top. Indeed, the whole tree for the first century or +two, or until it is a hundred or one hundred and fifty feet high, is +arrowhead in form, and, compared with the solemn rigidity of age, seems +as sensitive to the wind as a squirrel's tail. As it grows older, the +lower branches are gradually dropped and the upper ones thinned out +until comparatively few are left. These, however, are developed to a +great size, divide again and again and terminate in bossy, rounded +masses of leafy branch-lets, while the head becomes dome-shaped, and is +the first to feel the touch of the rosy beams of the morning, the last +to bid the sun good night. Perfect specimens, unhurt by running fires or +lightning, are singularly regular and symmetrical in general form though +not in the least conventionalized, for they show extraordinary variety +in the unity and harmony of their general outline. The immensely strong, +stately shafts are free of limbs for one hundred end fifty feet or so +The large limbs reach out with equal boldness a every direction, showing +no weather side, and no other tree has foliage so densely massed, so +finely molded in outline and so perfectly subordinate to an ideal type. +A particularly knotty, angular, ungovernable-looking branch, from five +to seven or eight feet in diameter and perhaps a thousand years old, +may occasionally be seen pushing out from the trunk as if determined to +break across the bounds of the regular curve, but like all the others +it dissolves in bosses of branchlets and sprays as soon as the general +outline is approached. Except in picturesque old age, after being struck +by lightning or broken by thousands of snow-storms, the regularity of +forms is one of their most distinguishing characteristics. Another is +the simple beauty of the trunk and its great thickness as compared with +its height and the width of the branches, which makes them look more +like finely modeled and sculptured architectural columns than the stems +of trees, while the great limbs look like rafters, supporting the +magnificent dome-head. But though so consummately beautiful, the big +tree always seems unfamiliar, with peculiar physiognomy, awfully solemn +and earnest; yet with all its strangeness it impresses us as being more +at home than any of its neighbors, holding the best right to the ground +as the oldest strongest inhabitant. One soon becomes acquainted with new +species of pine and fir and spruce as with friendly people, shaking +their outstretched branches like shaking hands and fondling their little +ones, while the venerable aboriginal sequoia, ancient of other days, +keeps you at a distance, looking as strange in aspect and behavior among +its neighbor trees as would the mastodon among the homely bears and +deers. Only the Sierra juniper is at all like it, standing rigid and +unconquerable on glacier pavements for thousands of years, grim and +silent, with an air of antiquity about as pronounced as that of the +sequoia. +<br> +The bark of the largest trees is from one to two feet thick, rich +cinnamon brown, purplish on young trees, forming magnificent masses +of color with the underbrush. Toward the end of winter the trees are +in bloom, while the snow is still eight or ten feet deep. The female +flowers are about three-eighths of an inch long, pale green, and grow +in countless thousands on the ends of sprays. The male are still more +abundant, pale yellow, a fourth of an inch long and when the pollen is +ripe they color the whole tree and dust the air and the ground. The +cones are bright grass-green in color, about two and a half inches long, +one and a half wide, made up of thirty or forty strong, closely-packed, +rhomboidal scales, with four to eight seeds at the base of each. The +seeds are wonderfully small end light, being only from an eighth to a +fourth of an inch long and wide, including a filmy surrounding wing, +which causes them to glint and waver in falling and enables the wind to +carry them considerable distances. Unless harvested by the squirrels, +the cones discharge their seed and remain on the tree for many years. In +fruitful seasons the trees are fairly laden. On two small branches one +and a half and two inches in diameter I counted 480 cones. No other +California conifer produces nearly so many seeds, except, perhaps, the +other sequoia, the Redwood of the Coast Mountains. Millions are ripened +annually by a single tree, and in a fruitful year the product of one of +the northern groves would be enough to plant all the mountain ranges in +the world. +<br> +As soon as any accident happens to the crown, such as being smashed off +by lightning, the branches beneath the wound, no matter how situated, +seem to be excited, like a colony of bees that have lost their queen, +and become anxious to repair the damage. Limbs that have grown outward +for centuries at right angles to the trunk begin to turn upward to +assist in making a new crown, each speedily assuming the special form of +true summits. Even in the case of mere stumps, burned half through, some +mere ornamental tuft will try to go aloft and do its best as a leader +in forming a new head. Groups of two or three are often found standing +close together, the seeds from which they sprang having probably grown +on ground cleared for their reception by the fall of a large tree of a +former generation. They are called "loving couples," "three graces," +etc. When these trees are young they are seen to stand twenty or thirty +feet apart, by the time they are full-grown their trunks will touch and +crowd against each other and in some cases even appear as one. +<br> +It is generally believed that the sequoia was once far more widely +distributed over the Sierra; but after long and careful study I have +come to the conclusion that it never was, at least since the close of +the glacial period, because a diligent search along the margins of the +groves, and in the gaps between fails to reveal a single trace of its +previous existence beyond its present bounds. Notwithstanding, I feel +confident that if every sequoia in the Range were to die today, numerous +monuments of their existence would remain, of so imperishable a nature +as to be available for the student more than ten thousand years hence. +<br> +In the first place, no species of coniferous tree in the Range keeps +its members so well together as the sequoia; a mile is, perhaps, the +greatest distance of any straggler from the main body, and all of those +stragglers that have come under my observation are young, instead of old +monumental trees, relics of a more extended growth. +<br> +Again, the great trunks of the sequoia last for centuries after they +fall. I have a specimen block of sequoia wood, cut from a fallen tree, +which is hardly distinguishable from a similar section cut from a living +tree, although the one cut from the fallen trunk has certainly lain on +the damp forest floor more than 380 years, probably thrice as long. The +time-measure in the case is simply this: When the ponderous trunk to +which the old vestige belonged fell, it sunk itself into the ground, +thus making a long, straight ditch, and in the middle of this ditch a +silver fir four feet in diameter and 380 years old was growing, as I +determined by cutting it half through and counting the rings, thus +demonstrating that the remnant of the trunk that made the ditch has lain +on the ground <i>more</i> than 380 years. For it is evident that, to find +the whole time, we must add to the 380 years the time that the vanished +portion of the trunk lay in the ditch before being burned out of the +way, plus the time that passed before the seed from which the monumental +fir sprang fell into the prepared soil and took root. Now, because +sequoia trunks are never wholly consumed in one forest fire, and those +fires recur only at considerable intervals, and because sequoia ditches +after being cleared are often left unplanted for centuries, it becomes +evident that the trunk-remnant in question may probably have lain a +thousand years or more. And this instance is by no means a late one. +<br> +Again, admitting that upon those areas supposed to have been once +covered with sequoia forests, every tree may have fallen, and every +trunk may have been burned or buried, leaving not a remnant, many of the +ditches made by the fall of the ponderous trunks, and the bowls made by +their upturning roots, would remain patent for thousands of years after +the last vestige of the trunks that made them had vanished. Much of this +ditch-writing would no doubt be quickly effaced by the flood-action of +overflowing streams and rain-washing; but no inconsiderable portion +would remain enduringly engraved on ridge-tops beyond such destructive +action; for, where all the conditions are favorable, it is almost +imperishable. Now these historic ditches and root-bowls occur in all the +present sequoia groves and forests, but, as far as I have observed, not +the faintest vestige of one presents itself outside of them. +<br> +We therefore conclude that the area covered by sequoia has not been +diminished during the last eight or ten thousand years, and probably not +at all in post-glacial time. Nevertheless, the questions may be asked: +Is the species verging toward extinction? What are its relations to +climate, soil, and associated trees? +<br> +All the phenomena bearing on these questions also throw light, as we +shall endeavor to show, upon the peculiar distribution of the species, +and sustain the conclusion already arrived at as to the question of +former extension. In the northern groups, as we have seen, there are +few young trees or saplings growing up around the old ones to perpetuate +the race, and inasmuch as those aged sequoias, so nearly childless, +are the only ones commonly known the species, to most observers, seems +doomed to speedy extinction, as being nothing more than an expiring +remnant, vanquished in the so-called struggle for life by pines and firs +that have driven it into its last strongholds in moist glens where the +climate is supposed to be exceptionally favorable. But the story told by +the majestic continuous forests of the south creates a very different +impression. No tree in the forest is more enduringly established in +concordance with both climate and soil. It grows heartily everywhere--on +moraines, rocky ledges, along watercourses, and in the deep, moist +alluvium of meadows with, as we have seen, a multitude of seedlings and +saplings crowding up around the aged, abundantly able to maintain the +forest in prime vigor. So that if all the trees of any section of the +main sequoia forest were ranged together according to age, a very +promising curve would be presented, all the way up from last year's +seedlings to giants, and with the young and middle-aged portion of the +curve many times longer than the old portion. Even as far north as the +Fresno, I counted 536 saplings and seedlings, growing promisingly upon +a landslip not exceeding two acres in area. This soil-bed was about +seven years old, and had been seeded almost simultaneously by pines, +firs, libocedrus, and sequoia, presenting a simple and instructive +illustration of the struggle for life among the rival species; and it +was interesting to note that the conditions thus far affecting them have +enabled the young sequoias to gain a marked advantage. Toward the south +where the sequoia becomes most exuberant and numerous, the rival trees +become less so; and where they mix with sequoias they grow up beneath +them like slender grasses among stalks of Indian corn. Upon a bed of +sandy floodsoil I counted ninety-four sequoias, from one to twelve feet +high, on a patch of ground once occupied by four large sugar pines which +lay crumbling beneath them--an instance of conditions which have enabled +sequoias to crowd out the pines. I also noted eighty-six vigorous +saplings upon a piece of fresh ground prepared for their reception by +fire. Thus fire, the great destroyer of the sequoia, also furnishes the +bare ground required for its growth from the seed. Fresh ground is, +however, furnished in sufficient quantities for the renewal of the +forests without the aid of fire--by the fall of old trees. The soil is +thus upturned and mellowed, and many trees are planted for every one +that falls. +<br> +It is constantly asserted in a vague way that the Sierra was vastly +wetter than now, and that the increasing drought will of itself +extinguish the sequoia, leaving its ground to other trees supposed +capable of flourishing in a drier climate. But that the sequoia can and +does grow on as dry ground as any of its present rivals is manifest in +a thousand places. "Why, then," it will be asked, "are sequoias always +found only in well-watered places?" Simply because a growth of sequoias +creates those streams. The thirsty mountaineer knows well that in every +sequoia grove he will find running water, but it is a mistake to suppose +that the water is the cause of the grove being there; on the contrary, +the grove is the cause of the water being there. Drain off the water +and the trees will remain, but cut off the trees, and the streams will +vanish. Never was cause more completely mistaken for effect than in the +case of these related phenomena of sequoia woods and perennial streams. +<br> +When attention is called to the method of sequoia stream-making, it will +be apprehended at once. The roots of this immense tree fill the ground, +forming a thick sponge that absorbs and holds back the rain and melting +snow, only allowing it to ooze and flow gently. Indeed, every fallen +leaf and rootlet, as well as long clasping root, and prostrate trunk, +may be regarded as a dam hoarding the bounty of storm-clouds, and +dispensing it as blessings all through the summer, instead of allowing +it to go headlong in short-lived floods. +<br> +Since, then, it is a fact that thousands of sequoias are growing +thriftily on what is termed dry ground, and even clinging like mountain +pines to rifts in granite precipices, and since it has also been shown +that the extra moisture found in connection with the denser growths is +an effect of their presence, instead of a cause of their presence, then +the notions as to the former extension of the species and its near +approach to extinction, based upon its supposed dependence on greater +moisture, are seen to be erroneous. +<br> +The decrease in rain and snowfall since the close of the glacial period +in the Sierra is much less than is commonly guessed. The highest +post-glacial water-marks are well preserved in all the upper river +channels, and they are not greatly higher than the spring flood-marks +of the present; showing conclusively that no extraordinary decrease +has taken place in the volume of the upper tributaries of post-glacial +Sierra streams since they came into existence. But, in the meantime, +eliminating all this complicated question of climatic change, the plain +fact remains that the present rain and snowfall is abundantly sufficient +for the luxuriant growth of sequoia forests. Indeed, all my observations +tend to show that in a prolonged drought the sugar pines and firs would +perish before the sequoia, not alone because of the greater longevity of +individual trees, but because the species can endure more drought, and +make the most of whatever moisture falls. +<br> +Again, if the restriction and irregular distribution of the species be +interpreted as a result of the desiccation of the Range, then instead of +increasing as it does in individuals toward the south where the rainfall +is less, it should diminish. If, then, the peculiar distribution of +sequoia has not been governed by superior conditions of soil as to +fertility or moisture, by what has it been governed? +<br> +In the course of my studies I observed that the northern groves, the +only ones I was at first acquainted with, were located on just those +portions of the general forest soil-belt that were first laid bare +toward the close of the glacial period when the ice-sheet began to break +up into individual glaciers. And while searching the wide basin of the +San Joaquin, and trying to account for the absence of sequoia where +every condition seemed favorable for its growth, it occurred to me that +this remarkable gap in the sequoia belt fifty miles wide is located +exactly in the basin of the vast, ancient <i>mer de glace</i> of the San +Joaquin and Kings River basins which poured its frozen floods to the +plain through this gap as its channel. I then perceived that the next +great gap in the belt to the northward, forty miles wide, extending +between the Calaveras and Tuolumne groves, occurs in the basin of the +great ancient mer de glace of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus basins; and +that the smaller gap between the Merced and Mariposa groves occurs in +the basin of the smaller glacier of the Merced. The wider the ancient +glacier, the wider the corresponding gap in the sequoia belt. +<br> +Finally, pursuing my investigations across the basins of the Kaweah +and Tule, I discovered that the sequoia belt attained its greatest +development just where, owing to the topographical peculiarities of the +region, the ground had been best protected from the main ice-rivers that +continued to pour past from the summit fountains long after the smaller +local glaciers had been melted. +<br> +Taking now a general view of the belt, beginning at the south we see +that the majestic ancient glaciers were shed off right and left down the +valleys of Kern and Kings Rivers by the lofty protective spurs outspread +embracingly above the warm sequoia-filled basins of the Kaweah and Tule. +Then, next northward, occurs the wide sequoia-less channel, or basin of +the ancient San Joaquin and sings River mer de glace; then the warm, +protected spots of Fresno and Mariposa groves; then the sequoia-less +channel of the ancient Merced glacier; next the warm, sheltered ground +of the Merced and Tuolumne groves; then the sequoia-less channel of the +grand ancient mer de glace of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus; then the +warm old ground of the Calaveras and Stanislaus groves. It appears, +therefore, that just where, at a certain period in the history of the +Sierra, the glaciers were not, there the sequoia is, and just where the +glaciers were, there the sequoia is not. +<br> +But although all the observed phenomena bearing on the post-glacial +history of this colossal tree point to the conclusion that it never was +more widely distributed on the Sierra since the close of the glacial +epoch; that its present forests are scarcely past prime, if, indeed, +they have reached prime; that the post-glacial day of the species +is probably not half done; yet, when from a wider outlook the vast +antiquity of the genus is considered, and its ancient richness in +species and individuals,--comparing our Sierra Giant and <i>Sequoia +sempervirens</i> of the Coast Range, the only other living species of +sequoia, with the twelve fossil species already discovered and described +by Heer and Lesquereux, some of which flourished over vast areas in the +Arctic regions and in Europe and our own territories, during tertiary +and cretaceous times--then, indeed, it becomes plain that our two +surviving species, restricted to narrow belts within the limits of +California, are mere remnants of the genus, both as to species and +individuals, and that they may be verging to extinction. But the verge +of a period beginning in cretaceous times may have a breadth of tens of +thousands of years, not to mention the possible existence of conditions +calculated to multiply and re-extend both species and individuals. +<br> +There is no absolute limit to the existence of any tree. Death is due to +accidents, not, as that of animals, to the wearing out of organs. Only +the leaves die of old age. Their fall is foretold in their structure; +but the leaves are renewed every year, and so also are the essential +organs wood, roots, bark, buds. Most of the Sierra trees die of disease, +insects, fungi, etc., but nothing hurts the big tree. I never saw one +that was sick or showed the slightest sign of decay. Barring accidents, +it seems to be immortal. It is a curious fact that all the very old +sequoias had lost their heads by lightning strokes. "All things come to +him who waits." But of all living things, sequoia is perhaps the only +one able to wait long enough to make sure of being struck by lightning. +<br> +So far as I am able to see at present only fire and the ax threaten the +existence of these noblest of God's trees. In Nature's keeping they +are safe, but through the agency of man destruction is making rapid +progress, while in the work of protection only a good beginning has been +made. The Fresno grove, the Tuolumne, Merced and Mariposa groves are +under the protection of the Federal Government in the Yosemite National +Park. So are the General Grant and Sequoia National Parks; the latter, +established twenty-one years ago, has an area of 240 square miles and is +efficiently guarded by a troop of cavalry under the direction of the +Secretary of the Interior; so also are the small General Grant National +Park, estatblished at the same time with an area of four square miles, +and the Mariposa grove, about the same size and the small Merced and +Tuolumne group. Perhaps more than half of all the big trees have been +thoughtlessly sold and are now in the hands of speculators and mill men. +It appears, therefore, that far the largest and important section of +protected big trees is in the great Sequoia National Park, now easily +accessible by rail to Lemon Cove and thence by a good stage road into +the giant forest of the Kaweah and thence by rail to other parts of the +park; but large as it is it should be made much larger. Its natural +eastern boundary is the High Sierra and the northern and southern +boundaries are the Kings and Kern Rivers. Thus could be included +the sublime scenery on the headwaters of these rivers and perhaps +nine-tenths of all the big trees in existence. All private claims +within these bounds should be gradually extinguished by purchase by the +Government. The big tree, leaving all its higher uses out of the count, +is a tree of life to the dwellers of the plain dependent on irrigation, +a never-failing spring, sending living waters to the lowland. For every +grove cut down a stream is dried up. Therefore all California is crying, +"Save the trees of the fountains." Nor, judging by the signs of the +times, is it likely that the cry will cease until the salvation of all +that is left of <i>Sequoia gigantea</i> is made sure. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 8<br> +The Flowers</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +Yosemite was all one glorious flower garden before plows and scythes and +trampling, biting horses came to make its wide open spaces look like +farmers' pasture fields. Nevertheless, countless flowers still bloom +every year in glorious profusion on the grand talus slopes, wall benches +and tablets, and in all the fine, cool side-cañons up to the rim of the +Valley, and beyond, higher and higher, to the summits of the peaks. Even +on the open floor and in easily-reached side-nooks many common flowering +plants have survived and still make a brave show in the spring and early +summer. Among these we may mention tall œnotheras, <i>Pentstemon lutea</i>, +and <i>P. Douglasii</i> with fine blue and red flowers; Spraguea, scarlet +zauschneria, with its curious radiant rosettes characteristic of the +sandy flats; mimulus, eunanus, blue and white violets, geranium, +columbine, erythraea, larkspur, collomia, draperia, gilias, heleniums, +bahia, goldenrods, daisies, honeysuckle; heuchera, bolandra, saxifrages, +gentians; in cool cañon nooks and on Clouds' Rest and the base of Starr +King Dome you may find <i>Primula suffrutescens</i>, the only wild primrose +discovered in California, and the only known shrubby species in the +genus. And there are several fine orchids, habenaria, and cypripedium, +the latter very rare, once common in the Valley near the foot of Glacier +Point, and in a bog on the rim of the Valley near a place called +Gentry's Station, now abandoned. It is a very beautiful species, the +large oval lip white, delicately veined with purple; the other petals +and the sepals purple, strap-shaped, and elegantly curled and twisted. +<br> +Of the lily family, fritillaria, smilacina, chlorogalum and several +fine species of brodiæa, Ithuriel's spear, and others less prized are +common, and the favorite calochortus, or Mariposa lily, a unique genus +of many species, something like the tulips of Europe but far finer. Most +of them grow on the warm foothills below the Valley, but two charming +species, <i>C. cœruleus</i> and <i>C. nudus</i>, dwell in springy places on the +Wawona road a few miles beyond the brink of the walls. +<br> +The snow plant (<i>Sarcodes sanguinea</i>) is more admired by tourists than any +other in California. It is red, fleshy and watery and looks like a +gigantic asparagus shoot. Soon after the snow is off the round it rises +through the dead needles and humus in the pine and fir woods like a +bright glowing pillar of fire. In a week or so it grows to a height of +eight or twelve inches with a diameter of an inch and a half or two +inches; then its long fringed bracts curl aside, allowing the twenty- or +thirty-five-lobed, bell-shaped flowers to open and look straight out +from the axis. It is said to grow up through the snow; on the contrary, +it always waits until the ground is warm, though with other early +flowers it is occasionally buried or half-buried for a day or two +by spring storms. The entire plant--flowers, bracts, stem, scales, +and roots--is fiery red. Its color could appeal to one's blood. +Nevertheless, it is a singularly cold and unsympathetic plant. Everybody +admires it as a wonderful curiosity, but nobody loves it as lilies, +violets, roses, daisies are loved. Without fragrance, it stands beneath +the pines and firs lonely and silent, as if unacquainted with any other +plant in the world; never moving in the wildest storms; rigid as if +lifeless, though covered with beautiful rosy flowers. +<br> +Far the most delightful and fragrant of the Valley flowers is the +Washington lily, white, moderate in size, with from three- to +ten-flowered racemes. I found one specimen in the lower end of the +Valley at the foot of the Wawona grade that was eight feet high, the +raceme two feet long, with fifty-two flowers, fifteen of them open; +the others had faded or were still in the bud. This famous lily is +distributed over the sunny portions of the sugar-pine woods, never in +large meadow-garden companies like the large and the small tiger lilies +(<i>pardalinum</i> and <i>parvum</i>), but widely scattered, standing up to the waist +in dense ceanothus and manzanita chaparral, waving its lovely flowers +above the blooming wilderness of brush, and giving their fragrance to +the breeze. It is now becoming scarce in the most accessible parts of +its range on account of the high price paid for its bulbs by gardeners +through whom it has been distributed far and wide over the flower-loving +world. For, on account of its pure color and delicate, delightful +fragrance, all lily lovers at once adopted it as a favorite. +<br> +The principal shrubs are manzanita and ceanothus, several species of +each, azalea, <i>Rubus nutkanus</i>, brier rose, choke-cherry philadelphus, +calycanthus, garrya, rhamnus, etc. +<br> +The manzanita never fails to attract particular attention. The +species common in the Valley is usually about six or seven feet high, +round-headed with innumerable branches, red or chocolate-color bark, +pale green leaves set on edge, and a rich profusion of small, pink, +narrow-throated, urn-shaped flowers, like those of arbutus. The knotty, +crooked, angular branches are about as rigid as bones, and the red bark +is so thin and smooth on both trunk and branches, they look as if they +had been peeled and polished and painted. In the spring large areas +on the mountain up to a height of eight or nine thousand feet are +brightened with the rosy flowers, and in autumn with their red fruit. +The pleasantly acid berries, about the size of peas, look like little +apples, and a hungry mountaineer is glad to eat them, though half their +bulk is made up of hard seeds. Indians, bears, coyotes, foxes, birds and +other mountain people live on them for weeks and months. The different +species of ceanothus usually associated with manzanita are flowery +fragrant and altogether delightful shrubs, growing in glorious +abundance, not only in the Valley, but high up in the forest on sunny or +half-shaded ground. In the sugar-pine woods the most beautiful species +is <i>C. integerrimus</i>, often called Californian lilac, or deer brush. It +is five or six feet high with slender branches, glossy foliage, and +abundance of blue flowers in close, showy panicles. Two species, <i>C. +prostrates</i> and <i>C. procumbens</i>, spread smooth, blue-flowered mats and +rugs beneath the pines, and offer fine beds to tired mountaineers. The +commonest species, <i>C. cordulatus</i>, is most common in the silver-fir +woods. It is white-flowered and thorny, and makes dense thickets of +tangled chaparral, difficult to wade through or to walk over. But it is +pressed flat every winter by ten or fifteen feet of snow. The western +azalea makes glorious beds of bloom along the river bank and meadows. +In the Valley it is from two to five feet high, has fine green leaves, +mostly hidden beneath its rich profusion of large, fragrant white and +yellow flowers, which are in their prime in June, July and August, +according to the elevation, ranging from 3000 to 6000 feet. Near the +azalea-bordered streams the small wild rose, resembling <i>R. blanda</i>, +makes large thickets deliciously fragrant, especially on a dewy morning +and after showers. Not far from these azalea and rose gardens, <i>Rubus +nutkanus</i> covers the ground with broad, soft, velvety leaves, and +pure-white flowers as large as those of its neighbor and relative, the +rose, and much finer in texture, followed at the end of summer by soft +red berries good for everybody. This is the commonest and the most +beautiful of the whole blessed, flowery, fruity Rubus genus. +<br> +There are a great many interesting ferns in the Valley and about +it. Naturally enough the greater number are rock ferns--pellæa, +cheilanthes, polypodium, adiantum, woodsia, cryptogramma, etc., with +small tufted fronds, lining cool glens and fringing the seams of the +cliffs. The most important of the larger species are woodwardia, +aspidium, asplenium, and, above all, the common pteris. <i>Woodwardia +radicans</i> is a superb, broad-shouldered fern five to eight feet high, +growing in vase-shaped clumps where tile ground is nearly level and on +some of the benches of the north wall of the Valley where it is watered +by a broad trickling stream. It thatches the sloping rocks, frond +overlapping frond like roof shingles. The broad-fronded, hardy <i>Pteris +aquilina</i>, the commonest of ferns, covers large areas on the floor of +the Valley. No other fern does so much for the color glory of autumn, +with its browns and reds and yellows, even after lying dead beneath +the snow all winter. It spreads a rich brown mantle over the desolate +ground in the spring before the grass has sprouted, and at the first +touch of sun-heat its young fronds come rearing up full of faith and +hope through the midst of the last year's ruins. +<br> +Of the five species of pellæa, <i>P. Breweri</i> is the hardiest as to +enduring high altitudes and stormy weather and at the same time it is +the most fragile of the genus. It grows in dense tufts in the clefts of +storm-beaten rocks, high up on the mountain-side on the very edge of the +fern line. It is a handsome little fern about four or five inches high, +has pale-green pinnate fronds, and shining bronze-colored stalks about +as brittle as glass. Its companions on the lower part of its range are +<i>Cryptogramma acrostichoides</i> and <i>Phegopteris alpestris</i>, the latter with +soft, delicate fronds, not in the least like those of Rock fern, though +it grows on the rocks where the snow lies longest. <i>Pellaea Bridgesii</i>, +with blue-green, narrow, simply-pinnate fronds, is about the same size +as Breweri and ranks next to it as a mountaineer, growing in fissures, +wet or dry, and around the edges of boulders that are resting on glacier +pavements with no fissures whatever. About a thousand feet lower we +find the smaller, more abundant <i>P. densa</i> on ledges and boulder-strewn, +fissured pavements, watered until late in summer from oozing currents, +derived from lingering snowbanks. It is, or rather was, extremely +abundant between the foot of the Nevada and the head of the Vernal Fall, +but visitors with great industry have dug out almost every root, so that +now one has to scramble in out-of-the-way places to find it. The three +species of Cheilanthes in the Valley--<i>C. californica</i>, <i>C. gracillima</i>, and +<i>myriophylla</i>, with beautiful two-to-four-pinnate fronds, an inch to five +inches long, adorn the stupendous walls however dry and sheer. The +exceedingly delicate californica is so rare that I have found it only +once. The others are abundant and are sometimes accompanied by the +little gold fern, <i>Gymnogramme triangularis</i>, and rarely by the curious +little <i>Botrychium simplex</i>, some of them less than an inch high. The +finest of all the rock ferns is <i>Adiantum pedatum</i>, lover of waterfalls +and the finest spray-dust. The homes it loves best are over-leaning, +cave-like hollows, beside the larger falls, where it can wet its fingers +with their dewy spray. Many of these moss-lined chambers contain +thousands of these delightful ferns, clinging to mossy walls by the +slightest hold, reaching out their delicate finger-fronds on dark, +shining stalks, sensitive and tremulous, throbbing in unison with every +movement and tone of the falling water, moving each division of the +frond separately at times, as if fingering the music. +<br> +May and June are the main bloom-months of the year. Both the flowers +and falls are then at their best. By the first of August the midsummer +glories of the Valley are past their prime. The young birds are then out +of their nests. Most of the plants have gone to seed; berries are ripe; +autumn tints begin to kindle and burn over meadow and grove, and a soft +mellow haze in the morning sunbeams heralds the approach of Indian +summer. The shallow river is now at rest, its flood-work done. It is now +but little more than a series of pools united by trickling, whispering +currents that steal softly over brown pebbles and sand with scarce an +audible murmur. Each pool has a character of its own and, though they +are nearly currentless, the night air and tree shadows keep them cool. +Their shores curve in and out in bay and promontory, giving the +appearance of miniature lakes, their banks in most places embossed with +brier and azalea, sedge and grass and fern; and above these in their +glory of autumn colors a mingled growth of alder, willow, dogwood and +balm-of-Gilead; mellow sunshine overhead, cool shadows beneath; light +filtered and strained in passing through the ripe leaves like that which +passes through colored windows. The surface of the water is stirred, +perhaps, by whirling water-beetles, or some startled trout, seeking +shelter beneath fallen logs or roots. The falls, too, are quiet; no wind +stirs, and the whole Valley floor is a mosaic of greens and purples, +yellows and reds. Even the rocks seem strangely soft and mellow, as if +they, too, had ripened. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 9<br> +The Birds</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +The songs of the Yosemite winds and waterfalls are delightfully enriched +with bird song, especially in the nesting time of spring and early +summer. The most familiar and best known of all is the common robin, who +may be seen every day, hopping about briskly on the meadows and uttering +his cheery, enlivening call. The black-headed grosbeak, too, is here, +with the Bullock oriole, and western tanager, brown song-sparrow, hermit +thrush, the purple finch,--a fine singer, with head and throat of a +rosy-red hue,--several species of warblers and vireos, kinglets, +flycatchers, etc. +<br> +But the most wonderful singer of all the birds is the water-ouzel that +dives into foaming rapids and feeds at the bottom, holding on in a +wonderful way, living a charmed life. +<br> +Several species of humming-birds are always to be seen, darting and +buzzing among the showy flowers. The little red-bellied nuthatches, the +chickadees, and little brown creepers, threading the furrows of the bark +of the pines, searching for food in the crevices. The large Steller's +jay makes merry in the pine-tops; flocks of beautiful green swallows +skim over the streams, and the noisy Clarke's crow may oftentimes be +seen on the highest points around the Valley; and in the deep woods +beyond the walls you may frequently hear and see the dusky grouse and +the pileated woodpecker, or woodcock almost as large as a pigeon. The +junco or snow-bird builds its nest on the floor of the Valley among the +ferns; several species of sparrow are common and the beautiful lazuli +bunting, a common bird in the underbrush, flitting about among the +azalea and ceanothus bushes and enlivening the groves with his brilliant +color; and on gravelly bars the spotted sandpiper is sometimes seen. +Many woodpeckers dwell in the Valley; the familiar flicker, the Harris +woodpecker and the species which so busily stores up acorns in the thick +bark of the yellow pines. +<br> +The short, cold days of winter are also sweetened with the music and +hopeful chatter of a considerable number of birds. No cheerier choir +ever sang in snow. First and best of all is the water-ouzel, a dainty, +dusky little bird about the size of a robin, that sings in sweet fluty +song all winter and all summer, in storms and calms, sunshine and +shadow, haunting the rapids and waterfalls with marvelous constancy, +building his nest in the cleft of a rock bathed in spray. He is not +web-footed, yet he dives fearlessly into foaming rapids, seeming to take +the greater delight the more boisterous the stream, always as cheerful +and calm as any linnet in a grove. All his gestures as he flits about +amid the loud uproar of the falls bespeak the utmost simplicity and +confidence--bird and stream one and inseparable. What a pair! yet they +are well related. A finer bloom than the foam bell in an eddying pool +is this little bird. We may miss the meaning of the loud-resounding +torrent, but the flute-like voice of the bird--only love is in it. +<br> +A few robins, belated on their way down from the upper Meadows, linger +in the Valley and make out to spend the winter in comparative comfort, +feeding on the mistletoe berries that grow on the oaks. In the depths +of the great forests, on the high meadows, in the severest altitudes, +they seem as much at home as in the fields and orchards about the busy +habitations of man, ascending the Sierra as the snow melts, following +the green footsteps of Spring, until in July or August the highest +glacier meadows are reached on the summit of the Range. Then, after the +short summer is over, and their work in cheering and sweetening these +lofty wilds is done, they gradually make their way down again in accord +with the weather, keeping below the snow-storms, lingering here and +there to feed on huckleberries and frost-nipped wild cherries growing +on the upper slopes. Thence down to the vineyards and orchards of the +lowlands to spend the winter; entering the gardens of the great towns +as well as parks and fields, where the blessed wanderers are too often +slaughtered for food--surely a bad use to put so fine a musician to; +better make stove wood of pianos to feed the kitchen fire. +<br> +The kingfisher winters in the Valley, and the flicker and, of course, +the carpenter woodpecker, that lays up large stores of acorns in the +bark of trees; wrens also, with a few brown and gray linnets, and flocks +of the arctic bluebird, making lively pictures among the snow-laden +mistletoe bushes. Flocks of pigeons are often seen, and about six +species of ducks, as the river is never wholly frozen over. Among these +are the mallard and the beautiful woodduck, now less common on account +of being so often shot at. Flocks of wandering geese used to visit the +Valley in March and April, and perhaps do so still, driven down by +hunger or stress of weather while on their way across the Range. When +pursued by the hunters I have frequently seen them try to fly over the +walls of Lee Valley until tired out and compelled to re-alight. Yosemite +magnitudes seem to be as deceptive to geese as to men, for after +circling to a considerable height and forming regular harrow-shaped +ranks they would suddenly find themselves in danger of being dashed +against the face of the cliff, much nearer the bottom than the top. Then +turning in confusion with loud screams they would try again and again +until exhausted and compelled to descend. I have occasionally observed +large flocks on their travels crossing the summits of the Range at a +height of 12,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, and even in +so rare an atmosphere as this they seemed to be sustaining themselves +without extra effort. Strong, however, as they are of wind and wing, +they cannot fly over Yosemite walls, starting from the bottom. +<br> +A pair of golden eagles have lived in the Valley ever since I first +visited it, hunting all winter along the northern cliffs and down the +river cañon. Their nest is on a ledge of the cliff over which pours +the Nevada Fall. Perched on the top of a dead spar, they were always +interested observers of the geese when they were being shot at. I once +noticed one of the geese compelled to leave the flock on account of +being sorely wounded, although it still seemed to fly pretty well. +Immediately the eagles pursued it and no doubt struck it down, although +I did not see the result of the hunt. Anyhow, it flew past me up the +Valley, closely pursued. +<br> +One wild, stormy winter morning after five feet of snow had fallen on +the floor of the Valley and the flying flakes driven by a strong wind +still thickened the air, making darkness like the approach of night, I +sallied forth to see what I might learn and enjoy. It was impossible +to go very far without the aid of snow-shoes, but I found no great +difficulty in making my way to a part of the river where one of my +ouzels lived. I found him at home busy about his breakfast, apparently +unaware of anything uncomfortable in the weather. Presently he flew out +to a stone against which the icy current was beating, and turning his +back to the wind, sang as delightfully as a lark in springtime. +<br> +After spending an hour or two with my favorite, I made my way across the +Valley, boring and wallowing through the loose snow, to learn as much +as possible about the way the other birds were spending their time. In +winter one can always find them because they are then restricted to the +north side of the Valley, especially the Indian Cañon groves, which +from their peculiar exposure are the warmest. +<br> +I found most of the robins cowering on the lee side of the larger +branches of the trees, where the snow could not fall on them, while two +or three of the more venturesome were making desperate efforts to get at +the mistletoe berries by clinging to the underside of the snow-crowned +masses, back downward, something like woodpeckers. Every now and then +some of the loose snow was dislodged and sifted down on the hungry +birds, sending them screaming back to their companions in the grove, +shivering and muttering like cold, hungry children. +<br> +Some of the sparrows were busy scratching and pecking at the feet of +the larger trees where the snow had been shed off, gleaning seeds +and benumbed insects, joined now and then by a robin weary of his +unsuccessful efforts to get at the snow-covered mistletoe berries. The +brave woodpeckers were clinging to the snowless sides of the larger +boles and overarching branches of the camp trees, making short flights +from side to side of the grove, pecking now and then at the acorns they +had stored in the bark, and chattering aimlessly as if unable to keep +still, evidently putting in the time in a very dull way. The hardy +nuthatches were threading the open furrows of the barks in their usual +industrious manner and uttering their quaint notes, giving no evidence +of distress. The Steller's jays were, of course, making more noise and +stir than all the other birds combined; ever coming and going with +loud bluster, screaming as if each had a lump of melting sludge in his +throat, and taking good care to improve every opportunity afforded by +the darkness and confusion of the storm to steal from the acorn stores +of the woodpeckers. One of the golden eagles made an impressive picture +as he stood bolt upright on the top of a tall pine-stump, braving the +storm, with his back to the wind and a tuft of snow piled on his broad +shoulders, a monument of passive endurance. Thus every storm-bound bird +seemed more or less uncomfortable, if not in distress. The storm was +reflected in every gesture, and not one cheerful note, not to say song, +came from a single bill. Their cowering, joyless endurance offered +striking contrasts to the spontaneous, irrepressible gladness of the +ouzel, who could no more help giving out sweet song than a rose sweet +fragrance. He must sing, though the heavens fall. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 10<br> +The South Dome</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +With the exception of a few spires and pinnacles, the South Dome is +the only rock about the Valley that is strictly inaccessible without +artificial means, and its inaccessibility is expressed in severe terms. +Nevertheless many a mountaineer, gazing admiringly, tried hard to +invent a way to the top of its noble crown--all in vain, until in the +year 1875, George Anderson, an indomitable Scotchman, undertook the +adventure. The side facing Tenaya Cañon is an absolutely vertical +precipice from the summit to a depth of about 1600 feet, and on the +opposite side it is nearly vertical for about as great a depth. The +southwest side presents a very steep and finely drawn curve from the top +down a thousand feet or more, while on the northeast, where it is united +with the Clouds' Rest Ridge, one may easily reach a point called the +Saddle, about seven hundred feet below the summit. From the Saddle the +Dome rises in a graceful curve a few degrees too steep for unaided +climbing, besides being defended by overleaning ends of the concentric +dome layers of the granite. +<br> +A year or two before Anderson gained the summit, John Conway, the master +trail-builder of the Valley, and his little sons, who climbed smooth +rocks like lizards, made a bold effort to reach the top by climbing +barefooted up the grand curve with a rope which they fastened at +irregular intervals by means of eye-bolts driven into joints of the +rock. But finding that the upper part would require laborious drilling, +they abandoned the attempt, glad to escape from the dangerous position +they had reached, some 300 feet above the Saddle. Anderson began with +Conway's old rope, which had been left in place, and resolutely drilled +his way to the top, inserting eye-bolts five to six feet apart, and +making his rope fast to each in succession, resting his feet on the +last bolt while he drilled a hole for the next above. Occasionally some +irregularity in the curve, or slight foothold, would enable him to climb +a few feet without a rope, which he would pass and begin drilling again, +and thus the whole work was accomplished in a few days. From this +slender beginning he proposed to construct a substantial stairway which +he hoped to complete in time for the next year's travel, but while busy +getting out timber for his stairway and dreaming of the wealth he hoped +to gain from tolls, he was taken sick and died all alone in his little +cabin. +<br> +On the 10th of November, after returning from a visit to Mount Shasta, a +month or two after Anderson had gained the summit, I made haste to the +Dome, not only for the pleasure of climbing, but to see what I might +learn. The first winter storm-clouds had blossomed and the mountains and +all the high points about the Valley were mantled in fresh snow. I was, +therefore, a little apprehensive of danger from the slipperiness of the +rope and the rock. Anderson himself tried to prevent me from making +the attempt, refusing to believe that any one could climb his rope in +the now-muffled condition in which it then was. Moreover, the sky was +overcast and solemn snow-clouds began to curl around the summit, and +my late experiences on icy Shasta came to mind. But reflecting that I +had matches in my pocket, and that a little firewood might be found, I +concluded that in case of a storm the night could be spent on the Dome +without suffering anything worth minding, no matter what the clouds +might bring forth. I therefore pushed on and gained the top. +<br> +It was one of those brooding, changeful days that come between Indian +summer and winter, when the leaf colors have grown dim and the clouds +come and go among the cliffs like living creatures looking for work: now +hovering aloft, now caressing rugged rock-brows with great gentleness, +or, wandering afar over the tops of the forests, touching the spires of +fir and pine with their soft silken fringes as if trying to tell the +glad news of the coming of snow. +<br> +The first view was perfectly glorious. A massive cloud of pure pearl +luster, apparently as fixed and calm as the meadows and groves in the +shadow beneath it, was arched across the Valley from wall to wall, one +end resting on the grand abutment of El Capitan, the other on Cathedral +Rock. A little later, as I stood on the tremendous verge overlooking +Mirror Lake, a flock of smaller clouds, white as snow, came from the +north, trailing their downy skirts over the dark forests, and entered +the Valley with solemn god-like gestures through Indian Cañon and over +the North Dome and Royal Arches, moving swiftly, yet with majestic +deliberation. On they came, nearer and nearer, gathering and massing +beneath my feet and filling the Tenaya Cañon. Then the sun shone free, +lighting the pearly gray surface of the cloud-like sea and making it +glow. Gazing, admiring, I was startled to see for the first time the +rare optical phenomenon of the "Specter of the Brocken." My shadow, +clearly outlined, about half a mile long, lay upon this glorious white +surface with startling effect. I walked back and forth, waved my arms +and struck all sorts of attitudes, to see every slightest movement +enormously exaggerated. Considering that I have looked down so many +times from mountain tops on seas of all sorts of clouds, it seems +strange that I should have seen the "Brocken Specter" only this once. +A grander surface and a grander stand-point, however, could hardly +have been found in all the Sierra. +<br> +After this grand show the cloud-sea rose higher, wreathing the Dome, and +for a short time submerging it, making darkness like night, and I began +to think of looking for a camp ground in a cluster of dwarf pines. But +soon the sun shone free again, the clouds, sinking lower and lower, +gradually vanished, leaving the Valley with its Indian-summer colors +apparently refreshed, while to the eastward the summit-peaks, clad in +new snow, towered along the horizon in glorious array. +<br> +Though apparently it is perfectly bald, there are four clumps of pines +growing on the summit, representing three species, Pinus albicaulis, +P. contorta and P. ponderosa, var. Jeffreyi--all three, of course, +repressed and storm-beaten. The alpine spiræa grows here also and +blossoms profusely with potentilla, erigeron, eriogonum, pentstemon, +solidago, and an interesting species of onion, and four or five species +of grasses and sedges. None of these differs in any respect from those +of other summits of the same height, excepting the curious little +narrow-leaved, waxen-bulbed onion, which I had not seen elsewhere. +<br> +Notwithstanding the enthusiastic eagerness of tourists to reach the +crown of the Dome the views of the Valley from this lofty standpoint are +less striking than from many other points comparatively low, chiefly on +account of the foreshortening effect produced by looking down from so +great a height. The North Dome is dwarfed almost beyond recognition, +the grand sculpture of the Royal Arches is scarcely noticeable, and the +whole range of walls on both sides seem comparatively low, especially +when the Valley is flooded with noon sunshine; while the Dome itself, +the most sublime feature of all the Yosemite views, is out of sight +beneath one's feet. The view of Little Yosemite Valley is very fine, +though inferior to one obtained from the base of the Starr King Cone, +but the summit landscapes towards Mounts Ritter, Lyell, Dana, Conness, +and the Merced Group, are very effective and complete. +<br> +No one has attempted to carry out Anderson's plan of making the Dome +accessible. For my part I should prefer leaving it in pure wildness, +though, after all, no great damage could be done by tramping over it. +The surface would be strewn with tin cans and bottles, but the winter +gales would blow the rubbish away. Avalanches might strip off any sort +of stairway or ladder that might be built. Blue jays and Clark's crows +have trodden the Dome for many a day, and so have beetles and chipmunks, +and Tissiack would hardly be more "conquered" or spoiled should man be +added to her list of visitors. His louder scream and heavier scrambling +would not stir a line of her countenance. +<br> +When the sublime ice-floods of the glacial period poured down the flank +of the Range over what is now Yosemite Valley, they were compelled to +break through a dam of domes extending across from Mount Starr King to +North Dome; and as the period began to draw near a close the shallowing +ice-currents were divided and the South Dome was, perhaps, the first to +emerge, burnished and shining like a mirror above the surface of the icy +sea; and though it has sustained the wear and tear of the elements tens +of thousands of years, it yet remains a telling monument of the action +of the great glaciers that brought it to light. Its entire surface is +still covered with glacial hieroglyphics whose interpretation is the +reward of all who devoutly study them. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 11<br> +The Ancient Yosemite Glaciers:<br> +How the Valley Was Formed</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +All California has been glaciated, the low plains and valleys as well +as the mountains. Traces of an ice-sheet, thousands of feet in thickness, +beneath whose heavy folds the present landscapes have been molded, may +be found everywhere, though glaciers now exist only among the peaks of +the High Sierra. No other mountain chain on this or any other of the +continents that I have seen is so rich as the Sierra in bold, striking, +well-preserved glacial monuments. Indeed, every feature is more or +less tellingly glacial. Not a peak, ridge, dome, cañon, yosemite, +lake-basin, stream or forest will you see that does not in some way +explain the past existence and modes of action of flowing, grinding, +sculpturing, soil-making, scenery-making ice. For, notwithstanding the +post-glacial agents--the air, rain, snow, frost, river, avalanche, +etc.--have been at work upon the greater portion of the Range for tens +of thousands of stormy years, each engraving its own characters more +and more deeply over those of the ice, the latter are so enduring and +so heavily emphasized, they still rise in sublime relief, clear and +legible, through every after-inscription. The landscapes of North +Greenland, Antarctica, and some of those of our own Alaska, are still +being fashioned beneath a slow-crawling mantle of ice, from a quarter +of a mile to probably more than a mile in thickness, presenting noble +illustrations of the ancient condition of California, when its sublime +scenery lay hidden in process of formation. On the Himalaya, the +mountains of Norway and Switzerland, the Caucasus, and on most of those +of Alaska, their ice-mantle has been melted down into separate glaciers +that flow river-like through the valleys, illustrating a similar past +condition in the Sierra, when every cañon and valley was the channel +of an ice-stream, all of which may be easily traced back to their +fountains, where some sixty-five or seventy of their topmost residual +branches still linger beneath protecting mountain shadows. +<br> +The change from one to another of those glacial conditions was slow as +we count time. When the great cycle of snow years, called the Glacial +Period, was nearly complete in California, the ice-mantle, wasting from +season to season faster than it was renewed, began to withdraw from the +lowlands and gradually became shallower everywhere. Then the highest +of the Sierra domes and dividing ridges, containing distinct glaciers +between them, began to appear above the icy sea. These first river-like +glaciers remained united in one continuous sheet toward the summit of +the Range for many centuries. But as the snow-fall diminished, and the +climate became milder, this upper part of the ice-sheet was also in +turn separated into smaller distinct glaciers, and these again into +still smaller ones, while at the same time all were growing shorter and +shallower, though fluctuations of the climate now and then occurred +that brought their receding ends to a standstill, or even enabled them +to advance for a few tens or hundreds of years. +<br> +Meanwhile, hardy, home-seeking plants and animals, after long waiting, +flocked to their appointed places, pushing bravely on higher and higher, +along every sun-warmed slope, closely following the retreating ice, +which, like shreds of summer clouds, at length vanished from the +new-born mountains, leaving them in all their main, telling features +nearly as we find them now. +<br> +Tracing the ways of glaciers, learning how Nature sculptures +mountain-waves in making scenery-beauty that so mysteriously influences +every human being, is glorious work. +<br> +The most striking and attractive of the glacial phenomena in the upper +Yosemite region are the polished glacier pavements, because they are so +beautiful, and their beauty is of so rare a kind, so unlike any portion +of the loose, deeply weathered lowlands where people make homes and earn +their bread. They are simply flat or gently undulating areas of hard +resisting granite, which present the unchanged surface upon which with +enormous pressure the ancient glaciers flowed. They are found in most +perfect condition in the subalpine region, at an elevation of from eight +thousand to nine thousand feet. Some are miles in extent, only slightly +interrupted by spots that have given way to the weather, while the best +preserved portions reflect the sunbeams like calm water or glass, and +shine as if polished afresh every day, notwithstanding they have been +exposed to corroding rains, dew, frost, and snow measureless thousands +of years. +<br> +The attention of wandering hunters and prospectors, who see so many +mountain wonders, is seldom commanded by other glacial phenomena, +moraines however regular and artificial-looking, cañons however deep +or strangely modeled, rocks however high; but when they come to these +shining pavements they stop and stare in wondering admiration, kneel +again and again to examine the brightest spots, and try hard to account +for their mysterious shining smoothness. They may have seen the winter +avalanches of snow descending in awful majesty through the woods, +scouring the rocks and sweeping away like weeds the trees that stood +in their way, but conclude that this cannot be the work of avalanches, +because the scratches and fine polished strife show that the agent, +whatever it was, moved along the sides of high rocks and ridges and up +over the tops of them as well as down their slopes. Neither can they see +how water may possibly have been the agent, for they find the same +strange polish upon ridges and domes thousands of feet above the reach +of any conceivable flood. Of all the agents of whose work they know +anything, only the wind seems capable of moving across the face of the +country in the directions indicated by the scratches and grooves. The +Indian name of Lake Tenaya is "Pyweak"--the lake of shining rocks. One +of the Yosemite tribe, Indian Tom, came to me and asked if I could tell +him what had made the Tenaya rocks so smooth. Even dogs and horses, when +first led up the mountains, study geology to this extent that they gaze +wonderingly at the strange brightness of the ground and smell it, and +place their feet cautiously upon it as if afraid of falling or sinking. +<br> +In the production of this admirable hard finish, the glaciers in many +places flowed with a pressure of more than a thousand tons to the square +yard, planing down granite, slate, and quartz alike, and bringing out +the veins and crystals of the rocks with beautiful distinctness. Over +large areas below the sources of the Tuolumne and Merced the granite is +porphyritic; feldspar crystals in inch or two in length in many places +form the greater part of the rock, and these, when planed off level with +the general surface, give rise to a beautiful mosaic on which the happy +sunbeams plash and glow in passionate enthusiasm. Here lie the brightest +of all the Sierra landscapes. The Range both to the north and south of +this region was, perhaps, glaciated about as heavily, but because the +rocks are less resisting, their polished surfaces have mostly given way +to the weather, leaving only small imperfect patches. The lower remnants +of the old glacial surface occur at an elevation of from 3000 to 5000 +feet above the sea level, and twenty to thirty miles below the axis of +the Range. The short, steeply inclined cañons of the eastern flank also +contain enduring, brilliantly striated and polished rocks, but these are +less magnificent than those of the broad western flank. +<br> +One of the best general views of the brightest and best of the Yosemite +park landscapes that every Yosemite tourist should see, is to be had +from the top of Fairview Dome, a lofty conoidal rock near Cathedral Peak +that long ago I named the Tuolumne Glacier Monument, one of the most +striking and best preserved of the domes. Its burnished crown is about +1500 feet above the Tuolumne Meadows and 10,000 above the sea. At first +sight it seems inaccessible, though a good climber will find it may +be scaled on the south side. About half-way up you will find it so +steep that there is danger of slipping, but feldspar crystals, two or +three inches long, of which the rock is full, having offered greater +resistance to atmospheric erosion than the mass of the rock in which +they are imbedded, have been brought into slight relief in some places, +roughening the surface here and there, and affording helping footholds. +<br> +The summit is burnished and scored like the sides and base, the +scratches and strife indicating that the mighty Tuolumne Glacier swept +over it as if it were only a mere boulder in the bottom of its channel. +The pressure it withstood must have been enormous. Had it been less +solidly built it would have been carried away, ground into moraine +fragments, like the adjacent rock in which it lay imbedded; for, great +as it is, it is only a hard residual knot like the Yosemite domes, +brought into relief by the removal of less resisting rock about it; +an illustration of the survival of the strongest and most favorably +situated. +<br> +Hardly less wonderful is the resistance it has offered to the trying +mountain weather since first its crown rose above the icy sea. The whole +quantity of post-glacial wear and tear it has suffered has not degraded +it a hundredth of an inch, as may readily be shown by the polished +portions of the surface. A few erratic boulders, nicely poised on its +crown, tell an interesting story. They came from the summit-peaks twelve +miles away, drifting like chips on the frozen sea, and were stranded +here when the top of the monument merged from the ice, while their +companions, whose positions chanced to be above the slopes of the sides +where they could not find rest, were carried farther on by falling back +on the shallowing ice current. +<br> +The general view from the summit consists of a sublime assemblage of +ice-born rocks and mountains, long wavering ridges, meadows, lakes, and +forest-covered moraines, hundreds of square miles of them. The lofty +summit-peaks rise grandly along the sky to the east, the gray pillared +slopes of the Hoffman Range toward the west, and a billowy sea of +shining rocks like the Monument, some of them almost as high and which +from their peculiar sculpture seem to be rolling westward in the middle +ground, something like breaking waves. Immediately beneath you are the +Big Tuolumne Meadows, smooth lawns with large breadths of woods on +either side, and watered by the young Tuolumne River, rushing cool and +clear from its many snow- and ice-fountains. Nearly all the upper part +of the basin of the Tuolumne Glacier is in sight, one of the greatest +and most influential of all the Sierra ice-rivers. Lavishly flooded by +many a noble affluent from the ice-laden flanks of Mounts Dana, Lyell, +McClure, Gibbs, Conness, it poured its majestic outflowing current full +against the end of the Hoffman Range, which divided and deflected it to +right and left, just as a river of water is divided against an island +in the middle of its channel. Two distinct glaciers were thus formed, +one of which flowed through the great Tuolumne Cañon and Hetch Hetchy +Valley, while the other swept upward in a deep current two miles wide +across the divide, five hundred feet high between the basins of the +Tuolumne and Merced, into the Tenaya Basin, and thence down through the +Tenaya Cañon and Yosemite. +<br> +The map-like distinctness and freshness of this glacial landscape cannot +fail to excite the attention of every beholder, no matter how little of +its scientific significance may be recognized. These bald, +westward-leaning rocks, with their rounded backs and shoulders toward +the glacier fountains of the summit-mountains, and their split, angular +fronts looking in the opposite direction, explain the tremendous +grinding force with which the ice-flood passed over them, and also the +direction of its flow. And the mountain peaks around the sides of the +upper general Tuolumne Basin, with their sharp unglaciated summits and +polished rounded sides, indicate the height to which the glaciers rose; +while the numerous moraines, curving and swaying in beautiful lines, +mark the boundaries of the main trunk and its tributaries as they +existed toward the close of the glacial winter. None of the commerical +highways of the land or sea, marked with buoys and lamps, fences, and +guide-boards, is so unmistakably indicated as are these broad, shining +trails of the vanished Tuolumne Glacier and its far-reaching +tributaries. +<br> +I should like now to offer some nearer views of a few characteristic +specimens of these wonderful old ice-streams, though it is not easy to +make a selection from so vast a system intimately inter-blended. The +main branches of the Merced Glacier are, perhaps, best suited to our +purpose, because their basins, full of telling inscriptions, are the +ones most attractive and accessible to the Yosemite visitors who like to +look beyond the valley walls. They number five, and may well be called +Yosemite glaciers, since they were the agents Nature used in developing +and fashioning the grand Valley. The names I have given them are, +beginning with the northern-most, Yosemite Creek, Hoffman, Tenaya, South +Lyell, and Illilouette Glaciers. These all converged in admirable poise +around from northeast to southeast, welded themselves together into the +main Yosemite Glacier, which, grinding gradually deeper, swept down +through the Valley, receiving small tributaries on its way from the +Indian, Sentinel, and Pohono Cañons; and at length flowed out of the +Valley, and on down the Range in a general westerly direction. At the +time that the tributaries mentioned above were well defined as to their +boundaries, the upper portion of the valley walls, and the highest rocks +about them, such as the Domes, the uppermost of the Three Brothers and +the Sentinel, rose above the surface of the ice. But during the Valley's +earlier history, all its rocks, however lofty, were buried beneath a +continuous sheet, which swept on above and about them like the wind, the +upper portion of the current flowing steadily, while the lower portion +went mazing and swedging down in the crooked and dome-blocked cañons +toward the head of the Valley. +<br> +Every glacier of the Sierra fluctuated in width and depth and length, +and consequently in degree of individuality, down to the latest +glacial days. It must, therefore, be borne in mind that the following +description of the Yosemite glaciers applies only to their separate +condition, and to that phase of their separate condition that they +presented toward the close of the glacial period after most of their +work was finished, and all the more telling features of the Valley and +the adjacent region were brought into relief. +<br> +The comparatively level, many-fountained Yosemite Creek Glacier was +about fourteen miles in length by four or five in width, and from five +hundred to a thousand feet deep. Its principal tributaries, drawing +their sources from the northern spurs of the Hoffman Range, at first +pursued a westerly course; then, uniting with each other, and a series +of short affluents from the western rim of the basin, the trunk thus +formed swept around to the southward in a magnificent curve, and poured +its ice over the north wall of Yosemite in cascades about two miles +wide. This broad and comparatively shallow glacier formed a sort of +crawling, wrinkled ice-cloud, that gradually became more regular in +shape and river-like as it grew older. Encircling peaks began to +overshadow its highest fountains, rock islets rose here and there amid +its ebbing currents, and its picturesque banks, adorned with domes and +round-backed ridges, extended in massive grandeur down to the brink of +the Yosemite walls. +<br> +In the meantime the chief Hoffman tributaries, slowly receding to the +shelter of the shadows covering their fountains, continued to live and +work independently, spreading soil, deepening lake-basins and giving +finishing touches to the sculpture in general. At length these also +vanished, and the whole basin is now full of light. Forests flourish +luxuriantly upon its ample moraines, lakes and meadows shine and bloom +amid its polished domes, and a thousand gardens adorn the banks of its +streams. +<br> +It is to the great width and even slope of the Yosemite Creek Glacier +that we owe the unrivaled height and sheerness of the Yosemite Falls. +For had the positions of the ice-fountains and the structure of the +rocks been such as to cause down-thrusting concentration of the Glacier +as it approached the Valley, then, instead of a high vertical fall we +should have had a long slanting cascade, which after all would perhaps +have been as beautiful and interesting, if we only had a mind to see +it so. +<br> +The short, comparatively swift-flowing Hoffman Glacier, whose fountains +extend along the south slopes of the Hoffman Range, offered a striking +contrast to the one just described. The erosive energy of the latter was +diffused over a wide field of sunken, boulder-like domes and ridges. The +Hoffman Glacier, on the contrary moved right ahead on a comparatively +even surface, making descent of nearly five thousand feet in five miles, +steadily contracting and deepening its current, and finally united with +the Tenaya Glacier as one of its most influential tributaries in the +development and sculpture of the great Half Dome, North Dome and the +rocks adjacent to them about the head of the Valley. +<br> +The story of its death is not unlike that of its companion already +described, though the declivity of its channel, and its uniform exposure +to sun-heat prevented any considerable portion of its current from +becoming torpid, lingering only well up on the Mountain slopes to finish +their sculpture and encircle them with a zone of moraine soil for +forests and gardens. Nowhere in all this wonderful region will you find +more beautiful trees and shrubs and flowers covering the traces of ice. +<br> +The rugged Tenaya Glacier wildly crevassed here and there above the +ridges it had to cross, instead of drawing its sources direct from the +summit of the Range, formed, as we have seen, one of the outlets of the +great Tuolumne Glacier, issuing from this noble fountain like a river +from a lake, two miles wide, about fourteen miles long, and from 1500 +to 2000 feet deep. +<br> +In leaving the Tuolumne region it crossed over the divide, as mentioned +above, between the Tuolumne and Tenaya basins, making an ascent of five +hundred feet. Hence, after contracting its wide current and receiving +a strong affluent from the fountains about Cathedral Peak, it poured +its massive flood over the northeastern rim of its basin in splendid +cascades. Then, crushing heavily against the Clouds' Rest Ridge, it bore +down upon the Yosemite domes with concentrated energy. +<br> +Toward the end of the ice period, while its Hoffman companion continued +to grind rock-meal for coming plants, the main trunk became torpid, +and vanished, exposing wide areas of rolling rock-waves and glistening +pavements, on whose channelless surface water ran wild and free. And +because the trunk vanished almost simultaneously throughout its whole +extent, no terminal moraines are found in its cañon channel; nor, since +its walls are, in most places, too steeply inclined to admit of the +deposition of moraine matter, do we find much of the two main laterals. +The lowest of its residual glaciers lingered beneath the shadow of the +Yosemite Half Dome; others along the base of Coliseum Peak above Lake +Tenaya and along the precipitous wall extending from the lake to the +Big Tuolumne Meadows. The latter, on account of the uniformity and +continuity of their protecting shadows, formed moraines of considerable +length and regularity that are liable to be mistaken for portions of +the left lateral of the Tuolumne tributary glacier. +<br> +Spend all the time you can spare or steal on the tracks of this grand +old glacier, charmed and enchanted by its magnificent cañon, lakes and +cascades and resplendent glacier pavements. +<br> +The Nevada Glacier was longer and more symmetrical than the last, and +the only one of the Merced system whose sources extended directly back +to the main summits on the axis of the Range. Its numerous fountains +were ranged side by side in three series, at an elevation of from 10,000 +to 12,000 feet above the sea. The first, on the right side of the basin, +extended from the Matterhorn to Cathedral Peak; that on the left through +the Merced group, and these two parallel series were united by a third +that extended around the head of the basin in a direction at right +angles to the others. +<br> +The three ranges of high peaks and ridges that supplied the snow for +these fountains, together with the Clouds' Rest Ridge, nearly inclose a +rectangular basin, that was filled with a massive sea of ice, leaving +an outlet toward the west through which flowed the main trunk glacier, +three-fourths of a mile to a mile and a half wide, fifteen miles long, +and from 1000 to 1500 feet deep, and entered Yosemite between the Half +Dome and Mount Starr King. +<br> +Could we have visited Yosemite Valley at this period of its history, we +should have found its ice cascades vastly more glorious than their tiny +water representatives of the present day. One of the grandest of these +was formed by that portion of the Nevada Glacier that poured over the +shoulder of the Half Dome. +<br> +This glacier, as a whole, resembled an oak, with a gnarled swelling base +and wide-spreading branches. Picturesque rocks of every conceivable form +adorned its banks, among which glided the numerous tributaries, mottled +with black and red and gray boulders, from the fountain peaks, while +ever and anon, as the deliberate centuries passed away, dome after dome +raised its burnished crown above the ice-flood to enrich the slowly +opening landscapes. +<br> +The principal moraines occur in short irregular sections along the sides +of the cañons, their fragmentary condition being due to interruptions +caused by portions of the sides of the cañon walls being too steep for +moraine matter to lie on, and to down-sweeping torrents and avalanches. +The left lateral of the trunk may be traced about five miles from the +mouth of the first main tributary to the Illilouette Cañon. The +corresponding section of the right lateral, extending from Cathedral +tributary to the Half Dome, is more complete because of the more +favorable character of the north side of the cañon. A short +side-glacier came in against it from the slopes of Clouds' Rest; but +being fully exposed to the sun, it was melted long before the main +trunk, allowing the latter to deposit this portion of its moraine +undisturbed. Some conception of the size and appearance of this fine +moraine may be gained by following the Clouds' Rest trail from Yosemite, +which crosses it obliquely and conducts past several sections made by +streams. Slate boulders may be seen that must have come from the Lyell +group, twelve miles distant. But the bulk of the moraine is composed +of porphyritic granite derived from Feldspar and Cathedral Valleys. +<br> +On the sides of the moraines we find a series of terraces, indicating +fluctuations in the level of the glacier, caused by variations of +snow-fall, temperature, etc., showing that the climate of the glacial +period was diversified by cycles of milder or stormier seasons similar +to those of post-glacial time. +<br> +After the depth of the main trunk diminished to about five hundred feet, +the greater portion became torpid, as is shown by the moraines, and +lay dying in its crooked channel like a wounded snake, maintaining for +a time a feeble squirming motion in places of exceptional depth, or +where the bottom of the cañon was more steeply inclined. The numerous +fountain-wombs, however, continued fruitful long after the trunk had +vanished, giving rise to an imposing array of short residual glaciers, +extending around the rim of the general basin a distance of nearly +twenty-four miles. Most of these have but recently succumbed to the new +climate, dying in turn as determined by elevation, size, and exposure, +leaving only a few feeble survivors beneath the coolest shadows, which +are now slowly completing the sculpture of one of the noblest of the +Yosemite basins. +<br> +The comparatively shallow glacier that at this time filled the +Illilouette Basin, though once far from shallow, more resembled a lake +than a river of ice, being nearly half as wide as it was long. Its +greatest length was about ten miles, and its depth perhaps nowhere much +exceeded 1000 feet. Its chief fountains, ranged along the west side of +the Merced group, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, gave birth to +fine tributaries that flowed in a westerly direction, and united in the +center of the basin. The broad trunk at first poured northwestward, then +curved to the northward, deflected by the lofty wall forming its western +bank, and finally united with the grand Yosemite trunk, opposite Glacier +Point. +<br> +All the phenomena relating to glacial action in this basin are +remarkably simple and orderly, on account of the sheltered positions +occupied by its ice-fountains, with reference to the disturbing effects +of larger glaciers from the axis of the main Range earlier in the +period. From the eastern base of the Starr King cone you may obtain +a fine view of the principal moraines sweeping grandly out into the +middle of the basin from the shoulders of the peaks, between which the +ice-fountains lay. The right lateral of the tributary, which took its +rise between Red and Merced Mountains, measures two hundred and fifty +feet in height at its upper extremity, and displays three well-defined +terraces, similar to those of the south Lyell Glacier. The comparative +smoothness of the upper-most terrace shows that it is considerably more +ancient than the others, many of the boulders of which it is composed +having crumbled. A few miles to the westward, this moraine has an +average slope of twenty-seven degrees, and an elevation above the bottom +of the channel of six hundred and sixty feet. Near the middle of the +main basin, just where the regularly formed medial and lateral moraines +flatten out and disappear, there is a remarkably smooth field of gravel, +planted with arctostaphylos, that looks at the distance of a mile like +a delightful meadow. Stream sections show the gravel deposit to be +composed of the same material as the moraines, but finer, and more +water-worn from the action of converging torrents issuing from the +tributary glaciers after the trunk was melted. The southern boundary of +the basin is a strikingly perfect wall, gray on the top, and white down +the sides and at the base with snow, in which many a crystal brook takes +rise. The northern boundary is made up of smooth undulating masses of +gray granite, that lift here and there into beautiful domes of which +the Starr King cluster is the finest, while on the east tower of the +majestic fountain-peaks with wide cañons and neve amphitheaters between +them, whose variegated rocks show out gloriously against the sky. +<br> +The ice-plows of this charming basin, ranged side by side in orderly +gangs, furrowed the rocks with admirable uniformity, producing +irrigating channels for a brood of wild streams, and abundance of rich +soil adapted to every requirement of garden and grove. No other section +of the Yosemite uplands is in so perfect a state of glacial cultivation. +Its domes and peaks, and swelling rock-waves, however majestic in +themselves, and yet submissively subordinate to the garden center. The +other basins we have been describing are combinations of sculptured +rocks, embellished with gardens and groves; the Illilouette is one grand +garden and forest, embellished with rocks, each of the five beautiful +in its own way, and all as harmoniously related as are the five petals +of a flower. After uniting in the Yosemite Valley, and expending the +down-thrusting energy derived from their combined weight and the +declivity of their channels, the grand trunk flowed on through and out +of the Valley. In effecting its exit a considerable ascent was made, +traces of which may still be seen on the abraded rocks at the lower end +of the Valley, while the direction pursued after leaving the Valley is +surely indicated by the immense lateral moraines extending from the +ends of the walls at an elevation of from 1500 to 1800 feet. The right +lateral moraine was disturbed by a large tributary glacier that occupied +the basin of Cascade Creek, causing considerable complication in its +structure. The left is simple in form for several miles of its length, +or to the point where a tributary came in from the southeast. But both +are greatly obscured by the forests and underbrush growing upon them, +and by the denuding action of rains and melting snows, etc. It is, +therefore, the less to be wondered at that these moraines, made up of +material derived from the distant fountain-mountains, and from the +Valley itself, were not sooner recognized. +<br> +The ancient glacier systems of the Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kern, and +Kings River Basins were developed on a still grander scale and are so +replete with interest that the most sketchy outline descriptions of +each, with the works they have accomplished would fill many a volume. +Therefore I can do but little more than invite everybody who is free +to go and see for himself. +<br> +The action of flowing ice, whether in the form of river-like glaciers or +broad mantles, especially the part it played in sculpturing the earth, +is as yet but little understood. Water rivers work openly where people +dwell, and so does the rain, and the sea, thundering on all the shores +of the world; and the universal ocean of air, though invisible, speaks +aloud in a thousand voices, and explains its modes of working and its +power. But glaciers, back in their white solitudes, work apart from men, +exerting their tremendous energies in silence and darkness. Outspread, +spirit-like, they brood above the predestined landscapes, work on +unwearied through immeasurable ages, until, in the fullness of time, the +mountains and valleys are brought forth, channels furrowed for rivers, +basins made for lakes and meadows, and arms of the sea, soils spread for +forests and fields; then they shrink and vanish like summer clouds. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 12<br> +How Best to Spend One's Yosemite Time</h2> + +<h3 align="center">One-Day Excursions<br> +No. 1.</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +If I were so time-poor as to have only one day to spend in Yosemite I +should start at daybreak, say at three o'clock in midsummer, with a +pocketful of any sort of dry breakfast stuff, for Glacier Point, +Sentinel Dome, the head of Illilouette Fall, Nevada Fall, the top of +Liberty Cap, Vernal Fall and the wild boulder-choked River Cañon. The +trail leaves the Valley at the base of the Sentinel Rock, and as +you slowly saunter from point to point along its many accommodating +zigzags nearly all the Valley rocks and falls are seen in striking, +ever-changing combinations. At an elevation of about five hundred feet a +particularly fine, wide-sweeping view down the Valley is obtained, past +the sheer face of the Sentinel and between the Cathedral Rocks and +El Capitan. At a height of about 1500 feet the great Half Dome comes +full in sight, overshadowing every other feature of the Valley to the +eastward. From Glacier Point you look down 3000 feet over the edge of +its sheer face to the meadows and groves and innumerable yellow pine +spires, with the meandering river sparkling and spangling through the +midst of them. Across the Valley a great telling view is presented of +the Royal Arches, North Dome, Indian Cañon, Three Brothers and El +Capitan, with the dome-paved basin of Yosemite Creek and Mount Hoffman +in the background. To the eastward, the Half Dome close beside you +looking higher and more wonderful than ever; southeastward the Starr +King, girdled with silver firs, and the spacious garden-like basin of +the Illilouette and its deeply sculptured fountain-peaks, called "The +Merced Group"; and beyond all, marshaled along the eastern horizon, the +icy summits on the axis of the Range and broad swaths of forests growing +on ancient moraines, while the Nevada, Vernal and Yosemite Falls are +not only full in sight but are distinctly heard as if one were standing +beside them in their spray. +<br> +The views from the summit of Sentinel Dome are still more extensive +and telling. Eastward the crowds of peaks at the head of the Merced, +Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers are presented in bewildering array; +westward, the vast forests, yellow foothills and the broad San Joaquin +plains and the Coast Ranges, hazy and dim in the distance. +<br> +From Glacier Point go down the trail into the lower end of the +Illilouette basin, cross Illilouette Creek and follow it to the Fall +where from an outjutting rock at its head you will get a fine view of +its rejoicing waters and wild cañon and the Half Dome. Thence returning +to the trail, follow it to the head of the Nevada Fall. Linger here an +hour or two, for not only have you glorious views of the wonderful fall, +but of its wild, leaping, exulting rapids and, greater than all, the +stupendous scenery into the heart of which the white passionate river +goes wildly thundering, surpassing everything of its kind in the world. +After an unmeasured hour or so of this glory, all your body aglow, nerve +currents flashing through you never before felt, go to the top of the +Liberty Cap, only a glad saunter now that your legs as well as head +and heart are awake and rejoicing with everything. The Liberty Cap, a +companion of the Half Dome, is sheer and inaccessible on three of its +sides but on the east a gentle, ice-burnished, juniper-dotted slope +extends to the summit where other wonderful views are displayed where +all are wonderful: the south side and shoulders of Half Dome and Clouds' +Rest, the beautiful Little Yosemite Valley and its many domes, the Starr +King cluster of domes, Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, and, perhaps the +most tremendously impressive of all, the views of the hopper-shaped +cañon of the river from the head of the Nevada Fall to the head of +the Valley. +<br> +Returning to the trail you descend between the Nevada Fall and the +Liberty Cap with fine side views of both the fall and the rock, pass +on through clouds of spray and along the rapids to the head of the +Vernal Fall, about a mile below the Nevada. Linger here if night is +still distant, for views of this favorite fall and the stupendous rock +scenery about it. Then descend a stairway by its side, follow a dim +trail through its spray, and a plain one along the border of the +boulder-dashed rapids and so back to the wide, tranquil Valley. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">One-Day Excursions<br> +No. 2.</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Another grand one-day excursion is to the Upper Yosemite Fall, the +top of the highest of the Three Brothers, called Eagle Peak on the +Geological Survey maps; the brow of El Capitan; the head of the Ribbon +Fall; across the beautiful Ribbon Creek Basin; and back to the Valley +by the Big Oak Flat wagon-road. +<br> +The trail leaves the Valley on the east side of the largest of the +earthquake taluses immediately opposite the Sentinel Rock and as it +passes within a few rods of the foot of the great fall, magnificent +views are obtained as you approach it and pass through its spray, though +when the snow is melting fast you will be well drenched. From the foot +of the Fall the trail zigzags up a narrow cañon between the fall and a +plain mural cliff that is burnished here and there by glacial action. +<br> +You should stop a while on a flat iron-fenced rock a little below the +head of the fall beside the enthusiastic throng of starry comet-like +waters to learn something of their strength, their marvelous variety of +forms, and above all, their glorious music, gathered and composed from +the snow-storms, hail-, rain- and wind-storms that have fallen on their +glacier-sculptured, domey, ridgy basin. Refreshed and exhilarated, +you follow your trail-way through silver fir and pine woods to Eagle +Peak, where the most comprehensive of all the views to be had on the +north-wall heights are displayed. After an hour or two of gazing, +dreaming, studying the tremendous topography, etc., trace the rim of +the Valley to the grand El Capitan ridge and go down to its brow, where +you will gain everlasting impressions of Nature's steadfastness and +power combined with ineffable fineness of beauty. +<br> +Dragging yourself away, go to the head of the Ribbon Fall, thence across +the beautiful Ribbon Creek Basin to the Big Oak Flat stage-road, and +down its fine grades to the Valley, enjoying glorious Yosemite scenery +all the way to the foot of El Capitan and your camp. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Two-Day Excursions<br> +No. 1.</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +For a two-day trip I would go straight to Mount Hoffman, spend the night +on the summit, next morning go down by May Lake to Tenaya Lake and +return to the Valley by Cloud's Rest and the Nevada and Vernal Falls. As +on the foregoing excursion, you leave the Valley by the Yosemite Falls +trail and follow it to the Tioga wagon-road, a short distance east of +Porcupine Flat. From that point push straight up to the summit. Mount +Hoffman is a mass of gray granite that rises almost in the center of the +Yosemite Park, about eight or ten miles in a straight line from the +Valley. Its southern slopes are low and easily climbed, and adorned here +and there with castle-like crumbling piles and long jagged crests that +look like artificial masonry; but on the north side it is abruptly +precipitous and banked with lasting snow. Most of the broad summit +is comparatively level and thick sown with crystals, quartz, mica, +hornblende, feldspar, granite, zircon, tourmaline, etc., weathered out +and strewn closely and loosely as if they had been sown broadcast. Their +radiance is fairly dazzling in sunlight, almost hiding the multitude of +small flowers that grow among them. At first sight only these radiant +crystals are likely to be noticed, but looking closely you discover a +multitude of very small gilias, phloxes, mimulus, etc., many of them +with more petals than leaves. On the borders of little streams larger +plants flourish--lupines, daisies, asters, goldenrods, hairbell, +mountain columbine, potentilla, astragalus and a few gentians; with +charming heathworts--bryanthus, cassiope, kalmia, vaccinium in +boulder-fringing rings or bank covers. You saunter among the crystals +and flowers as if you were walking among stars. From the summit nearly +all the Yosemite Park is displayed like a map: forests, lakes, meadows, +and snowy peaks. Northward lies Yosemite's wide basin with its domes and +small lakes, shining like larger crystals; eastward the rocky, meadowy +Tuolumne region, bounded by its snowy peaks in glorious array; southward +Yosemite and westward the vast forest. On no other Yosemite Park +mountain are you more likely to linger. You will find it a magnificent +sky camp. Clumps of dwarf pine and mountain hemlock will furnish resin +roots and branches for fuel and light, and the rills, sparkling water. +Thousands of the little plant people will gaze at your camp-fire with +the crystals and stars, companions and guardians as you lie at rest in +the heart of the vast serene night. +<br> +The most telling of all the wide Hoffman views is the basin of the +Tuolumne with its meadows, forests and hundreds of smooth rock-waves +that appear to be coming rolling on towards you like high heaving waves +ready to break, and beyond these the great mountains. But best of all +are the dawn and the sunrise. No mountain top could be better placed for +this most glorious of mountain views--to watch and see the deepening +colors of the dawn and the sunbeams streaming through the snowy High +Sierra passes, awakening the lakes and crystals, the chilled plant +people and winged people, and making everything shine and sing in +pure glory. +<br> +With your heart aglow, spangling Lake Tenaya and Lake May will beckon +you away for walks on their ice-burnished shores. Leave Tenaya at the +west end, cross to the south side of the outlet, and gradually work +your way up in an almost straight south direction to the summit of the +divide between Tenaya Creek and the main upper Merced River or Nevada +Creek and follow the divide to Clouds Rest. After a glorious view from +the crest of this lofty granite wave you will find a trail on its +western end that will lead you down past Nevada and Vernal Falls to the +Valley in good time, provided you left your Hoffman sky camp early. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Two-Day Excursions<br> +No. 2.</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Another grand two-day excursion is the same as the first of the one-day +trips, as far as the head of Illilouette Fall. From there trace the +beautiful stream up through the heart of its magnificent forests and +gardens to the cañons between the Red and Merced Peaks, and pass the +night where I camped forty-one years ago. Early next morning visit +the small glacier on the north side of Merced Peak, the first of the +sixty-five that I discovered in the Sierra. +<br> +Glacial phenomena in the Illilouette Basin are on the grandest scale, +and in the course of my explorations I found that the cañon and +moraines between the Merced and Red Mountains were the most interesting +of them all. The path of the vanished glacier shone in many places as +if washed with silver, and pushing up the cañon on this bright road +I passed lake after lake in solid basins of granite and many a meadow +along the cañon stream that links them together. The main lateral +moraines that bound the view below the cañon are from a hundred to +nearly two hundred feet high and wonderfully regular, like artificial +embankments covered with a magnificent growth of silver fir and pine. +But this garden and forest luxuriance is speedily left behind, and +patches of bryanthus, cassiope and arctic willows begin to appear. The +small lakes which a few miles down the Valley are so richly bordered +with flowery meadows have at an elevation of 10,000 feet only small +brown mats of carex, leaving bare rocks around more than half their +shores. Yet, strange to say, amid all this arctic repression the +mountain pine on ledges and buttresses of Red Mountain seems to find the +climate best suited to it. Some specimens that I measured were over a +hundred feet high and twenty-four feet in circumference, showing hardly +a trace of severe storms, looking as fresh and vigorous as the giants of +the lower zones. Evening came on just as I got fairly into the main +cañon. It is about a mile wide and a little less than two miles long. +The crumbling spurs of Red Mountain bound it on the north, the somber +cliffs of Merced Mountain on the south and a deeply-serrated, splintered +ridge curving around from mountain to mountain shuts it in on the east. +My camp was on the brink of one of the lakes in a thicket of mountain +hemlock, partly sheltered from the wind. Early next morning I set out to +trace the ancient glacier to its head. Passing around the north shore of +my camp lake I followed the main stream from one lakelet to another. The +dwarf pines and hemlocks disappeared and the stream was bordered with +icicles. The main lateral moraines that extend from the mouth of the +cañon are continued in straggling masses along the walls. Tracing the +streams back to the highest of its little lakes, I noticed a deposit of +fine gray mud, something like the mud corn from a grindstone. This +suggested its glacial origin, for the stream that was carrying it issued +from a raw-looking moraine that seemed to be in process of formation. +It is from sixty to over a hundred feet high in front, with a slope of +about thirty-eight degrees. Climbing to the top of it, I discovered a +very small but well-characterized glacier swooping down from the shadowy +cliffs of the mountain to its terminal moraine. The ice appeared on all +the lower portion of the glacier; farther up it was covered with snow. +The uppermost crevasse or "bergeschrund" was from twelve to fourteen +feet wide. The melting snow and ice formed a network of rills that ran +gracefully down the surface of the glacier, merrily singing in their +shining channels. After this discovery I made excursions over all the +High Sierra and discovered that what at first sight looked like +snowfields were in great part glaciers which were completing the +sculpture of the summit peaks. +<br> +Rising early,--which will be easy, as your bed will be rather cold and +you will not be able to sleep much anyhow,--after visiting the glacier, +climb the Red Mountain and enjoy the magnificent views from the summit. +I counted forty lakes from one standpoint an this mountain, and the +views to the westward over the Illilouette Basin, the most superbly +forested of all the basins whose waters rain into Yosemite, and those of +the Yosemite rocks, especially the Half Dome and the upper part of the +north wall, are very fine. But, of course, far the most imposing view is +the vast array of snowy peaks along the axis of the Range. Then from the +top of this peak, light and free and exhilarated with mountain air and +mountain beauty, you should run lightly down the northern slope of the +mountain, descend the cañon between Red and Gray Mountains, thence +northward along the bases of Gray Mountain and Mount Clark and go down +into the head of Little Yosemite, and thence down past the Nevada and +Vernal Falls to the Valley, a truly glorious two-day trip! + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">A Three-Day Excursion</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +The best three-day excursion, as far as I can see, is the same as the +first of the two-day trips until you reach Lake Tenaya. There instead of +returning to the Valley, follow the Tioga road around the northwest side +of the lake, over to the Tuolumne Meadows and up to the west base of +Mount Dana. Leave the road there and make straight for the highest point +on the timber line between Mounts Dana and Gibbs and camp there. +<br> +On the morning of the third day go to the top of Mount Dana in time for +the glory of the dawn and the sunrise over the gray Mono Desert and the +sublime forest of High Sierra peaks. When you leave the mountain go far +enough down the north side for a view of the Dana Glacier, then make +your way back to the Tioga road, follow it along the Tuolumne Meadows +to the crossing of Budd Creek where you will find the Sunrise trail +branching off up the mountain-side through the forest in a southwesterly +direction past the west side of Cathedral Peak, which will lead you down +to the Valley by the Vernal and Nevada Falls. If you are a good walker +you can leave the trail where it begins to descend a steep slope in the +silver fir woods, and bear off to the right and make straight for the +top of Clouds' Rest. The walking is good and almost level and from the +west end of Clouds' Rest take the Clouds' Rest Trail which will lead +direct to the Valley by the Nevada and Vernal Falls. To any one not +desperately time-poor this trip should have four days instead of three; +camping the second night at the Soda Springs; thence to Mount Dana and +return to the Soda Springs, camping the third night there; thence by +the Sunrise trail to Cathedral Peak, visiting the beautiful Cathedral +lake which lies about a mile to the west of Cathedral Peak, eating your +luncheon, and thence to Clouds' Rest and the Valley as above. This is one +of the most interesting of all the comparatively short trips that can be +made in the whole Yosemite region. Not only do you see all the grandest +of the Yosemite rocks and waterfalls and the High Sierra with their +glaciers, glacier lakes and glacier meadows, etc., but sections of the +magnificent silver fir, two-leaved pine, and dwarf pine zones; with the +principal alpine flowers and shrubs, especially sods of dwarf vaccinium +covered with flowers and fruit though less than an inch high, broad mats +of dwarf willow scarce an inch high with catkins that rise straight from +the ground, and glorious beds of blue gentians,--grandeur enough and +beauty enough for a lifetime. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">The Upper Tuolumne Excursion</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +We come now to the grandest of all the Yosemite excursions, one that +requires at least two or three weeks. The best time to make it is from +about the middle of July. The visitor entering the Yosemite in July has +the advantage of seeing the falls not, perhaps, in their very flood +prime but next thing to it; while the glacier-meadows will be in their +glory and the snow on the mountains will be firm enough to make climbing +safe. Long ago I made these Sierra trips, carrying only a sackful of +bread with a little tea and sugar and was thus independent and free, but +now that trails or carriage roads lead out of the Valley in almost every +direction it is easy to take a pack animal, so that the luxury of a +blanket and a supply of food can easily be had. +<br> +The best way to leave the Valley will be by the Yosemite Fall trail, +camping the first night on the Tioga road opposite the east end of the +Hoffman Range. Next morning climb Mount Hoffman; thence push on past +Tenaya Lake into the Tuolumne Meadows and establish a central camp +near the Soda Springs, from which glorious excursions can be made at +your leisure. For here in this upper Tuolumne Valley is the widest, +smoothest, most serenely spacious, and in every way the most delightful +summer pleasure-park in all the High Sierra. And since it is connected +with Yosemite by two good trails, and a fairly good carriage road +that passes between Yosemite and Mount Hoffman, it is also the most +accessible. It is in the heart of the High Sierra east of Yosemite, 8500 +to 9000 feet above the level of the sea. The gray, picturesque Cathedral +Range bounds it on the south; a similar range or spur, the highest peak +of which is Mount Conness, on the north; the noble Mounts Dana, Gibbs, +Mammoth, Lyell, McClure and others on the axis of the Range on the east; +a heaving, billowing crowd of glacier-polished rocks and Mount Hoffman +on the west. Down through the open sunny meadow-levels of the Valley +flows the Tuolumne River, fresh and cool from its many glacial +fountains, the highest of which are the glaciers that lie on the north +sides of Mount Lyell and Mount McClure. +<br> +Along the river a series of beautiful glacier-meadows extend with but +little interruption, from the lower end of the Valley to its head, a +distance of about twelve miles, forming charming sauntering-grounds from +which the glorious mountains may be enjoyed as they look down in divine +serenity over the dark forests that clothe their bases. Narrow strips of +pine woods cross the meadow-carpet from side to side, and it is somewhat +roughened here and there by moraine boulders and dead trees brought down +from the heights by snow avalanches; but for miles and miles it is so +smooth and level that a hundred horsemen may ride abreast over it. +<br> +The main lower portion of the meadows is about four miles long and from +a quarter to half a mile wide, but the width of the Valley is, on an +average, about eight miles. Tracing the river, we find that it forks a +mile above the Soda Springs, the main fork turning southward to Mount +Lyell, the other eastward to Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs. Along both +forks strips of meadow extend almost to their heads. The most beautiful +portions of the meadows are spread over lake basins, which have been +filled up by deposits from the river. A few of these river-lakes still +exist, but they are now shallow and are rapidly approaching extinction. +The sod in most places is exceedingly fine and silky and free from weeds +and bushes; while charming flowers abound, especially gentians, dwarf +daisies, potentillas, and the pink bells of dwarf vaccinium. On the +banks of the river and its tributaries cassiope and bryanthus may be +found, where the sod curls over stream banks and around boulders. The +principal grass of these meadows is a delicate calamagrostis with very +slender filiform leaves, and when it is in flower the ground seems to +be covered with a faint purple mist, the stems of the panicles being so +fine that they are almost invisible, and offer no appreciable resistance +in walking through them. Along the edges of the meadows beneath the +pines and throughout the greater part of the Valley tall ribbon-leaved +grasses grow in abundance, chiefly bromus, triticum and agrostis. +<br> +In October the nights are frosty, and then the meadows at sunrise, when +every leaf is laden with crystals, are a fine sight. The days are still +warm and calm, and bees and butterflies continue to waver and hum about +the late-blooming flowers until the coming of the snow, usually in +November. Storm then follows storm in quick succession, burying the +meadows to a depth of from ten to twenty feet, while magnificent +avalanches descend through the forests from the laden heights, +depositing huge piles of snow mixed with uprooted trees and boulders. In +the open sunshine the snow usually lasts until the end of June but the +new season's vegetation is not generally in bloom until late in July. +Perhaps the best all round excursion-time after winters of average +snowfall is from the middle of July to the middle or end of August. The +snow is then melted from the woods and southern slopes of the mountains +and the meadows and gardens are in their glory, while the weather is +mostly all-reviving, exhilarating sunshine. The few clouds that rise now +and then and the showers they yield are only enough to keep everything +fresh and fragrant. +<br> +The groves about the Soda Springs are favorite camping-grounds on +account of the cold, pleasant-tasting water charged with carbonic acid, +and because of the views of the mountains across the meadow--the Glacier +Monument, Cathedral Peak, Cathedral Spires, Unicorn Peak and a series of +ornamental nameless companions, rising in striking forms and nearness +above a dense forest growing on the left lateral moraine of the ancient +Tuolumne glacier, which, broad, deep, and far-reaching, exerted vast +influence on the scenery of this portion of the Sierra. But there are +fine camping-grounds all along the meadows, and one may move from grove +to grove every day all summer, enjoying new homes and new beauty to +satisfy every roving desire for change. +<br> +There are five main capital excursions to be made from here--to the +summits of Mounts Dana, Lyell and Conness, and through the Bloody Cañon +Pass to Mono Lake and the volcanoes, and down the Tuolumne Cañon, at +least as far as the foot of the wonderful series of river cataracts. +All of these excursions are sure to be made memorable with joyful +health-giving experiences; but perhaps none of them will be remembered +with keener delight than the days spent in sauntering on the broad +velvet lawns by the river, sharing the sky with the mountains and trees, +gaining something of their strength and peace. +<br> +The excursion to the top of Mount Dana is a very easy one; for though +the mountain is 13,000 feet high, the ascent from the west side is so +gentle and smooth that one may ride a mule to the very summit. Across +many a busy stream, from meadow to meadow, lies your flowery way; +mountains all about you, few of them hidden by irregular foregrounds. +Gradually ascending, other mountains come in sight, peak rising above +peak with their snow and ice in endless variety of grouping and +sculpture. Now your attention is turned to the moraines, sweeping in +beautiful curves from the hollows and cañons, now to the granite waves +and pavements rising here and there above the heathy sod, polished a +thousand years ago and still shining. Towards the base of the mountain +you note the dwarfing of the trees, until at a height of about 11,000 +feet you find patches of the tough, white-barked pine, pressed so flat +by the ten or twenty feet of snow piled upon them every winter for +centuries that you may walk over them as if walking on a shaggy rug. +And, if curious about such things, you may discover specimens of this +hardy tree-mountaineer not more than four feet high and about as many +inches in diameter at the ground, that are from two hundred to four +hundred years old, still holding bravely to life, making the most of +their slender summers, shaking their tasseled needles in the breeze +right cheerily, drinking the thin sunshine and maturing their fine +purple cones as if they meant to live forever. The general view from the +summit is one of the most extensive and sublime to be found in all the +Range. To the eastward you gaze far out over the desert plains and +mountains of the "Great Basin," range beyond range extending with soft +outlines, blue and purple in the distance. More than six thousand feet +below you lies Lake Mono, ten miles in diameter from north to south, and +fourteen from west to east, lying bare in the treeless desert like a +disk of burnished metal, though at times it is swept by mountain storm +winds and streaked with foam. To the southward there is a well defined +range of pale-gray extinct volcanoes, and though the highest of them +rises nearly two thousand feet above the lake, you can look down from +here into their circular, cup-like craters, from which a comparatively +short time ago ashes and cinders were showered over the surrounding sage +plains and glacier-laden mountains. +<br> +To the westward the landscape is made up of exceedingly strong, gray, +glaciated domes and ridge waves, most of them comparatively low, but +the largest high enough to be called mountains; separated by cañons +and darkened with lines and fields of forest, Cathedral Peak and Mount +Hoffman in the distance; small lakes and innumerable meadows in the +foreground. Northward and southward the great snowy mountains, marshaled +along the axis of the Range, are seen in all their glory, crowded +together in some places like trees in groves, making landscapes of wild, +extravagant, bewildering magnificence, yet calm and silent as the sky. +<br> +Some eight glaciers are in sight. One of these is the Dana Glacier on +the north side of the mountain, lying at the foot of a precipice about +a thousand feet high, with a lovely pale-green lake a little below it. +This is one of the many, small, shrunken remnants of the vast glacial +system of the Sierra that once filled the hollows and valleys of +the mountains and covered all the lower ridges below the immediate +summit-fountains, flowing to right and left away from the axis of the +Range, lavishly fed by the snows of the glacial period. +<br> +In the excursion to Mount Lyell the immediate base of the mountain is +easily reached on meadow walks along the river. Turning to the southward +above the forks of the river, you enter the narrow Lyell branch of the +Valley, narrow enough and deep enough to be called a cañon. It is about +eight miles long and from 2000 to 3000 feet deep. The flat meadow bottom +is from about three hundred to two hundred yards wide, with gently curved +margins about fifty yards wide from which rise the simple massive walls +of gray granite at an angle of about thirty-three degrees, mostly +timbered with a light growth of pine and streaked in many places with +avalanche channels. Towards the upper end of the cañon the Sierra crown +comes in sight, forming a finely balanced picture framed by the massive +cañon walls. In the foreground, when the grass is in flower, you have +the purple meadow willow-thickets on the river banks; in the middle +distance huge swelling bosses of granite that form the base of the +general mass of the mountain, with fringing lines of dark woods marking +the lower curves, smoothly snow-clad except in the autumn. +<br> +If you wish to spend two days on the Lyell trip you will find a good +camp-ground on the east side of the river, about a mile above a fine +cascade that comes down over the cañon wall in telling style and makes +good camp music. From here to the top of the mountains is usually an +easy day's work. At one place near the summit careful climbing is +necessary, but it is not so dangerous or difficult as to deter any one +of ordinary skill, while the views are glorious. To the northward are +Mammoth Mountain, Mounts Gibbs, Dana, Warren, Conness and others, +unnumbered and unnamed; to the southeast the indescribably wild and +jagged range of Mount Ritter and the Minarets; southwestward stretches +the dividing ridge between the north fork of the San Joaquin and the +Merced, uniting with the Obelisk or Merced group of peaks that form the +main fountains of the Illilouette branch of the Merced; and to the +north-westward extends the Cathedral spur. These spurs like distinct +ranges meet at your feet; therefore you look at them mostly in the +direction of their extension, and their peaks seem to be massed and +crowded against one another, while immense amphitheaters, cañons +and subordinate ridges with their wealth of lakes, glaciers, and +snow-fields, maze and cluster between them. In making the ascent in +June or October the glacier is easily crossed, for then its snow mantle +is smooth or mostly melted off. But in midsummer the climbing is +exceedingly tedious because the snow is then weathered into curious +and beautiful blades, sharp and slender, and set on edge in a leaning +position. They lean towards the head of the glacier and extend across +from side to side in regular order in a direction at right angles to the +direction of greatest declivity, the distance between the crests being +about two or three feet, and the depth of the troughs between them about +three feet. A more interesting problem than a walk over a glacier thus +sculptured and adorned is seldom presented to the mountaineer. +<br> +The Lyell Glacier is about a mile wide and less than a mile long, +but presents, nevertheless, all the essential characters of large, +river-like glaciers--moraines, earth-bands, blue veins, crevasses, +etc., while the streams that issue from it are, of course, turbid with +rock-mud, showing its grinding action on its bed. And it is all the +more interesting since it is the highest and most enduring remnant of +the great Tuolumne Glacier, whose traces are still distinct fifty miles +away, and whose influence on the landscape was so profound. The McClure +Glacier, once a tributary of the Lyell, is smaller. Thirty-eight years +ago I set a series of stakes in it to determine its rate of motion. +Towards the end of summer in the middle of the glacier it was only a +little over an inch in twenty-four hours. +<br> +The trip to Mono from the Soda Springs can be made in a day, but many +days may profitably be spent near the shores of the lake, out on its +islands and about the volcanoes. +<br> +In making the trip down the Big Tuolumne Cañon, animals may be led as +far as a small, grassy, forested lake-basin that lies below the crossing +of the Virginia Creek trail. And from this point any one accustomed to +walking on earthquake boulders, carpeted with cañon chaparral, can +easily go down as far as the big cascades and return to camp in one day. +Many, however, are not able to do his, and it is better to go leisurely, +prepared to camp anywhere, and enjoy the marvelous grandeur of the +place. +<br> +The cañon begins near the lower end of the meadows and extends to the +Hetch Hetchy Valley, a distance of about eighteen miles, though it will +seem much longer to any one who scrambles through it. It is from twelve +hundred to about five thousand feet deep, and is comparatively narrow, +but there are several roomy, park-like openings in it, and throughout +its whole extent Yosemite natures are displayed on a grand scale--domes, +El Capitan rocks, gables, Sentinels, Royal Arches, Glacier Points, +Cathedral Spires, etc. There is even a Half Dome among its wealth of +rock forms, though far less sublime than the Yosemite Half Dome. Its +falls and cascades are innumerable. The sheer falls, except when the +snow is melting in early spring, are quite small in volume as compared +with those of Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy; though in any other country +many of them would be regarded as wonders. But it is the cascades or +sloping falls on the main river that are the crowning glory of the +cañon, and these in volume, extent and variety surpass those of any +other cañon in the Sierra. The most showy and interesting of them are +mostly in the upper part of the cañon, above the point of entrance of +Cathedral Creek and Hoffman Creek. For miles the river is one wild, +exulting, on-rushing mass of snowy purple bloom, spreading over glacial +waves of granite without any definite channel, gliding in magnificent +silver plumes, dashing and foaming through huge boulder-dams, leaping +high into the air in wheel-like whirls, displaying glorious enthusiasm, +tossing from side to side, doubling, glinting, singing in exuberance of +mountain energy. +<br> +Every one who is anything of a mountaineer should go on through the +entire length of the cañon, coming out by Hetch Hetchy. There is not +a dull step all the way. With wide variations, it is a Yosemite Valley +from end to end. +<br> +Besides these main, far-reaching, much-seeing excursions from the main +central camp, there are numberless, lovely little saunters and scrambles +and a dozen or so not so very little. Among the best of these are to +Lambert and Fair View Domes; to the topmost spires of Cathedral Peak, +and to those of the North Church, around the base of which you pass +on your way to Mount Conness; to one of the very loveliest of the +glacier-meadows imbedded in the pine woods about three miles north of +the Soda Springs, where forty-two years ago I spent six weeks. It trends +east and west, and you can find it easily by going past the base of +Lambert's Dome to Dog Lake and thence up northward through the woods +about a mile or so; to the shining rock-waves full of ice-burnished, +feldspar crystals at the foot of the meadows; to Lake Tenaya; and, last +but not least, a rather long and very hearty scramble down by the end of +the meadow along the Tioga road toward Lake Tenaya to the crossing of +Cathedral Creek, where you turn off and trace the creek down to its +confluence with the Tuolumne. This is a genuine scramble much of the way +but one of the most wonderfully telling in its glacial rock-forms and +inscriptions. +<br> +If you stop and fish at every tempting lake and stream you come to, a +whole month, or even two months, will not be too long for this grand +High Sierra excursion. My own Sierra trip was ten years long. + +</pre> + +<h3 align="center">Other Trips From The Valley</h3> + +<pre> +<br> +Short carriage trips are usually made in the early morning to Mirror +Lake to see its wonderful reflections of the Half Dome and Mount +Watkins; and in the afternoon many ride down the Valley to see the +Bridal Veil rainbows or up the river cañon to see those of the Vernal +Fall; where, standing in the spray, not minding getting drenched, +you may see what are called round rainbows, when the two ends of the +ordinary bow are lengthened and meet at your feet, forming a complete +circle which is broken and united again and again as determined by the +varying wafts of spray. A few ambitious scramblers climb to the top of +the Sentinel Rock, others walk or ride down the Valley and up to the +once-famous Inspiration Point for a last grand view; while a good many +appreciative tourists, who slave only day or two, do no climbing or +riding but spend their time sauntering on the meadows by the river, +watching the falls, and the relay of light and shade among the rocks +from morning to night, perhaps gaining more than those who make haste up +the trails in large noisy parties. Those who have unlimited time find +something worth while all the year round on every accessible part of the +vast deeply sculptured walls. At least so I have found it after making +the Valley my home for years. +<br> +Here are a few specimens selected from my own short trips which walkers +may find useful. +<br> +One, up the river cañon, across the bridge between the Vernal and +Nevada Falls, through chaparral beds and boulders to the shoulder of +Half Dome, along the top of the shoulder to the dome itself, down by a +crumbling slot gully and close along the base of the tremendous split +front (the most awfully impressive, sheer, precipice view I ever found +in all my cañon wanderings), thence up the east shoulder and along the +ridge to Clouds' Rest--a glorious sunset--then a grand starry run back +home to my cabin; down through the junipers, down through the firs, now +in black shadows, now in white light, past roaring Nevada and Vernal, +flowering ghost-like beneath their huge frowning cliffs; down the dark, +gloomy cañon, through the pines of the Valley, dreamily murmuring in +their calm, breezy sleep--a fine wild little excursion for good legs +and good eyes--so much sun-, moon- and star-shine in it, and sublime, +up-and-down rhythmical, glacial topography. +<br> +Another, to the head of Yosemite Fall by Indian Cañon; thence up the +Yosemite Creek, tracing it all the way to its highest sources back of +Mount Hoffman, then a wide sweep around the head of its dome-paved +basin, passing its many little lakes and bogs, gardens and groves, +trilling, warbling rills, and back by the Fall Cañon. This was one of +my Sabbath walk, run-and-slide excursions long ago before any trail had +been made on the north side of the Valley. +<br> +Another fine trip was up, bright and early, by Avalanche Cañon to +Glacier Point, along the rugged south wall, tracing all its far outs and +ins to the head of the Bridal Veil Fall, thence back home, bright and +late, by a brushy, bouldery slope between Cathedral rocks and Cathedral +spires and along the level Valley floor. This was one of my long, +bright-day and bright-night walks thirty or forty years ago when, like +river and ocean currents, time flowed undivided, uncounted--a fine free, +sauntery, scrambly, botanical, beauty-filled ramble. The walk up the +Valley was made glorious by the marvelous brightness of the morning +star. So great was her light, she made every tree cast a well-defined +shadow on the smooth sandy ground. +<br> +Everybody who visits Yosemite wants to see the famous Big Trees. Before +the railroad was constructed, all three of the stage-roads that entered +the Valley passed through a grove of these trees by the way; namely, the +Tuolumne, Merced and Mariposa groves. The Tuolumne grove was passed on +the Big Oak Flat road, the Merced grove by the Coulterville road and the +Mariposa grove by the Raymond and Wawona road. Now, to see any one of +these groves, a special trip has to be made. Most visitors go to the +Mariposa grove, the largest of the three. On this Sequoia trip you see +not only the giant Big Trees but magnificent forests of silver fir, +sugar pine, yellow pine, libocedrus and Douglas spruce. The trip need +not require more than two days, spending a night in a good hotel at +Wawona, a beautiful place on the south fork of the Merced River, and +returning to the Valley or to El Portal, the terminus of the railroad. +This extra trip by stage costs fifteen dollars. All the High Sierra +excursions that I have sketched cost from a dollar a week to anything +you like. None of mine when I was exploring the Sierra cost over a +dollar a week, most of them less. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 13<br> +Early History Of The Valley</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +In the wild gold years of 1849 and '50, the Indian tribes along thus +western Sierra foothills became alarmed at the sudden invasion of their +acorn orchard and game fields by miners, and soon began to make war upon +them, in their usual murdering, plundering style. This continued until +the United States Indian Commissioners succeeded in gathering them into +reservations, some peacefully, others by burning their villages and +stores of food. The Yosemite or Grizzly Bear tribe, fancying themselves +secure in their deep mountain stronghold, were the most troublesome and +defiant of all, and it was while the Mariposa battalion, under command +of Major Savage, was trying to capture this warlike tribe and conduct +them to the Fresno reservation that their deep mountain home, the +Yosemite Valley, was discovered. From a camp on the south fork of the +Merced, Major Savage sent Indian runners to the bands who were supposed +to be hiding in the mountains, instructing them to tell the Indians that +if they would come in and make treaty with the Commissioners they would +be furnished with food and clothing and be protected, but if they did +not come in he would make war upon them and kill them all. None of the +Yosemite Indians responded to this general message, but when a special +messenger was sent to the chief he appeared the next day. He came +entirely alone and stood in dignified silence before one of the guards +until invited to enter the camp. He was recognized by one of the +friendly Indians as Tenaya, the old chief of the Grizzlies, and, after +he had been supplied with food, Major Savage, with the aid of Indian +interpreters, informed him of the wishes of the Commissioners. But the +old chief was very suspicious of Savage and feared that he was taking +this method of getting the tribe into his power for the purpose of +revenging his personal wrong. Savage told him if he would go to the +Commissioners and make peace with them as the other tribes had done +there would be no more war. Tenaya inquired what was the object of +taking all the Indians to the San Joaquin plain. "My people," said he, +"do not want anything from the Great Father you tell me about. The Great +Spirit is our father and he has always supplied us with all we need. We +do not want anything from white men. Our women are able to do our work. +Go, then. Let us remain in the mountains where we were born, where the +ashes of our fathers have been given to the wind. I have said enough." +<br> +To this the Major answered abruptly in Indian style: "If you and your +people have all you desire, why do you steal our horses and mules? Why +do you rob the miners' camps? Why do you murder the white men and +plunder and burn their houses?" +<br> +Tenaya was silent for some time. He evidently understood what the Major +had said, for he replied, "My young men have sometimes taken horses +and mules from the whites. This was wrong. It is not wrong to take the +property of enemies who have wronged my people. My young men believed +that the gold diggers were our enemies. We now know they are not and +we shall be glad to live in peace with them. We will stay here and be +friends. My people do not want to go to the plains. Some of the tribes +who have gone there are very bad. We cannot live with them. Here we +can defend ourselves." +<br> +To the Major Savage firmly said, "Your people must go to the +Commissioners. If they do not your young men will again steal horses and +kill and plunder the whites. It was your people who robbed my stores, +burned my houses and murdered my men. It they do not make a treaty, your +whole tribe will be destroyed. Not one of them will be left alive." +<br> +To this the old chief replied, "It is useless to talk to you about who +destroyed your property and killed your people. I am old and you can +kill me if you will, but it is useless to lie to you who know more than +all the Indians. Therefore I will not lie to you but if you will let me +return to my people I will bring them in." He was allowed to go. The +next day he came back and said his people were on the way to our camp to +go with the men sent by the Great Father, who was so good and rich. +<br> +Another day passed but no Indians from the deep Valley appeared. The old +chief said that the snow was so deep and his village was so far down +that it took a long time to climb out of it. After waiting still another +day the expedition started for the Valley. When Tenaya was questioned +as to the route and distance he said that the snow was so deep that the +horses could not go through it. Old Tenaya was taken along as guide. +When the party had gone about half-way to the Valley they met the +Yosemites on their way to the camp on the south fork. There were only +seventy-two of them and when the old chief was asked what had become of +the rest of his band, he replied, "This is all of my people that are +willing to go with me to the plains. All the rest have gone with their +wives end children over the mountains to the Mono and Tuolumne tribes." +Savage told Tenaya that he was not telling the truth, for Indians could +not cross the mountains in the deep snow, and that he knew they must +still be at his village or hiding somewhere near it. The tribe had been +estimated to number over two hundred. Major Savage then said to him, +"You may return to camp with your people and I will take one of your +young men with me to your village to see your people who will not come. +They will come if I find them." "You will not find any of my people +there," said Tenaya; "I do not know where they are. My tribe is small. +Many of the people of my tribe have come from other tribes and if they +go to the plains and are seen they will be killed by the friends of +those with whom they have quarreled. I was told that I was growing old +and it was well that I should go, but that young and strong men can find +plenty in the mountains: therefore, why should they go to the hot plains +to be penned up like horses and cattle? My heart has been sore since +that talk but I am now willing to go, for it is best for my people." +<br> +Pushing ahead, taking turns in breaking a way through the snow, they +arrived in sight of the great Valley early in the afternoon and, guided +by one of Tenaya's Indians, descended by the same route as that followed +by the Mariposa trail, and the weary party went into camp on the river +bank opposite El Capitan. After supper, seated around a big fire, +the wonderful Valley became the topic of conversation and Dr. Bunell +suggested giving it a name. Many were proposed, but after a vote had +been taken the name Yosemite, proposed by Dr. Bunell, was adopted almost +unanimously to perpetuate the name of the tribe who so long had made +their home there. The Indian name of the Valley, however, is Ahwahnee. +The Indians had names for all the different rocks and streams of the +Valley, but very few of them are now in use by the whites, Pohono, the +Bridal Veil, being the principal one. The expedition remained only one +day and two nights in the Valley, hurrying out on the approach of a +storm and reached the south-fork headquarters on the evening of the +third day after starting out. Thus, in three days the round trip had +been made to the Valley, most of it had been explored in a general way +and some of its principal features had been named. But the Indians had +fled up the Tenaya Cañon trail and none of them were seen, except an +old woman unable to follow the fugitives. +<br> +A second expedition was made in the same year under command of Major +Boling. When the Valley was entered no Indians were seen, but the many +wigwams with smoldering fires showed that they had been hurriedly +abandoned that very day. Later, five young Indians who had been left to +watch the movements of the expedition were captured at the foot of the +Three Brothers after a lively chase. Three of the five were sons of the +old chief and the rock was named for them. All of these captives made +good their escape within a few days, except the youngest son of Tenaya, +who was shot by his guard while trying to escape. That same day the old +chief was captured on the cliff on the east side of Indian Cañon by +some of Boling's scouts. As Tenaya walked toward the camp his eye fell +upon the dead body of his favorite son. Captain Boling through an +interpreter, expressed his regret at the occurrence, but not a word +did Tenaya utter in reply. Later, he made an attempt to escape but was +caught as he was about to swim across the river. Tenaya expected to be +shot for this attempt and when brought into the presence of Captain +Boling he said in great emotion, "Kill me, Sir Captain, yes, kill me as +you killed my son, as you would kill my people if they were to come to +you. You would kill all my tribe if you had the power. Yes, Sir America, +you can now tell your warriors to kill the old chief. You have made my +life dark with sorrow. You killed the child of my heart. Why not kill +the father? But wait a little and when I am dead I will call my people +to come and they shall hear me in their sleep and come to avenge the +death of their chief and his son. Yes, Sir America, my spirit will make +trouble for you and your people, as you have made trouble to me and my +people. With the wizards I will follow the white people and make them +fear me. You may kill me, Sir Captain, but you shall not live in peace. +I will follow in your footsteps. I will not leave my home, but be with +the spirits among the rocks, the waterfalls, in the rivers and in the +winds; wherever you go I will be with you. You will not see me but you +will fear the spirit of the old chief and grow cold. The Great Spirit +has spoken. I am done." +<br> +This expedition finally captured the remnants of the tribes at the head +of Lake Tenaya and took them to the Fresno reservation, together with +their chief, Tenaya. But after a short stay they were allowed to return +to the Valley under restrictions. Tenaya promised faithfully to conform +to everything required, joyfully left the hot and dry reservation, and +with his family returned to his Yosemite home. +<br> +The following year a party of miners was attacked by the Indians in +the Valley and two of them were killed. This led to another Yosemite +expedition. A detachment of regular soldiers from Fort Miller under +Lieutenant Moore, U.S.A., was at once dispatched to capture or punish +the murderers. Lieutenant Moore entered the Valley in the night and +surprised and captured a party of five Indians, but an alarm was given +and Tenaya and his people fled from their huts and escaped to the Monos +on the east side of the Range. On examination of the five prisoners in +the morning it was discovered that each of them had some article of +clothing that belonged to the murdered men. The bodies of the two miners +were found and buried on the edge of the Bridal Veil meadow. When the +captives were accused of the murder of the two white men they admitted +that they had killed them to prevent white men from coming to their +Valley, declaring that it was their home and that white men had no right +to come there without their consent. Lieutenant Moore told them through +his interpreter that they had sold their lands to the Government, that +it belonged to the white men now and that they had agreed to live on +the reservation provided for them. To this they replied that Tenaya +had never consented to the sale of their Valley and had never received +pay for it. The other chief, they said, had no right to sell their +territory. The lieutenant being fully satisfied that he had captured the +real murderers, promptly pronounced judgment and had them placed in line +and shot. Lieutenant Moore pursued the fugitives to Mono but was not +successful in finding any of them. After being hospitably entertained +and protected by the Mono and Paute tribes, they stole a number of +stolen horses from their entertainers and made their way by a long, +obscure route by the head of the north fork of the San Joaquin, reached +their Yosemite home once more, but early one morning, after a feast of +horse-flesh, a band of Monos surprised them in their huts, killing +Tenaya and nearly all his tribe. Only a small remnant escaped down the +river cañon. The Tenaya Cañon and Lake were named for the famous old +chief. +<br> +Very few visits were made to the Valley before the summer or 1855, when +Mr. J. M. Hutchings, having heard of its wonderful scenery, collected a +party and made the first regular tourist's visit to the Yosemite and in +his California magazine described it in articles illustrated by a good +artist, who was taken into the Valley by him for that purpose. This +first party was followed by another from Mariposa the same year, +consisting of sixteen or eighteen persons. The next year the regular +pleasure travel began and a trail on the Mariposa side of the Valley was +opened by Mann Brothers. This trail was afterwards purchased by the +citizens of the county and made free to the public. The first house +built in the Yosemite Valley was erected in the autumn of 1856 and was +kept as a hotel the next year by G. A. Hite and later by J. H. Neal and +S. M. Cunningham. It was situated directly opposite the Yosemite Fall. +A little over half a mile farther up the Valley a canvas house was put +up in 1858 by G. A. Hite. Next year a frame house was built and kept as +a hotel by Mr. Peck, afterward by Mr. Longhurst and since 1864 by Mr. +Hutchings. All these hotels have vanished except the frame house built +in 1859, which has been changed beyond recognition. A large hotel built +on the brink of the river in front of the old one is now the only hotel +in the Valley. A large hotel built by the State and located farther up +the Valley was burned. To provide for the overflow of visitors there are +three camps with board floors, wood frame, and covered with canvas, well +furnished, some of them with electric light. A large first-class hotel +is very much needed. +<br> +Travel of late years has been rapidly increasing, especially after the +establishment, by Act of Congress in 1890, of the Yosemite National Park +and the recession in 1905 of the original reservation to the Federal +Government by the State. The greatest increase, of course, was caused +by the construction of the Yosemite Valley railroad from Merced to the +border of the Park, eight miles below the Valley. +<br> +It is eighty miles long, and the entire distance, except the first +twenty-four miles from the town of Merced, is built through the +precipitous Merced River Cañon. The roadbed was virtually blasted out +of the solid rock for the entire distance in the cañon. Work was begun +in September, 1905, and the first train entered El Portal, the terminus, +April 15, 1907. Many miles of the road cost as much as $100,000 per +mile. Its business has increased from 4000 tourists in the first year +it was operated to 15,000 in 1910. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 14<br> +Lamon</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +The good old pioneer, Lamon, was the first of all the early Yosemite +settlers who cordially and unreservedly adopted the Valley as his home. +<br> +He was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, May 10, 1817, emigrated +to Illinois with his father, John Lamon, at the age of nineteen; +afterwards went to Texas and settled on the Brazos, where he raised +melons and hunted alligators for a living. "Right interestin' business," +he said; "especially the alligator part of it." From the Brazos he went +to the Comanche Indian country between Gonzales and Austin, twenty miles +from his nearest neighbor. During the first summer, the only bread he +had was the breast meat of wild turkeys. When the formidable Comanche +Indians were on the war-path he left his cabin after dark and slept in +the woods. From Texas he crossed the plains to California and worked In +the Calaveras and Mariposa gold-fields. +<br> +He first heard Yosemite spoken of as a very beautiful mountain valley +and after making two excursions in the summers of 1857 and 1858 to see +the wonderful place, he made up his mind to quit roving and make a +permanent home in it. In April, 1859, he moved into it, located a garden +opposite the Half Dome, set out a lot of apple, pear and peach trees, +planted potatoes, etc., that he had packed in on a "contrary old mule," +and worked for his board in building a hotel which was afterwards +purchased by Mr. Hutchings. His neighbors thought he was very foolish in +attempting to raise crops in so high and cold a valley, and warned him +that he could raise nothing and sell nothing, and would surely starve. +<br> +For the first year or two lack of provisions compelled him to move out +on the approach of winter, but in 1862 after he had succeeded in raising +some fruit and vegetables he began to winter in the Valley. +<br> +The first winter he had no companions, not even a dog or cat, and one +evening was greatly surprised to see two men coming up the Valley. They +were very glad to see him, for they had come from Mariposa in search of +him, a report having been spread that he had been killed by Indians. He +assured his visitors that he felt safer in his Yosemite home, lying +snug and squirrel-like in his 10 x 12 cabin, than in Mariposa. When the +avalanches began to slip, he wondered where all the wild roaring and +booming came from, the flying snow preventing them from being seen. But, +upon the whole, he wondered most at the brightness, gentleness, and +sunniness of the weather, and hopefully employed the calm days in +tearing ground for an orchard and vegetable garden. +<br> +In the second winter he built a winter cabin under the Royal Arches, +where he enjoyed more sunshine. But no matter how he praised the weather +he could not induce any one to winter with him until 1864. +<br> +He liked to describe the great flood of 1867, the year before I reached +California, when all the walls were striped with thundering waterfalls. +<br> +He was a fine, erect, whole-souled man, between six and seven feet high, +with a broad, open face, bland and guileless as his pet oxen. No +stranger to hunger and weariness, he knew well how to appreciate +suffering of a like kind in others, and many there be, myself among the +number, who can testify to his simple, unostentatious kindness that +found expression in a thousand small deeds. +<br> +After gaining sufficient means to enjoy a long afternoon of life in +comparative affluence and ease, he died in the autumn of 1876. He sleeps +in a beautiful spot near Galen Clark and a monument hewn from a block of +Yosemite granite marks his grave. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 15<br> +Galen Clark</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +Galen Clark was the best mountaineer I ever met, and one of the kindest +and most amiable of all my mountain friends. I first met him at his +Wawona ranch forty-three years ago on my first visit to Yosemite. I had +entered the Valley with one companion by way of Coulterville, and +returned by what was then known as the Mariposa trail. Both trails were +buried in deep snow where the elevation was from 5000 to 7000 feet +above sea level in the sugar pine and silver fir regions. We had no +great difficulty, however, in finding our way by the trends of the +main features of the topography. Botanizing by the way, we made slow, +plodding progress, and were again about out of provisions when we +reached Clark's hospitable cabin at Wawona. He kindly furnished us with +flour and a little sugar and tea, and my companion, who complained of +the be-numbing poverty of a strictly vegetarian diet, gladly accepted +Mr. Clark's offer of a piece of a bear that had just been killed. After +a short talk about bears and the forests and the way to the Big Trees, +we pushed on up through the Wawona firs and sugar pines, and camped in +the now-famous Mariposa grove. +<br> +Later, after making my home in the Yosemite Valley, I became well +acquainted with Mr. Clark, while he was guardian. He was elected again +and again to this important office by different Boards of Commissioners +on account of his efficiency and his real love of the Valley. +<br> +Although nearly all my mountaineering has been done without companions, +I had the pleasure of having Galen Clark with me on three excursions. +About thirty-five years ago I invited him to accompany me on a trip +through the Big Tuolumne Cañon from Hetch Hetchy Valley. The cañon up +to that time had not been explored, and knowing that the difference in +the elevation of the river at the head of the cañon and in Hetch Hetchy +was about 5000 feet, we expected to find some magnificent cataracts +or falls; nor were we disappointed. When we were leaving Yosemite an +ambitious young man begged leave to join us. I strongly advised him not +to attempt such a long, hard trip, for it would undoubtedly prove very +trying to an inexperienced climber. He assured us, however, that he +was equal to anything, would gladly meet every difficulty as it came, +and cause us no hindrance or trouble of any sort. So at last, after +repeating our advice that he give up the trip, we consented to his +joining us. We entered the cañon by way of Hetch Hetchy Valley, each +carrying his own provisions, and making his own tea, porridge, bed, etc. +<br> +In the morning of the second day out from Hetch Hetchy we came to what +is now known as "Muir Gorge," and Mr. Clark without hesitation prepared +to force a way through it, wading and jumping from one submerged boulder +to another through the torrent, bracing and steadying himself with a +long pole. Though the river was then rather low, the savage, roaring, +surging song it was ringing was rather nerve-trying, especially to our +inexperienced companion. With careful assistance, however, I managed to +get him through, but this hard trial, naturally enough, proved too much +and he informed us, pale and trembling, that he could go no farther. I +gathered some wood at the upper throat of the gorge, made a fire for him +and advised him to feel at home and make himself comfortable, hoped he +would enjoy the grand scenery and the songs of the water-ouzels which +haunted the gorge, and assured him that we would return some time in the +night, though it might be late, as we wished to go on through the entire +cañon if possible. We pushed our way through the dense chaparral and +over the earthquake taluses with such speed that we reached the foot of +the upper cataract while we had still an hour or so of daylight for the +return trip. It was long after dark when we reached our adventurous, but +nerve-shaken companion who, of course, was anxious and lonely, not being +accustomed to solitude, however kindly and flowery and full of sweet +bird-song and stream-song. Being tired we simply lay down in restful +comfort on the river bank beside a good fire, instead of trying to +go down the gorge in the dark or climb over its high shoulder to our +blankets and provisions, which we had left in the morning in a tree at +the foot of the gorge. I remember Mr. Clark remarking that if he had +his choice that night between provisions and blankets he would choose +his blankets. +<br> +The next morning in about an hour we had crossed over the ridge through +which the gorge is cut, reached our provisions, made tea, and had a good +breakfast. As soon as we had returned to Yosemite I obtained fresh +provisions, pushed off alone up to the head of Yosemite Creek basin, +entered the cañon by a side cañon, and completed the exploration up to +the Tuolumne Meadows. +<br> +It was on this first trip from Hetch Hetchy to the upper cataracts that +I had convincing proofs of Mr. Clark's daring and skill as mountaineer, +particularly in fording torrents, and in forcing his way through thick +chaparral. I found it somewhat difficult to keep up with him in dense, +tangled brush, though in jumping on boulder taluses and slippery +cobble-beds I had no difficulty in leaving him behind. +<br> +After I had discovered the glaciers on Mount Lyell and Mount McClure, +Mr. Clark kindly made a second excursion with me to assist in +establishing a line of stakes across the McClure glacier to measure its +rate of flow. On this trip we also climbed Mount Lyell together, when +the snow which covered the glacier was melted into upleaning, icy blades +which were extremely difficult to cross, not being strong enough to +support our weight, nor wide enough apart to enable us to stride across +each blade as it was met. Here again I, being lighter, had no difficulty +in keeping ahead of him. While resting after wearisome staggering and +falling he stared at the marvelous ranks of leaning blades, and said, "I +think I have traveled all sorts of trails and cañons, through all kinds +of brush and snow, but this gets me." +<br> +Mr. Clark at my urgent request joined my small party on a trip to the +Kings River yosemite by way of the high mountains, most of the way +without a trail. He joined us at the Mariposa Big Tree grove and +intended to go all the way, but finding that, on account of the +difficulties encountered, the time required was much greater than he +expected, he turned back near the head of the north fork of the Kings +River. +<br> +In cooking his mess of oatmeal porridge and making tea, his pot was +always the first to boil, and I used to wonder why, with all his skill +in scrambling through brush in the easiest way, and preparing his meals, +he was so utterly careless about his beds. He would lie down anywhere on +any ground, rough or smooth, without taking pains even to remove cobbles +or sharp-angled rocks protruding through the grass or gravel, saying +that his own bones were as hard as any stones and could do him no harm. +<br> +His kindness to all Yosemite visitors and mountaineers was marvelously +constant and uniform. He was not a good business man, and in building an +extensive hotel and barns at Wawona, before the travel to Yosemite had +been greatly developed, he borrowed money, mortgaged his property and +lost it all. +<br> +Though not the first to see the Mariposa Big Tree grove, he was the +first to explore it, after he had heard from a prospector, who had +passed through the grove and who gave him the indefinite information, +that there were some wonderful big trees up there on the top of the +Wawona hill and that he believed they must be of the same kind that had +become so famous and well-known in the Calaveras grove farther north. +On this information, Galen Clark told me, he went up and thoroughly +explored the grove, counting the trees and measuring the largest, and +becoming familiar with it. He stated also that he had explored the +forest to the southward and had discovered the much larger Fresno grove +of about two square miles, six or seven miles distant from the Mariposa +grove. Unfortunately most of the Fresno grove has been cut and flumed +down to the railroad near Madera. +<br> +Mr. Clark was truly and literally a gentle-man. I never heard him utter +a hasty, angry, fault-finding word. His voice was uniformly pitched at a +rather low tone, perfectly even, although lances of his eyes and slight +intonations of his voice often indicated that something funny or mildly +sarcastic was coming, but upon the whole he was serious and industrious, +and, however deep and fun-provoking a story might be, he never indulged +in boisterous laughter. +<br> +He was very fond of scenery and once told me after I became acquainted +with him that he liked "nothing in the world better than climbing to the +top of a high ridge or mountain and looking off." He preferred the +mountain ridges and domes in the Yosemite regions on account of the +wealth and beauty of the forests. Often times he would take his rifle, a +few pounds of bacon, a few pound of flour, and a single blanket and go +off hunting, for no other reason than to explore and get acquainted with +the most beautiful points of view within a journey of a week or two from +his Wawona home. On these trips he was always alone and could indulge +in tranquil enjoyment of Nature to his heart's content. He said that +on those trips, when he was a sufficient distance from home in a +neighborhood where he wished to linger, he always shot a deer, sometimes +a grouse, and occasionally a bear. After diminishing the weight of a +deer or bear by eating part of it, he carried as much as possible of the +best of the meat to Wawona, and from his hospitable well-supplied cabin +no weary wanderer ever went away hungry or unrested. +<br> +The value of the mountain air in prolonging life is well examplified in +Mr. Clark's case. While working in the mines he contracted a severe cold +that settled on his lungs and finally caused severe inflammation and +bleeding, and none of his friends thought he would ever recover. The +physicians told him he had but a short time to live. It was then that +he repaired to the beautiful sugar pine woods at Wawona and took up a +claim, including the fine meadows there, and building his cabin, began +his life of wandering and exploring in the glorious mountains about him, +usually going bare-headed. In a remarkably short time his lungs were +healed. +<br> +He was one of the most sincere tree-lovers I ever knew. About twenty +years before his death he made choice of a plot in the Yosemite cemetery +on the north side of the Valley, not far from the Yosemite Fall, and +selecting a dozen or so of seedling sequoias in the Mariposa grove he +brought them to the Valley and planted them around the spot he had +chosen for his last rest. The ground there is gravelly and dry; by +careful watering he finally nursed most of the seedlings into good, +thrifty trees, and doubtless they will long shade the grave of their +blessed lover and friend. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Chapter 16<br> +Hetch Hetchy Valley</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +Yosemite is so wonderful that we are apt to regard it as an exceptional +creation, the only valley of its kind in the world; but Nature is not +so poor as to have only one of anything. Several other yosemites have +been discovered in the Sierra that occupy the same relative positions +on the Range and were formed by the same forces in the same kind of +granite. One of these, the Hetch Hetchy Valley, is in the Yosemite +National Park about twenty miles from Yosemite and is easily accessible +to all sorts of travelers by a road and trail that leaves the Big Oak +Flat road at Bronson Meadows a few miles below Crane Flat, and to +mountaineers by way of Yosemite Creek basin and the head of the middle +fork of the Tuolumne. +<br> +It is said to have been discovered by Joseph Screech, a hunter, in 1850, +a year before the discovery of the great Yosemite. After my first visit +to it in the autumn of 1871, I have always called it the "Tuolumne +Yosemite," for it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the Merced +Yosemite, not only in its sublime rocks and waterfalls but in the +gardens, groves and meadows of its flowery park-like floor. The floor of +Yosemite is about 4000 feet above the sea; the Hetch Hetchy floor about +3700 feet. And as the Merced River flows through Yosemite, so does the +Tuolumne through Hetch Hetchy. The walls of both are of gray granite, +rise abruptly from the floor, are sculptured in the same style and in +both every rock is a glacier monument. +<br> +Standing boldly out from the south wall is a strikingly picturesque rock +called by the Indians, Kolana, the outermost of a group 2300 feet high, +corresponding with the Cathedral Rocks of Yosemite both in relative +position and form. On the opposite side of the Valley, facing Kolana, +there is a counterpart of the El Capitan that rises sheer and plain to +a height of 1800 feet, and over its massive brow flows a stream which +makes the most graceful fall I have ever seen. From the edge of the +cliff to the top of an earthquake talus it is perfectly free in the air +for a thousand feet before it is broken into cascades among talus +boulders. It is in all its glory in June, when the snow is melting fast, +but fades and vanishes toward the end of summer. The only fall I know +with which it may fairly be compared is the Yosemite Bridal Veil; but it +excels even that favorite fall both in height and airy-fairy beauty and +behavior. Lowlanders are apt to suppose that mountain streams in their +wild career over cliffs lose control of themselves and tumble in a noisy +chaos of mist and spray. On the contrary, on no part of their travels +are they more harmonious and self-controlled. Imagine yourself in Hetch +Hetchy on a sunny day in June, standing waist-deep in grass and flowers +(as I have often stood), while the great pines sway dreamily with +scarcely perceptible motion. Looking northward across the Valley you +see a plain, gray granite cliff rising abruptly out of the gardens and +groves to a height of 1800 feet, and in front of it Tueeulala's silvery +scarf burning with irised sun-fire. In the first white outburst at the +head there is abundance of visible energy, but it is speedily hushed and +concealed in divine repose, and its tranquil progress to the base of the +cliff is like that of a downy feather in a still room. Now observe the +fineness and marvelous distinctness of the various sun-illumined fabrics +into which the water is woven; they sift and float from form to form +down the face of that grand gray rock in so leisurely and unconfused a +manner that you can examine their texture, and patterns and tones of +color as you would a piece of embroidery held in the hand. Toward the +top of the fall you see groups of booming, comet-like masses, their +solid, white heads separate, their tails like combed silk interlacing +among delicate gray and purple shadows, ever forming and dissolving, +worn out by friction in their rush through the air. Most of these vanish +a few hundred feet below the summit, changing to varied forms of +cloud-like drapery. Near the bottom the width of the fall has increased +from about twenty-five feet to a hundred feet. Here it is composed of +yet finer tissues, and is still without a trace of disorder--air, water +and sunlight woven into stuff that spirits might wear. +<br> +So fine a fall might well seem sufficient to glorify any valley; but +here, as in Yosemite, Nature seems in nowise moderate, for a short +distance to the eastward of Tueeulala booms and thunders the great Hetch +Hetchy Fall, Wapama, so near that you have both of them in full view +from the same standpoint. It is the counterpart of the Yosemite Fall, +but has a much greater volume of water, is about 1700 feet in height, +and appears to be nearly vertical, though considerably inclined, and is +dashed into huge outbounding bosses of foam on projecting shelves and +knobs. No two falls could be more unlike--Tueeulala out in the open +sunshine descending like thistledown; Wapama in a jagged, shadowy gorge +roaring and plundering, pounding its way like an earthquake avalanche. +<br> +Besides this glorious pair there is a broad, massive fall on the main +river a short distance above the head of the Valley. Its position is +something like that of the Vernal in Yosemite, and its roar as it +plunges into a surging trout-pool may be heard a long way, though it +is only about twenty feet high. On Rancheria Creek, a large stream, +corresponding in position with the Yosemite Tenaya Creek, there is a +chain of cascades joined here and there with swift flashing plumes like +the one between the Vernal and Nevada Falls, making magnificent shows +as they go their glacier-sculptured way, sliding, leaping, hurrahing, +covered with crisp clashing spray made glorious with sifting sunshine. +And besides all these a few small streams come over the walls at wide +intervals, leaping from ledge to ledge with birdlike song and watering +many a hidden cliff-garden and fernery, but they are too unshowy to be +noticed in so grand a place. +<br> +The correspondence between the Hetch Hetchy walls in their trends, +sculpture, physical structure, and general arrangement of the main +rock-masses and those of the Yosemite Valley has excited the wondering +admiration of every observer. We have seen that the El Capitan and +Cathedral rocks occupy the same relative positions In both valleys; so +also do their Yosemite points and North Domes. Again, that part of the +Yosemite north wall immediately to the east of the Yosemite Fall has two +horizontal benches, about 500 and 1500 feet above the floor, timbered +with golden-cup oak. Two benches similarly situated and timbered occur +on the same relative portion of the Hetch Hetchy north wall, to the east +of Wapama Fall, and on no other. The Yosemite is bounded at the head by +the great Half Dome. Hetch Hetchy is bounded in the same way though its +head rock is incomparably less wonderful and sublime in form. +<br> +The floor of the Valley is about three and a half miles long, and from a +fourth to half a mile wide. The lower portion is mostly a level meadow +about a mile long, with the trees restricted to the sides and the river +banks, and partially separated from the main, upper, forested portion by +a low bar of glacier-polished granite across which the river breaks in +rapids. +<br> +The principal trees are the yellow and sugar pines, digger pine, incense +cedar, Douglas spruce, silver fir, the California and golden-cup oaks, +balsam cottonwood, Nuttall's flowering dogwood, alder, maple, laurel, +tumion, etc. The most abundant and influential are the great yellow or +silver pines like those of Yosemite, the tallest over two hundred feet +in height, and the oaks assembled in magnificent groves with massive +rugged trunks four to six feet in diameter, and broad, shady, +wide-spreading heads. The shrubs forming conspicuous flowery clumps and +tangles are manzanita, azalea, spiræa, brier-rose, several species of +ceanothus, calycanthus, philadelphus, wild cherry, etc.; with abundance +of showy and fragrant herbaceous plants growing about them or out in the +open in beds by themselves--lilies, Mariposa tulips, brodiaeas, orchids, +iris, spraguea, draperia, collomia, collinsia, castilleja, nemophila, +larkspur, columbine, goldenrods, sunflowers, mints of many species, +honeysuckle, etc. Many fine ferns dwell here also, especially the +beautiful and interesting rock-ferns--pellaea, and cheilanthes of +several species--fringing and rosetting dry rock-piles and ledges; +woodwardia and asplenium on damp spots with fronds six or seven feet +high; the delicate maiden-hair in mossy nooks by the falls, and the +sturdy, broad-shouldered pteris covering nearly all the dry ground +beneath the oaks and pines. +<br> +It appears, therefore, that Hetch Hetchy Valley, far from being a plain, +common, rock-bound meadow, as many who have not seen it seem to suppose, +is a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious +mountain temples. As in Yosemite, the sublime rocks of its walls seem +to glow with life, whether leaning back in repose or standing erect in +thoughtful attitudes, giving welcome to storms and calms alike, their +brows in the sky, their feet set in the groves and gay flowery meadows, +while birds, bees, and butterflies help the river and waterfalls to +stir all the air into music--things frail and fleeting and types of +permanence meeting here and blending, just as they do in Yosemite, to +draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her. +<br> +Sad to say, this most precious and sublime feature of the Yosemite +National Park, one of the greatest of all our natural resources for the +uplifting joy and peace and health of the people, is in danger of being +dammed and made into a reservoir to help supply San Francisco with water +and light, thus flooding it from wall to wall and burying its gardens +and groves one or two hundred feet deep. This grossly destructive +commercial scheme has long been planned and urged (though water as pure +and abundant can be got from outside of the people's park, in a dozen +different places), because of the comparative cheapness of the dam and +of the territory which it is sought to divert from the great uses to +which it was dedicated in the Act of 1890 establishing the Yosemite +National Park. +<br> +The making of gardens and parks goes on with civilization all over the +world, and they increase both in size and number as their value is +recognized. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in +and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body +and soul alike. This natural beauty-hunger is made manifest in the +little window-sill gardens of the poor, though perhaps only a geranium +slip in a broken cup, as well as in the carefully tended rose and lily +gardens of the rich, the thousands of spacious city parks and botanical +gardens, and in our magnificent National parks--the Yellowstone, +Yosemite, Sequoia, etc.--Nature's sublime wonderlands, the admiration +and joy of the world. Nevertheless, like anything else worth while, from +the very beginning, however well guarded, they have always been subject +to attack by despoiling gainseekers and mischief-makers of every degree +from Satan to Senators, eagerly trying to make everything immediately +and selfishly commercial, with schemes disguised in smug-smiling +philanthropy, industriously, shampiously crying, "Conservation, +conservation, panutilization," that man and beast may be fed and the +dear Nation made great. Thus long ago a few enterprising merchants +utilized the Jerusalem temple as a place of business instead of a place +of prayer, changing money, buying and selling cattle and sheep and +doves; and earlier still, the first forest reservation, including only +one tree, was likewise despoiled. Ever since the establishment of the +Yosemite National Park, strife has been going on around its borders and +I suppose this will go on as part of the universal battle between right +and wrong, however much its boundaries may be shorn, or its wild beauty +destroyed. +<br> +The first application to the Government by the San Francisco Supervisors +for the commercial use of Lake Eleanor and the Hetch Hetchy Valley was +made in 1903, and on December 22nd of that year it was denied by the +Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Hitchcock, who truthfully said: +<br> +Presumably the Yosemite National Park was created such by law because +within its boundaries, inclusive alike of its beautiful small lakes, +like Eleanor, and its majestic wonders, like Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite +Valley. It is the aggregation of such natural scenic features that makes +the Yosemite Park a wonderland which the Congress of the United States +sought by law to reserve for all coming time as nearly as practicable +in the condition fashioned by the hand of the Creator--a worthy object +of national pride and a source of healthful pleasure and rest for the +thousands of people who may annually sojourn there during the heated +months. +<br> +In 1907 when Mr. Garfield became Secretary of the Interior the +application was renewed and granted; but under his successor, Mr. +Fisher, the matter has been referred to a Commission, which as this +volume goes to press still has it under consideration. +<br> +The most delightful and wonderful camp grounds in the Park are its three +great valleys--Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy, and Upper Tuolumne; and they are +also the most important places with reference to their positions +relative to the other great features--the Merced and Tuolumne Cañons, +and the High Sierra peaks and glaciers, etc., at the head of the rivers. +The main part of the Tuolumne Valley is a spacious flowery lawn four or +five miles long, surrounded by magnificent snowy mountains, slightly +separated from other beautiful meadows, which together make a series +about twelve miles in length, the highest reaching to the feet of Mount +Dana, Mount Gibbs, Mount Lyell and Mount McClure. It is about 8500 feet +above the sea, and forms the grand central High Sierra camp ground from +which excursions are made to the noble mountains, domes, glaciers, etc.; +across the Range to the Mono Lake and volcanoes and down the Tuolumne +Cañon to Hetch Hetchy. Should Hetch Hetchy be submerged for a +reservoir, as proposed, not only would it be utterly destroyed, but the +sublime cañon way to the heart of the High Sierra would be hopelessly +blocked and the great camping ground, as the watershed of a city +drinking system, virtually would be closed to the public. So far as I +have learned, few of all the thousands who have seen the park and seek +rest and peace in it are in favor of this outrageous scheme. +<br> +One of my later visits to the Valley was made in the autumn of 1907 with +the late William Keith, the artist. The leaf-colors were then ripe, and +the great godlike rocks in repose seemed to glow with life. The artist, +under their spell, wandered day after day along the river and through +the groves and gardens, studying the wonderful scenery; and, after +making about forty sketches, declared with enthusiasm that although its +walls were less sublime in height, in picturesque beauty and charm Hetch +Hetchy surpassed even Yosemite. +<br> +That any one would try to destroy such a place seems incredible; but sad +experience shows that there are people good enough and bad enough for +anything. The proponents of the dam scheme bring forward a lot of bad +arguments to prove that the only righteous thing to do with the people's +parks is to destroy them bit by bit as they are able. Their arguments +are curiously like those of the devil, devised for the destruction of +the first garden--so much of the very best Eden fruit going to waste; so +much of the best Tuolumne water and Tuolumne scenery going to waste. Few +of their statements are even partly true, and all are misleading. +<br> +Thus, Hetch Hetchy, they say, is a "low-lying meadow." On the contrary, +it is a high-lying natural landscape garden, as the photographic +illustrations show. +<br> +"It is a common minor feature, like thousands of others." On the +contrary it is a very uncommon feature; after Yosemite, the rarest and +in many ways the most important in the National Park. +<br> +"Damming and submerging it 175 feet deep would enhance its beauty by +forming a crystal-clear lake." Landscape gardens, places of recreation +and worship, are never made beautiful by destroying and burying them. +The beautiful sham lake, forsooth, should be only an eyesore, a dismal +blot on the landscape, like many others to be seen in the Sierra. For, +instead of keeping it at the same level all the year, allowing Nature +centuries of time to make new shores, it would, of course, be full only +a month or two in the spring, when the snow is melting fast; then it +would be gradually drained, exposing the slimy sides of the basin and +shallower parts of the bottom, with the gathered drift and waste, death +and decay of the upper basins, caught here instead of being swept on to +decent natural burial along the banks of the river or in the sea. Thus +the Hetch Hetchy dam-lake would be only a rough imitation of a natural +lake for a few of the spring months, an open sepulcher for the others. +<br> +"Hetch Hetchy water is the purest of all to be found in the Sierra, +unpolluted, and forever unpollutable." On the contrary, excepting that +of the Merced below Yosemite, it is less pure than that of most of the +other Sierra streams, because of the sewerage of camp grounds draining +into it, especially of the Big Tuolumne Meadows camp ground, occupied by +hundreds of tourists and mountaineers, with their animals, for months +every summer, soon to be followed by thousands from all the world. +<br> +These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to +have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes +to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. +<br> +Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals +and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the +heart of man. +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Appendix A<br> +Legislation About the Yosemite</h2> + +<pre> + +In the year 1864, Congress passed the following act:-- + + ACT OF JUNE 30, 1864 (13 STAT., 325). + +An Act Authorizing a grant to the State of California of the "Yo-Semite +Valley," and of the land embracing the "Mariposa Big Tree Grove." +<br> +"<i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America, in Congress assembled,</i> That there shall be, and is +hereby, granted to the State of California, the 'Cleft' or 'Gorge' in +the Granite Peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, situated in the county +of Mariposa, in the State aforesaid, and the headwaters of the Merced +River, and known as the Yosemite Valley, with its branches and spurs, in +estimated length fifteen miles, and in average width one mile back from +the main edge of the precipice, on each side of the Valley, with the +stipulation, nevertheless, that the said State shall accept this grant +upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public +use, resort, and recreation; shall be inalienable for all time; but +leases not exceeding ten years may be granted for portions of said +premises. All incomes derived from leases of privileges to be expended +in the preservation and improvement of the property, or the roads +leading thereto; the boundaries to be established at the cost of said +State by the United States Surveyor-General of California, whose +official plat, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land +Office, shall constitute the evidence of the locus, extent, and limits +of the said Cleft or Gorge; the premises to be managed by the Governor +of the State, with eight other Commissioners, to be appointed by the +Executive of California, and who shall receive no compensation for their +services. +<br> +"Sec. 2. <i>And be it further enacted,</i> That there shall likewise be, and +there is hereby, granted to the said State of California, the tracts +embracing what is known as the 'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' not to exceed +the area of four sections, and to be taken in legal subdivisions of +one-quarter section each, with the like stipulations as expressed in +the first section of this Act as to the State's acceptance, with like +conditions as in the first section of this Act as to inalienability, +yet with the same lease privileges; the income to be expended in the +preservation, improvement, and protection of the property, the premises +to be managed by Commissioners, as stipulated in the first section of +this Act, and to be taken in legal subdivisions as aforesaid; and the +official plat of the United States Surveyor-General, when affirmed by +the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to be the evidence of the +locus of the said Mariposa Big Tree Grove." +<br> +This important act was approved by the President, June 30, 1864, +and shortly after the Governor of California, F. F. Low, issued a +proclamation taking possession of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa +grove of Big Trees, in the name and on behalf of the State, appointing +commissioners to manage them, and warning all persons against +trespassing or settling there without authority, and especially +forbidding the cutting of timber and other injurious acts. +<br> +The first Board of Commissioners were F. Law Olmsted, J. D. Whitney, +William Ashburner, I. W. Raymond, E. S. Holden, Alexander Deering, +George W. Coulter, and Galen Clark. +<br> +ACT OF OCTOBER 1, 1890 (26 STAT., 650). +<br> +[Footnote: Sections 1 and 2 of this act pertain to the Yosemite National +Park, while section 3 sets apart General Grant National Park, and also a +portion of Sequoia National Park.] +<br> +An Act To set apart certain tracts of land in the State of California as +forest reservations. +<br> +"<i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled,</i> That the tracts of land in the +State of California known as described as follows: Commencing at the +northwest corner of township two north, range nineteen east Mount Diablo +meridian, thence eastwardly on the line between townships two and three +north, ranges twenty-four and twenty-five east; thence southwardly on +the line between ranges twenty-four and twenty-five east to the Mount +Diablo base line; thence eastwardly on said base line to the corner +to township one south, ranges twenty-five and twenty-six east; thence +southwardly on the line between ranges twenty-five and twenty-six east +to the southeast corner of township two south, range twenty-five east; +thence eastwardly on the line between townships two and three south, +range twenty-six east to the corner to townships two and three south, +ranges twenty-six and twenty-seven east; thence southwardly on the line +between ranges twenty-six and twenty-seven east to the first standard +parallel south; thence westwardly on the first standard parallel south +to the southwest corner of township four south, range nineteen east; +thence northwardly on the line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east +to the northwest corner of township two south, range nineteen east; +thence westwardly on the line between townships one and two south to +the southwest corner of township one south, range nineteen east; thence +northwardly on the line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east to +the northwest corner of township two north, range nineteen east, the +place of beginning, are hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, +occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and set apart as +reserved forest lands; and all persons who shall locate or settle upon, +or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, +shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom: <i>Provided, +however,</i> That nothing in this act shall be construed as in anywise +affecting the grant of lands made to the State of California by virtue +of the act entitled, 'An act authorizing a grant to the State of +California of the Yosemite Valley, and of the land embracing the +Mariposa Big-Tree Grove,' appeared June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and +sixty-four; or as affecting any bona-fide entry of land made within the +limits above described under any law of the United States prior to the +approval of this act. +<br> +"Sec. 2. That said reservation shall be under the exclusive control +of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, as soon as +practicable, to make and publish such rules and regulations as he may +deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Such +regulations shall provide for the preservation from injury of all +timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said +reservation, and their retention in their natural condition. The +Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for building purposes for +terms not exceeding ten years of small parcels of ground not exceeding +five acres; at such places in said reservation as shall require the +erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the +proceeds of said leases and other revenues that may be derived from +any source connected with said reservation to be expended under his +direction in the management of the same and the construction of roads +and paths therein. He shall provide against the wanton destruction of +the fish, and game found within said reservation, and against their +capture or destruction, for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He +shall also cause all persons trespassing upon the same after the passage +of this act to be removed therefrom, and, generally, shall be authorized +to take all such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully carry +out the objects and purposes of this act. +<br> +"Sec. 3. There shall also be and is hereby reserved and withdrawn from +settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and +shall be set apart as reserved forest lands, as herein before provided, +and subject to all the limitations and provisions herein contained, the +following additional lands, to wit: Township seventeen south, range +thirty east of the Mount Diablo meridian, excepting sections thirty-one, +thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four of said township, included +in a previous bill. And there is also reserved and withdrawn from +settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and +set apart as forest lands, subject to like limitations, conditions, +and provisions, all of townships fifteen and sixteen south, of ranges +twenty-nine and thirty east of the Mount Diablo meridian. And there is +also hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale +under the laws of the United states, and set apart as reserved forest +lands under like limitations, restrictions, and provisions, sections +five and six in township fourteen south, range twenty-eight east of +Mount Diablo meridian, and also sections thirty-one and thirty-two of +township thirteen south, range twenty-eight east of the same meridian. +Nothing in this act shall authorize rules or contracts touching the +protection and improvement of said reservations, beyond the sums that +may be received by the Secretary of the Interior under the foregoing +provisions, or authorize any charge against the Treasury of the United +States." +<br> +ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, APPROVED +MARCH 3, 1905. +<br> +"Sec. 1. The State of California does hereby recede and regrant unto the +United States of America the 'cleft' or 'gorge' in the granite peak of +the Sierra Nevada Mountains, situated in the county of Mariposa, State +of California, and the headwaters of the Merced River, and known as the +Yosemite Valley, with its branches and spurs, granted unto the State +of California in trust for public use, resort, and recreation by the +act of Congress entitled, 'An act authorizing a grant to the State +of California of the Yosemite Valley and of the land embracing the +Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' approved June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and +sixty-four; and the State of California does hereby relinquish unto the +United States of America and resign the trusts created and granted by +the said act of Congress. +<br> +"Sec. 2. The State of California does hereby recede and regrant unto +the United States of America the tracts embracing what is known as the +'Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' planted unto the State of California in trust +for public use, resort, and recreation by the act of Congress referred +to in section one of this act, and the State of California does hereby +relinquish unto the United States of America and resign the trusts +created and granted by the said act of Congress. +<br> +"Sec. 3. This act shall take effect from and after acceptance by the +United States of America of the recessions and regrants herein made +thereby forever releasing the State of California from further cost of +maintaining the said premises, the same to be held for all time by the +United States of America for public use, resort, and recreation and +imposing on the United States of America the cost of maintaining the +same as a national park: <i>Provided, however,</i> That the recession and +regrant hereby made shall not affect vested rights and interests of +third persons." +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Appendix B<br> +Table of Distances</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +From the Guardian's office, in the village, the distances to various +points are in miles as follows: +</pre> + +<pre> + <i>Miles</i>. + Bridal Veil Fall 4.04 + Cascade Falls 7.67 + Cloud's Rest, Summit 11.81 + Columbia Rock, on Eagle Peak Trail 1.98 + Dana, Mt., Summit 40.34 + Eagle Peak 6.59 + El Capitan Bridge 3.63 + Glacier Point, direct trail 4.45 + Glacier Point, by Nevada Falls 16.98 + Lyell, Mt., Summit 38.20 + Merced Bridge 2.03 + Mirror Lake, by Hunt's avenue 2.91 + Nevada Fall (Hotel) 4.63 + Nevada Fall, Bridge above 5.45 + Pohono Bridge 5.29 + Register Rock 3.24 + Ribbon Fall 3.99 + Rocky Point (base of Three Brothers) 1.45 + Tenayah Creek Bridge 2.26 + Tenayah Lake 16.00 + Yosemite Falls, foot 0.90 + Yosemite Falls, foot Upper Fall 2.67 + Yosemite Falls, top 4.33 + Soda Springs (Eagle Peak Trail) 24.50 + Sentinel Dome 5.57 + Union Point, on Glacier Point Trail 3.13 + Vernal Fall 3.50 + +</pre> + +<h2 align="center">Appendix C<br> +Maximum Rates for Transportation</h2> + +<pre> +<br> +The following rates for transportation in and about the Valley have +been established by the Board of Commissioners: +<br> +SADDLE-HORSES +</pre> + +<pre> + <i>From Route to Amount</i> + + Valley Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome, and return, $3.00 + direct, same day + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, and Fissures, 3.75 + and return, direct, same day + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, and Fissures, 3.00 + passing night at Glacier Point + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, 3.00 + and Casa Nevada, passing night at Casa Nevada + Valley Glacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, 4.00 + Vernal Fall, and thence to Valley same day + Glacier Point Valley direct 2.00 + Glacier Point Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, and Casa Nevada, 2.00 + passing night at Casa Nevada + Glacier Point Sentinel Dome, Nevada Fall, Vernal Fall, 3.00 + and thence to Valley same day + Valley Summits, Vernal and Nevada Falls, direct, 3.00 + and return to Valley same day + Valley Glacier Point by Casa Nevada, passing night 3.00 + at Glacier Point + Valley Summits, Vernal and Nevada Falls, Sentinel Dome, 4.00 + Glacier Point, and thence to Valley same day + Valley Cloud's Rest and return to Casa Nevada 3.00 + Valley Cloud's Rest and return to Valley same day 5.00 + Casa Nevada Cloud's Rest and return to Casa Nevada or 3.00 + Valley same day + Casa Nevada Valley direct 2.00 + Casa Nevada Nevada Fall, Sentinel Dome, and Glacier Point, 2.00 + passing night at Glacier Point + Valley Nevada Fall, Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, 3.00 + and Valley same day + Upper Yosemite Fall, Eagle Peak, and return 3.00 + Charge for guide (including horse), when furnished 3.00 + Saddle-horses, on level of Valley, per day 2.50 +</pre> + +<pre> +<br> +1. The above charges do not include feed for horses when passing night +at Casa Nevada or Glacier Point. +<br> +2. Where Valley is specified as starting-point, the above rates prevail +from any hotel in Valley, or from the foot of any trail. +<br> +3. Any shortening of above trips, without proportionate reduction of +rates, shall be at the option of those hiring horses. +<br> +4. Trips other than those above specified shall be subject to special +arrangement between letter and hirer. +<br> +CARRIAGES +</pre> + +<pre> + <i>From Route to Amount</i> + + Hotels Mirror Lake and return, direct $1.00 + Hotels Mirror Lake and return by Tissiack Avenue 1.25 + Hotels Mirror Lake and return to foot of Trail, to Vernal 1.00 + and Nevada Falls + Hotels Bridal Veil Falls and return, direct 1.00 + Hotels Pohono Bridge, down either side of Valley, and return 1.50 + on opposite side, stopping at Yosemite and Bridal + Veil Falls + Hotels Cascade Falls, down either side of Valley, and return 2.25 + on opposite side, stopping at Yosemite and Bridal + Veil Falls + Hotels Artist Point and return, direct, stopping at Bridal 2.00 + Veil Falls + Hotels New Inspiration Point and return, direct, stopping at 2.00 + Bridal Veil Falls + Grand Round Drive, including Yosemite and Bridal Veil 2.50 + Falls, excluding Lake and Cascades + Grand Round Drive, including Yosemite and Bridal Veil 3.50 + Falls, Lake, and Cascades +</pre> + +<pre> +<br> +1. When the value of the seats hired in any vehicle shall exceed $15 +for a two-horse team, or $25 for a four-horse team, <i>for any trip</i> in the +above schedule, the persons hiring the seats shall have the privilege +of paying no more than the aggregate sums of $15 and $25 <i>per trip</i> for a +two-horse and four-horse team, respectively. +<br> +2. If saddle-horses should be substituted for any of the above carriage +trips, carriage rates will apply to each horse. In no case shall the +<i>per diem</i> charge of $2.50 for each saddle-horse, on level of Valley, be +exceeded. +<br> +Any excess of the above rates, as well as any extortion, incivility, +misrepresentation, or the riding of unsafe animals, should be promptly +reported at the Guardian's office. + +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</pre> + +<pre> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE YOSEMITE *** + +This file should be named yosem10h.htm or yosem10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, yosem11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, yosem10ah.htm + + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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