YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA BY JOHN MUIR lI-L.U.STl!ATI';i) FTJO.AI rRELIMTNARY .SKETCHES AND rTroTor.RMnis Ft'tiKisnED tsy the author IWew anO eiilargcO e&itloii 1^ NF.W YOUK THE CENTURY CO, 1913 Copyrij^lit,, IKiM, liy 'run ('KNTlMtY (!(). Copyriglil, 1911, liy The Centiiky Co. TO THE MKMOKV (IK IjOUIZA STRENTZEL THIS NINTH EJJITION OF THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA IS AFFECTIONATELY nEDICATKn CONTENTS (!ii,M'ri;K Page I The Sierra Nevada 1 II The Glaciers 20 irr Tino Snow 36 IV A Nkar View op 'jtie Hioh Sierra 48 V TiiK I'ASSics 74 vr. The Glacier ] JAKES 98 VII The Glacheh Meadows 125 VIII The Forests 139 IX The Douglas Squirrel 226 X A Wind-Storm in the Forests ....,,. 244 XI The River Floods 2,')8 Xll Sierra Thunder STt)i{.MS 271 XIII The Water-Ouzel 27G XIV The Wild Sheep 300 XV In the Sierra Foot-Hills 325 XVI The Bee-Pastures 338 Index 383 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Hooped Locusts Frontispiece Mount Tamalpais— North op the Golden Gate , 5 Map op the Sierra Nevad,v 7 Mount Shasta 13 iMouNT Hood 19 Map op the Glacier Country 23 Mount IJAiNUoit; Noicrii IMiv.\llui' (Jlachsr pko.m Eagle Clipp 31 KoLAN.v Rock, Hetch-Hetchy A'^ alley 45 Photograpli by W. L, Hubcr, 1900 General Grant Tree, Generm, Grant National I'ark 61 I'hotogrnph by W, L, Hnbcr, liiflS Map op the Yosemite A^^lley 67 Map op the Yosemite Valley, Showing Present Reservation Boundary 77 Rancheria Falls, Hetch-Hetciiy Valley ... 87 Photograph by W. L. Huber, 1909 View op the ]\Iono Plain from the Foot of Bloody (Ianon 97 Lake Tenaya, one ok the Yosemite Fountains , 102 The Death op a Lake 107 Shadow Lake (JMerced Lake), Yosemite National Park Ill Photograph by W. L. Hubor, IDS xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Pa(ik Veunal 1'\\li-, Yosemite V^vlley 1L5 Photograph by W. L. Hubor, 1U07 Lake Starr King 119 View in the Sierra Forest 141 Edge op the Timber Line on ]\Iount Shasta . .143 View in the Main Pine Belt op the Sierra Forest 145 Nut Pine 147 The Grove Form . 149 Lower ]\Iargin op the Main Pine Belt, Showing Open Character op Woods ... ... 151 Sugar Pine on Exposed Ridge 157 Young Sugar Pine beginning to bear Cones . . 160 FoRES'i' of Sequoia, Sugar Pine, and D()ugl,\s Spruce 161 PiNus Ponderosa 164 Silver Pine 210 Feet High 166 Incense Cedar in its Prime 171 Forest op Grand Silver Firs . 172 View op Forest op the Magnificent Silver Fir . 175 Silver-Fir Forest Growing on Moraines op the Hoffman and Tenaya Glaciers 177 Sequolv Gigantea. View in General Grant National Park ]81 Photograph by AY. L, liiiber, )!HI8 MviR Gorge. Tuolumne G\\on, Yosemite National Park . 191 Photograph by W. L, lIubtT, lillW View in Tuolumne Ca.son, Yosemite Nationaij Park 197 Photograph by ^V. L. liiiber, 1909 list of illustrations xiii Page Juniper, or Red Cedar 205 Storm-Beaten .Iunipers 207 Photograph by Katlieriue Hooker Storm-Beaten Hemlock Spruce, Forty Feet High 208 Group op Erect Dwarf Pines 212 A Davarf Pine ........:.... 214 Oak Growing AMONG Yellow Pines '217 Pate Valley, Showing the Oaks. Tuolumne Canon, Yosemite National Park 225 Photograpli by W. L. Hubcr, 1909 Track op Douglas Squirrel once Down and Up a Pine-'J'uee when Showing oi^'i' to a Speciwtor 231 Seeds, Wings, and Scale op Sugar Pine 234 Trying the Bow 243 A Wind-Storm in the California Forests . . . 245 Yellow Pine and Libocedrus . 253 Photograph by Kathcrine Hooker Bridal A^eitj Falls, Yosiomitp. Vallioy 273 Photograph by W. L. Hubor, 19(17 Water-Ouzel Diving and Feeding 277 One of the Late-Summer Feeding-Grounds of the Ouzel . . 285 Ouzel ]{;ntering a White Current 287 The Ouzel at Home ... . . ... 293 ¦^'osEMiTB Birds, Snow-I^ound at the I'oor op Indian Canon ... 297 SNOW-liOUND on JTount Sh.vsta 306 Head op the JIekino Ram . . 309 Head op Rocky Mountain Wild Sheep .... 311 xiv LIST OF illustrations Page Crossing a Canon Stream . . . ^ , . . 314 Wild Sheep Jumping over a Precipice . , . . 319 Indians Hunting Wild Sheep 321 A Bee-Ranch in Lower California 341 Wild Bee Garden 357 In the San G.^briei^ Valley.— White Sage . . . 365 A Bee-Rancii on a Spur op the San Gabriel Range.— Cardinal Flower ... ... 369 Wild Buckwheat. — A Bee-Ranch in the Wilder ness 371 A Bee-Pasture on the Moraine Desert.— Spanish Bayonet 375 A Bee-Keeper 's Cabin 379 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA CHAPTER I THE SIERRA NEVADA GO wliero you may within the hounds of Cali fornia, mountains are ever in sight, charming and glorifying every landscape. Yet so simple and massive is the topography of the State in general views, that the main central portion displays only one valley, and Iavo chains of mountains which seem almost perfectly regular iu trend and height: the ( -oiist liaiigo on tlio west side, tho Sierra Nevada on the east. These two ranges coming together in curves on the north and south inclose a magnificent basin, Avith a level floor more than 400 miles long, and from 35 to GO miles wide. This is the grand Central Valley of California, the waters of which have only one outlet to the sea through the Grolden Gate, But with this general simplicity of features there is great complexity of hidden detail. The Coast Range, rising as a grand green barrier against the ocean, from 2000 to 8000 feet high, is composed of innumerable forest-crowned spurs, ridges, and rolling hill-waves which inclose a multitude of smaller valleys; some looking out through long, 4 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA forest-lined vistas to the sea; others, with but few trees, to the Ceuti-al Valley; while a thousand others yet smaller are embosomed and coHctialed in mild, I'ound-browed hills, each Avith its own climate, soil, and produetioHS, Making your Avay through the mazes of the Coast: Range to the summit oE any of the inner peaks or ]iassos o]>posite Sail Francisco, in the clear spriiig- iiiiu^, lliii gi'a,ii(lesl, a^iid iiiosl. li^lliiigol' ill! Calironiia. huidstiapes is outspread bet\)re you, iVt your I'ec!!. lies the great Central Valley gloAving golden in the suushine, extending north aud south farther than the eye can reach, one smooth, flowery, lake-like bed of fertile soil. Along its eastern margin lises the mighty Sierra, miles in height, reposing like a smooth, cumnlous cloud in the sunny sky, and so gloriously colored, and so luminous, it seems to be not clotlicd with light, but; wholly coiu[)ose,s much aboA^e the gtnicral level to })ultlisli its Avealth. No great val ley or lake is seen, or river, or group of well-marked features of any kind, standing out in distinct pic tures. Even the summit-peaks, so clear and high in the sky, seem comparatively smooth and feature less. Nevertheless, glaciers are still at Avork in the shadows of the peaks, and thousands of lakes and meadows shine and bloom beneath them, and the whole range is fiirrowivl Avith cauons to a depth of from 'JOOO to -501)0 i'&^.t, in Avliicli once lloweii nui- jostic glaciers, and in Avh'icli now flow and sing a baud of beautiful rivers. Though of such stupendous depth, these famous canons are not raw, gloomy, jagged- Aval led gorges, savage and inaccessible. With rough passages here 6 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA and there they still make delightful pathways for the mountaineer, conducting from the fertile loAvlands to the highest icy fountains, as a kind of mountain streets full of charming life and light, graded and sculptured by the ancient glaeicirs, and presenting, throughout all their courses, 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 Avestern flank of the range, the main canons widen into spacious valleys or parks, diversified like artificial landscape-gardens, Avitli charming groves and meadows, and thickets of blooming bushes, while the lofty, retiring Avails, infinitely varied in form and sculpture, are fringed with ferns, flowering-plants of many species, oaks, and ever greens, which find anchorage on a thousand narrow steps and benches; while the whole is enliA^ened and made glorious with rejoicing streams that come dancing and foaming over the sunny broAvs of the cliffs to join the shining river that flows in tranquil beauty down the middle of each one of them. The waUs of these park valleys of the Yosemite kind are made up of rocks mountains in size, partly separated from each other by narrow gorg(!s and side-canous; and tliey are so sheer iu front, and so compactly built togcither on a h^vel floor, that, com prehensively seen, the parks they inclose look like immense halls or temples lighted from above. Every rock seems to glow with life. Some lean back in majestic repose; others, absolutely sheer, lialit, Itni, l)y Win r. woniinMi. iHiiiiii", Jl. I. MAP OP THE SIERRA NEVADA 8 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA or nearly so, for thousands of feet, advance their brows in thoughtful attitudes beyond their com panions, giving welcome to storms and calms alike, seemingly conscious yet heedless of everything go ing on about them, awful in stern majesty, types of pernianence, yet associated with beauty of the frailest and most fleeting forms ; their feet set in pine-groves and gay emerald meadows, their broAvs in the sky; bathed in light, bathed in Moods of singing Avater, while snow-clouds, avalanches, and the winds shine and surge and wreathe about them as the years go by, as if into these mountain man sions Nature had taken pains to gather her choicest treasures to draAV her lovers into close and confid ing communion with her. Here, too, iu the middle region of deepest canons are the grandest forest-trees, the Sequoia, king of conifers, the noble Sugar and Yellow Pines, Doug las Spruce, Libocedrus, and the Silver Firs, each a giant of its kind, assembled together in one and the same forest, suipassing dl other coniferous forests in the world, both in the number of its species and in the size aud beauty of its trees. The Aviiids floAV in melody through their colossal spires, and they are vocal everywhere with the songs of birds and run ning water, IMiles of fragrant (teanothus and man- zanita bushes bloom beneath tluiin, and lily gardens and meadows, and damp, ferny glens in endh^ss variety of fragrance aud color, compelling tlui ad miration of every observer. Sweeping on over ridge and valley, these noble trees extend a con tinuous belt from end to cud of the range, only slightly interrupted by sheer-Avalled canons at in- TUG SIERRA NEVADA Icrvals of about fifteen and twenty miles. Here the great burly brown bears delight to roam, har monizing Avitli the brown boles of the trees be neath Avliich they feed. Deer, also, dwell here, and find food and shelter in the ceanotlius tangles, with a multitude of smaller peojile. Above this region f)f gia.nts, tll(^ tr(H>s grow smaller until the utmost limit of the timber line is reached on the stormy mountain-slopes at a height of from ten to tAvelve thousand feet above the sea, Avliere the Dwarf Pine is so lowly and hard beset by storms and heavy snow, it is pressed into flat tangles, over the tops of Avhich wo may easily Avalk, Bch)AV the main forest belt the trees likeAvise diininish in size, frost and burning drouth repressing and blasting alike. The rose-puri)lo zone along the base of the range comprehends nearly all the famous gold region of (Jalifornia, And here it Avas that miners from every countrjr under the sun assembled in a wild, torrent- like rush to seek their fortunes. On the banks of every river, ravine, a.iid gnlly tlniy lia\'(^ left their marks. Every gravel- and boulder-bed has been desperately riddled over and over again. But in this region tho pick aud shovel, once wielded with savage enthusiasm, have been laid aAvay, and only (|uartz-miiiing is iioav being carried on to any con siderable extent. The zone in general is made up of low, tawny, waving foot-hills, rongheiied here and there Avith brush and trees, and outcropping masses of slate, colored gray and red with lichens. The smaller masses of slate, rising abruptly from the dry, grassy sod in leaning slabs, look like ancient tombstones in a deserted burying-ground. In early o 10 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA spring, say from February to April, the whole of this foot-hill bcilt is a pa.ra.dise of bees aud llowers. Jiefresliing rains then fall fr(!ely, birds are busy building their nests, and the sunshine is balmy and delightful. But by the end of May the soil, plants, and sky seem to haA^e been baked in an oven. Most of the plants crumble to dust beneath the foot, and the ground is full of cracks ; Avhile the tliirsty traveler gazes with eager longing through the burn ing glare to the snowy summits looming like hazy clouds in the distance. The trees, mostly Qnercus DoKglasii and Tinus Sahiniana, thirty to forty feet high, with thin, jiale- green foliage, stand far apart and cast but little shade. Lizards glide about on the rocks enjoying a constitution that no drouth can dry, and a,iits iu amazing numbers, Avliose tiny sparks of life seem to burn the brighter Avith the increasing heat, ramble industriously in long trains in search of food. Crows, ravens, magpies — friends in distress — gather on the ground beneath the best shade- trees, panting Avith drooping Aviiigs and bills wide open, scarce a note from any of them during the midday hours, (Quails, tot), seek the shade during the heat of the day about tepid pools in the chan nels of the larger mid-river streams. Rabbits scurry from thicket to thicket among the ceanothns bushes, and occasionally a long-eared hare is seen cantering gracefully across the Avider openings. The nights are calm and dewless during the summer, and a thousand voices proclaim tlie abundance of life, not withstanding the desolating effect of dry sunshine on the plants and larger animals. The hvlas make THE SIERRA NEVADA 11 a delightfully pure and tranquil music after sunset ; and coyotes, the little, despised dogs of the Avilder- iiess, bra\'(', hardy felloAvs, looking like withered wisps of hay, bark in chorus for hours. Mining- towns, most of them dead, and a few living ones Avith bright bits of cultivation about them, occur at long intervals along the belt, and cottages covered with climbing I'oses, in the midst of orange and peach orchards, and sAveet-scented hay-fields in fer tile ilats Avhere water for irrigation may be had. But they are mostly far apart, and make scarce auy mark in general vicAVS, hlvery wiiil-er the iiigli Sicwra and the middfe forest region get snow in glorious aibundance, and even the foot-hills a,re at times whitened. Then all the range looks like a A^ast beveled wall of purest marble. The rough places are then made smooth, tho death and decay of tho year is covered gently and kindly, and the. ground sccmhs as clean as tho sky, Aud though silent in its flight from the clouds, aud Avlien it is taking its place on rock, or tree, or grassy meadoAV, how soon the gentle siioav finds a voice ! Slipping from the heights, gather ing in avalanches, it booms and roars like thunder, and makes a glorious show as it sweeps down the mountain-side, arrayed in long, silken streamers and wreathing, SAvirliiig films of crystal dust, Tli(\ uortli half of the range is mostly covered Avitli Moods of lava., and (h)tted w'lth volcanoes and craters, some of them recent and perfect in form, others in various stages of decay. The south half is composed of granite nearly from base to summit, while a considerable number of peaks, in the middle 12 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA of the range, are capped with metamorphie slates, among wliich are INbmnts Dana and Gibbs to the east of Yosemite Valley, Mount AVhitney, the cul minating point of the range near its southern ex tremity, lifts its helmet-shaped crest to a height of nearly 14,700 feet. Mount Shasta, a colossal a'oI- canic cone, rises to a height of 11,44:0 feet at the northern extremity, and forms a noble landmark for all the surrounding region Avithin a radius of a hundred miles. Residual masses of volcanic rocks occur throughout most of the granitic southern por tion also, and a considerable number of old volca noes on the flanks, especially along the eastern base of the range near Mono Lake and southward. But it is only to the northward that the entire range, from base to summit, is covered with lava. From the summit of Mount Whitney only granite is seen. Innumerable peaks and spires but little lower than its own storm-beaten crags rise in groups like forest-trees, in full view, segregated by canons of tremendous depth and ruggedness. On Shasta nearly every feature in the vast view speaks of the old volcanic fires. Far to the uortliAvard, in Oregon, the icy volcanoes of jMoiint Pitt and the Three Sisters rise above the dark evergreen Avoods, SouthAvard innumerable smaller craters and cones are disti-ibuted along the axis of the range and on each fiaiik, ( )f tliesci, La,ss(m's Butte is the highest, being nearly 11,000 feet above sea-kivel, Mih^s ol its flanks are reeking and bubbling Avith hot springs, many of them so boisterous and sulphurous they seem ever ready to become spouting geysers like those of the Yellowstone, r.ipyriglit, l»j Lnilrr-iWHl & Unaerwood, N, Y, MOUNT SHASTA. THE SIERRA NEVADA 13 The Cinder Cone near marks the most recent vol canic eruption in the Sierra, It is a symmetrical truncated cone about 700 feet high, covered with gray cinders and ashes, and has a regular un(;lianged crater on its summit, iu which a I'oav small Two- leaved Pines are growhig. These show that the age of the cone is not less than eighty years. It stands betAveen two lakes, Avhicli a short time ago Avere one. Before the cone Avas built, a flood of rough vesicular laA^a was poured into the lake, cutting it ill two, and, overflowing its banks, the fiery flood advanced into the Ijine-Avoods, overwhelming the trei^s in its way, ill(^ cha.riMMl (mkIs of some of whicli may still be seen proj(^ctillg from l)eH(>a,th the snout of tlie lava-stream where it came to rest. Later still ther(^ was a.ii eruption of ashes and loose ob sidian cinders, probably from the same vent, Avliich, besides forming the Cinder Cone, scattered a heavy sli<)W(!r ov(n' the surrounding Avoods for miles to a dejith of from six inches to scA-eral feet, Tlu^ history of this last Sierra eruption is also pre served in the traditions of the Pitt River Indians, They tell of a fearful time of darkness, when the sky was black Avitli ashes and smoke that threatened every living thing Avitli death, and that when at length the sun appeared once more it was red like blood. Less recent craters in great numbers roughen the adjacent region ; some of them Avitli lakes in their throats, others oA^ergroAvn Avitli trees and flowers, Nature in these old hearths and firesides having literally given beauty for ashes. On the northwest side of Mount Shasta there is a subordinate cone 14 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA about 3000 feet below the summit, which has been active subsequent to the breaking up of the main ice-cap that once covered tho mountain, as is shown by its comparatively un wasted ci'ater and the streams of unglaciated lava radiating from it. The main summit is abcnit a mile and a half in diaiiKjter, bounded by small crumbling j^eaks and ridges, among Avliich Ave seek iuA^ain for the outlines of the ancient crater. These ruinous masses, and the deep glacial grooves that flute the sides of the mountain, sIioav that it has been considerably lowered and wasted by ice; how much Ave haA'e no sure means of knoAV- ing. Just beloAV the extreme summit hot sulphu rous ga.s(vs and A"a.]K)r issue from irregular iissnrcs, mixed Avitli spray derived from melting snow, the last feeble expression of the mighty force that built the mountain. Not in one great convulsion was Shasta given birth. The crags of the summit and the sections exposed by the glaciers doAvii the sides display enough of its internal framcAvork to i)rove that comparatively long periods of quiescence in tervened betAveen many distinct eruptions, during which the cooling lavas ceased to flow, and became permanent additions to the bulk of the growing mountain. With alternate haste and deliberation eruption succeeded eruption till the old volcano sur passed even its present siibhuie height. Standing on the icy top of this, the grandest of all the lire-mountains of the Sierra, Ave can hardly fail to look forward to its next eruption, Grardens, vineyards, homes have been planted confidingly on the flanks of volcanoes which, after remaining stead- THE SlERItA NEVADA 15 fast for ages, liaA^o suddenly blazed into violent ac tion, and poured forth overAvhelming floods of fire. It is known that more than a thousand years of cool calm liaA'e intervened between violent erup tions. Like gigantic geysers spouting molten rock instead of water, A^olcanoes work and rest, and Ave have no sure means of knowing whether they are dead Avhen still, or only sleeping. Along tho W(>stern base of the range a telling series of sedimentary rocks containing the early history of the Sierra are now being studied. But leaving for the present these first chapters, we see that only a very short geological time ago, just be fore tlie coming on of tliat Avinter of Avintei'S called the glacial period, a vast deluge of molten rocks poured from many a chasm and crater on the flanks and summit of the range, filling lake basins and river channels, and obliterating nearly CA^ery exist ing feature on tho northern portion. At length these all-destroj'ing floods ceased to floAv, But Avhile the gr(>a.t AM)lca.ni(! cones built u[) along the axis still burned and smoked, tho Avholo Sierra passed under the domain of ice a.nd snow. Then over the bald, featureless, flre-blackened mountains, glaciers be gan to craAvl, covering them from, the summits to the sea with a mantle of ice ; and then Avith in finite deliberation the Avork Avent on of sculptur ing the range anew. These mighty agents of ero sion, halting iieA^er through unnumbered centuries, crushed and ground the flinty lavas and granites beneath their crystal folds, Avasting and building until in the fullness of tune the Sierra was born again, brought to light nearly as Ave behold it to- IC) THE IMOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA day, Avitli glaciers and snoAv-criished pines at the top of the rang(!, Avheat-fiiilds and orange-groves at tlie foot of it. This change from icy darkness and death to life and beauty Avas slow, as Ave count time, and is still going on, north and south, OA'or all the Avorld Avher- ever glaciers exist, whether iu the form of distinct rivers, as in Switzerland, Norway, the nioun tains of Asia, and the Pacific Coast; or in continuous mant ling folds, as iu portions of Alaska, (}i'eeiiland, Franz-Josepli-Land,Nova Zcmbla, Spitzbi!rg(iii, and the lands about the South Pole, But in no ccumtry, as far as I kiiOAv, may these majestic changes be studied to better advantage than in the plains and mountains of California, Toward the (-lose of the glacial ])eriod, Avlieii the snow-clouds became less fertile and the melting Avaste of sunshine became greater, the lowei- folds of the ice-sheet in California, discharging fleets of icebergs into the sea, begau to shallow aud recede from the lowlands, and tluMi move slowly up tin* flanks of the Sitirra in conqjliance Avith tlu! changes of climate. The great Avhite mantle on tlui uioiiii- ta.ins broke iqi into a series of glaciers more oi' less distinct and river-like, Avitli many tributaries, and these again were melted and divided into still smaller glaciers, until now only a fcAv of the small est residual topmost branches of the grand system exist on the cool slopes of the summit peaks. Plants and animals, biding their time, closely folloAved the retiring ice, bestoAving quick aud joyous animation on the iiew-boru landscapes. Pine-trees marched up the sun-Avarmed moraines in )ii|;lil, l>> \'u, avo are feeble ; let us help oue another. We are many, aud together we Avill be strong. Marching in close, deep ranks, let us roll a.wa.y the stones from these mountain sepulchers, and set the landscapes free. Let us uncover these clustering domes. Here let us carve a lake basin ; there, a Yosemite A'^alley ; here, a channel for a river Avitli fluted steps and brows for the plunge of song ful cataracts. Yonder let us spread broad sheets of sf)il, that man and boast may be fed; and here pile trains of boulders for pines and giant Sequoias. Here make ground for a meadow; there, for a garden aud grove, making it smooth and fine for small daisies and Auolets and beds of heathy bryauthus, spicing it well Avitli crystals, garnet feldspar, and zircon," Thus and so on it has oftentimes seemed to me sang and planned and labored the hearty snoAV-floAver crusaders ; and nothing that I can write can ])Ossibly exaggerate the grandeur and befiuty of their Avork, Jjike morning mist they have vanished in sunshine, all save the few small com panies that still linger on the coolest mountain sides, and, as residual glaciers, are still busily at work completing the last of the lake basins, the last beds of soil, aud the sculpture of some of the highest peaks. CHAPTER II THE GLACIERS OF the small residual glaciers mentioned in the preceding chapter, I have found sixty-flvii in that portion of the range lying betAveen latitude 36° 30' and 39°, They occur singly or in small groups on tho north sides of tlu* peaks of tho High Sierra, sheltered beneath broad frosty shadoAvs, in nniphitheaters of their oavu making, Avhe.re tlu^ snoAV, shooting down from the surrounding heights in avalanches, is most abundant. Over Iavo thirds of the entire number lie betAveen latitude 37° and 38°, and form the highest fountains of the San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne, and Oavcii's rivers. The glaciers of Switzerland, like those of the Sierra, are mere Avasting rcsmnants of mighty ice- floods that once filled the great valleys and poured into the sea. So, also, are those of Norway, Asia, and South America, Even the grand continuous mantles of ice that still coA-er Greenland, Spitz- bergeu. Nova Zembla, Franz-Joseph-Land, parts of Alaska, and the south polar region are shallowing and shrinking. Every glacier in the Avorld is smaller than it once Avas, All the world is groAving warmer, or the crop of snow-flowers is diminishing. But in contemplating the condition of the glaciers of the THE CLACIERS 21 Avorld, Ave must bear in mind Avhile trying to ac count for the changes going on that the same sun shine that Avastes them builds them. Every glacier records tho expenditure of au enormous amount of sun-heat in lifting the A'apor for the shoav of Avliich it is made from tho ocean to the mountains, as Tyndall strikingly shows. The uimiber of glaciers in the Alps, according to the Schlagintweit brothers, is 1100, of which 100 may be regarded as primary, and the total area of ice, snow, and neve is estimated at 1177 s(piare miles, or an average for each, glacier of little more than one s(piare iHil(>, On tho same authority, tlie average height aboA'e sea-level at Avhich they melt is about 7414 feet. The Crindelwald glacier descends below 4000 feet, and one of the JMontBlanc glaciers reaches nearly as low a point. One of the largest of the Himalaya glaciers on the head waters of the Ganges does not, according to Captain liodgson, descend below 1 2,01 4 feet, '^Plie largest of the Sierra glaciers on IMoiint Shasta descends to Avithin 9500 feet of the level of tho sea, Avhich, as far as I have observed, is the lowest point reached by any glacier within the bounds of California, the average height of all being not far from 11,000 feet. The changes that have taken place in the glacial conditions of the Sierra from the time of greatest extension is Avell illustrated by the series of glaciers of every size and form extending along the moun tains of the coast to Alaska, A general explora tion of this instructive region shoAvs that to the north of California, through Oregon and Washing ton, groups of active glaciers still exist on all tho 22 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA high volcanic cones of the Cascade Range, — Mount Pitt, the Three Sisters, JMounts Jefferson, Hood, St, Helens, Adams, Rainier, Baker, and others, — some of them of considerable size, though none of them approach the sea. Of these mountains Rainier, in Washington, is the highest and iciest. Its dome-like summit, between 14,000 and 15,000 feet high, is capped with ice, aud eight glaciers, seven to twelve miles hmg, radiate from it as a center, and form the sources of the principal streams of the State, The lowest-descending of this fine group flows through beautiful forests to within 3500 feet of the sea-level, and sends forth a river laden with glacier mud and sand. On through British Columbia and southeastern Alaska the broad, sustained mountain- chain, extending along the coast, is generally glacier- bearing. The ui^per branches of nearly all the main canons and fiords are occupied by glaciers, Avliich gradually increase in size, £iiid descend loAver until the high region between Mount Fairweather and Mount St, Elias is rea.(jlier between tho mountains, I was exhilai-aled Avith the Avork that lay before me. It Avas one of the golden days of the Sierra Indian summer, Avhen the rich sunslnuo glorifies every landscape hoAvever rocky and cold, and suggests anything rather than glaciers. The path of the vaui.shod glacier Avas Avarm now, and shone in many places as if Avashed Avitli silver. The tall pines growing on the moraines stood transfigured iu the gloAving light, the poplar groves on the levels of the basin Avere masses of orange-yellow, and the late- blooming goldenrods added gold to gold. Pushing on over my rosy glacial highway, I passed lake after lake set in solid basins of granite, and many a thicket and meadow watered by a stream that is sues from the amiihitheater and links the lakes to gether ; iioAV Avading through plushy bogs knee-deep in yelloAV and purple sphagnum ; iioav passing over bare rock. The main lateral moraines that bounded the view on either hand are from 100 to nearly 200 feet high, and about as regular as artificial em- 30 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA bankments, and covered Avitli a superb growth of Silver Fir and Pine, ]>ut this garden and forest liixnriaiico Avas sp(Hidily h^ft behind. Tin* triuiS Avere dAvarfed as I ascended; patches of the alpine bryauthus and cassiope began to appear, and arctic willoAVS pressed into flat carpets by tho Aviiiter suoav. The lakelets, Avhicli a few miles doAvu the A^alley Avere so richly embroidered Avith floAvery meadoAvs, had here, at an eloA'^ation of 10,000 feet, only small brown mats of carex, leaAdng bare rocks around more than half their shores. Yet amid this alpine suppression the JMountain Pine braA^ely tossed his storm-beaten branches on the ledges and buttresses of Red Mountain, some specimens being over 100 feet high, and 24 feet in circumference, seemingly as fresh and vigorous as tho giants of the loAver zones. Evening came on just as I got fairly Avithin the portal of the main amphitheater. It is about a mile Avide, and a little less than two miles long. The crumbling spurs and battlements of Red Mountain bound it on tlie iiorlJi, tho somber, rudely scul[)tured precipi(!es of Bla(;k JMountain on tlio south, and a, hacked, splintery col, curving around from moun tain to iiumiitain, shuts it in on the east, I chose a camping-ground on the brink of one of the lakes Avhere a thicket of Hemlock Spruce sheltered me from the night Avind, Then, after mak ing a tin-cupful of tea, I sat Iiy my camp-fire reflect ing on the grandeur and significance of the glacial records I had seen. As the night advanced the mighty rock Avails of my mountain mansion seemed to come ncariii-, while the starry sky in glorious brightness stretched across like a ceiling from wall THE GLACIERS 31 to Avail, and fitted closely down into all the spiky ir regularities of the summits. Then, after a long fire side rest and a glance at my note-book, I cut a fcAv leafy branches for a bed, and fell into the clear, death-like sleep of the tired mountaineer. Early next morning I set out to trace the grand old gla.ci(>r that. lia.(l done so iniich for the beauty of tho Yo.semite region back to ils l'a.rthest foun tains, enjoying the charm that every explorer feels in Nature's untrodden Avilderncsses, The voices of the mountains Avere still asleep. The Avind scarce stirred the pine-needles. The sun was up, but it Ava.s yet too cold for tlio birds and the fc^wburroAV- iiig animals that dwell here. Only the stream, cas cading from pool to pool, seemed to be wholly awake. Yet the spirit of the opening day called to action. The sunbeams came streaming gloriously through tli(>, jagged o])eiiiHgs of the col, glancing on the biirnislKid [yavcMiieiils and lighting the silvcM'y la,k(>s, Avliile cA'cry sun-touched rock burned white on its edges like melting iron in a funuice, Pa.ssing ronnd the north shore of my canq) lake 1 followed the cen tral stream past many cascades from lakelet to lakelet. The scenery became more rigidly arctic, the Dwarf Pines and Hemlocks disappeared, and the stream Avas bordered Avitli icicles. As the sun rose higher rocks Avere loosened on shattered i>ort.ions of the clid'.^, and cajiio down iu rattling avahuichcs, ecJioing Avildly from crag to crag. The main lateral moraines that extend from the jaAvs of the amphitheater into the lUilouette Basin are continued in stra.ggliiig masses along the walls of the amphitheater, Avhile separate boulders, hun- 32 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA dreds of tons in Aveight, are left stranded hero aud there out in the middle of the channel. Here, also, T observed a series of small terminal moraines ranged along the south Avall of the amphitheater, corresponding in size and form Avitli the shadoAvs cast by the highest portions. The meaning of this correspondence betAveen moraines and shadows \vas afterward made })laiii. Tracing the stream back to the last of its chain of Ifikelets, I noticed a deposit of fine gray mud on the bottom except Avliere the force of the entering current had prevented its set tling. It looked like the mud Avorii from a grind stone, and I at once suspected its glacial origin, for the stream that was carrying it came gurgling out of the base of a raAV moraine that seemed iu process of format i(m. Not a jihuit or AV((a.tli(^i'-sta.iii Avas visible on its rough, uusettleel surface. It is from 60 to over 100 feet high, and plunges forward at an angle of 38°, Cautiously picking my way, I gained the top of the moraine and was delighted to see a small but Avell characterized glacier swooping doAvn from the gloomy precipices of Black Moun tain in a finely graduated curve to the moraine on Avhich I stood, 'i^lio compact i(to a.[)p(!ared on all the lower portions of the glacier, though gray with dirt and stones embedded in it. Farther up the ice disappeared beneath coarse granulated snow. The surface of the glacier was further characterized bj^ dirt bands and the outcropping edges of the blue veins, showing the laminatcid structure of the ice. The uppermost crevasse, or " bergschrund," Avhere the neve was attached to the mountain, Avas from 12 to 14 feet Avide, and was bridged in a foAV places THE GLACIERS 33 by the remains of sno v avalanches. Creeping along the edge of the schrund,; holding on with benumbed fingers, I discovered clear sections where the bedded structure was beautifully revealed. The surface SUOAV, though sprinkled Avith stones shot down from the cliffs, was in some places almost pure, grad ually Ixu'.oming crystalliiH^ and clia.uging to Avhitish porous ice of dilfereut shades of color, and this again changing at a depth of 20 or 30 feet to blue ice, some of the ribbon-like bands of which were nearly pure, and blended with the paler bands in the most gradual and delicate manner imaginable, A series of nigg(>d zigzags eiiabliMl me to ma.ko my Avn.y down into the Aveird under-AVorld of tho crevasse. Its chambered hoUoAvs Avero hung with a multitude of clustered icicles, amid Avhich pale, subdued light pulsed aud shimmered Avitli indescribable loveliness, Wa.t(M- dri])ped ami tinkled overhead, and from far below camo strange, solemn miirmurings from cur rents that Avero feeling their Avay through A^eins and fissun^s in the dark. The chambers of a glacier are perfectly enchanting, uotAvithstauding one feels out of place in their frosty beauty, I was soon cold in my shirt-sleeves, and the leaning wall threatened to engulf me ; yet it was hard to leave the delicious music of the Avater and the lovely light. Coming again to the surface, I noticed boulders of every size on their journeys to the terminal moraine — journeys of more than a hundred years, Avithout a single stop, night or day, Avinter or summer. The sun gav^e birth to a uetAvork of sweet- voiced riUs that ran gracefuUy down the glacier, curling and swirling in their shining channels, and cut- 34 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA ting clear sections through the porous surface-ice into the solid blue, where the structure of the glacier was beautifully illustrated. The series of small terminal moraines Avliich I had observed in the morning, along the south wall of the amphitheater, correspond in every way Avitli the moraine of this glacier, and their distribution Avith reference to shadoAvs Avas iioav understood, AVhen the climatic changes came on that caused the melt ing and retreat of the main glacier that filled the amphitheater, a series of residual glaciers were left in the cliff shadoAvs, under the protection of Avhich they lingered, until they formed the moraines Ave are studying. Then, as the snow becauie still loss abundant, all of them \'aiiishcd in su<'C(!Ssioii, exciipt the one just de-scribed; and the caii.se of its long(!r life is sulficiently appa.rent in the greater area of snoAV-basin it drains, and its more perfect i)rotecti()n from wasting sunshine. How much longer this little glacier will last depends, of course, on the amount of snow it receives from year to year, as compared with melting waste. After this discovery, I made excursions over all the High Sierra, pushing my explorations summer after summer, and discovered that Avhat at first sight in the distance looked like extensive suoav- fields, were in great part glaciers, busily at Avork completing tho sculpture of the snmmit-iioaks so grandly blocked (uit by their gia.iit pivd.MM^s.sors, On August 2], 1 set a soriiis of sbik(^s in the Maclure Glacier, near Mount Lyefl, and found its rate of motion to be little more than an inch a day in the middle, showing a great contrast to the Mrnr THE GLACIERS o'o Glacier in Alaska, which, near the front, floAVS at a rate of from five to ten feet in twenty-four hours. Mount Shasta has three glaciers, but Mount Whitney, although it is the highest mountain in the range, does not now cherish a single glacier. Small patches of lasting snow aud ice occur on its northern slo])es, but they are shallow, and ju'csent no Avell marked evidence of glacial motion. Its sides, how ever, are scored and polished in many places by tlie action of its ancient glaciers that flowed east and Avest as tributaries of the great glaciers that once filled the valleys of the Kern and Owen's rivers. CHAPTER III THE SNOAV THE first snoAV that Avhitens the Sierra, usually fafls about the end of October or early in No vember, to a depth of a foAV inches, after months of the most charming Indian summer weather im aginable. But in a few days, this light covering mostly melts from the slopes exposed to the sun and causes but little apprehension on the part of mountaineers who may be lingering among the high peaks at this time. The first general Avi liter storm that yields suoav that is to form a lasting portion of the season's supply, seldom breaks on the mountains before the end of November. Then, Avaruedby the sky, cautious mountaineers, together Avitli the Avild sluiop, deer, and most of the birds and bears, make haste to t.li(dowlands or foot-hills; and burrowing marmots, nioiintain iH^avcM's, Avood- rats, and such iieople go into Avinter 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 first heavy fall is usually from about two to four feet in depth. Then, Avitli inter vals of splendid sunshiiie, storm succeeds storm, heaping snow on snow, until thirty to fifty feet has fallen. But on account of its settling and compact- THE SNOAV 37 ing, and the almost constant waste from melting and evaporation, the average depth actuaUy found at any time seldom exceeds ten feet in the forest region, or fifteen feet along the slopes of the sum mit peaks. Even durhig the coldest Aveather evaporation never wholly ceases, a.ud tho sunshine that; abounds betwecMi the storms is sufliciently powerful to melt tho surfa(!e more or less through all tho Avinter months. Waste from, melting also goes on to some extent on the bottom from heat stored up in the rocks, aud given off slowly to the suoav in contact Avith them, as is shown by the rising of the streams on all the higher regions after the first snoAvfall, and their steady sustained floAV all Avinter, The greater portion of the suoav deposited around tho lofty summits of tho range falls in small crisp flak(;s aud broken o-ystals, or, avIiou accompanied by strong Aviuds aud Ioav temperature, the crystals, instead of being hxdccd together in their fall to form tufted flakes, are beaten and broken into meal and fine dust. But doAvii in the forest region the greater portion comes gently to the ground, light and featheiy, some of the flakes in mild Aveather being nearly an inch in diameter, and it is evenly distributed and kept from drifting to any great ox- tent by the shelter afforded by tho large trees. EAXM/y tree during tho progress of gentle storms is loaded Avitli fairy bloom at the coldest and darkest time of year, bending the branches, and hushing every singing needle. But as soon as the storm is over, and the sun shine.s, the snow at once begins to shift and settle aud fall from the branches in 38 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA. miniature avalanches, and the white forest soon be comes green again. The snow on the ground also settles a.iid lliaws every bi'ight day, aud fivczes at night, until it becomes coarsely granulated, and loses every trace of its rayed crystaUine structure, and then a man may walk firmly over its frozen surface as if on ice. The forest region up to an elevation of 7000 feet is usually in great part free from snow in June, but at this time tho higher regions are still heavy-laden, and are not touched by spring weather to any considerable extent before the middle or end of July. One of the most striking effects of the suoav on the mountains is the burial of the rivers and small lakes. As tlio siiiiw fa's iu Uw ri\'^cr A Hiomeut Avliito, tlioii lost forever, sang Burns, in iUustrating the fleeting character of human j)leasure. The first snowflakes that fall into tho Sierra rivers vanish thus suddenly; but in great storms, Avlieu tho temperature is low, the abundance of tho suoav at length chills the water nearly to the freezing-jioint, and then, of course, it ceases to melt and consume the snow so suddenly. The falling flakes and crystals form cloud-like masses of blue sludge, Avhich are swept forward with the current and carried doAvii to warmer cli mates many miles distant, Avliile some are lodged against logs and rocks and projecting points of tho banks, and last for days, piled high above the level of the water, and show white again, instead of being at once " lost forever," while the rivers themselves THE SNOAV 39 are at length lost for months during the snowy period. Tho snow is first buflt out from the banks iu bossy, over-curling drifts, compacting and ce ment ing until the streams aro spanned. They then Mow ill tli(\ da.rk beneaXh a continuous covering across tho snowy zone, Avliich is about thirty miles Avid(>, All the Sierra riA^ers and their tributaries in tli((S(>. high regions are thus lost every Avinter, as if another glacial period had come on. Not a drop of runuing Avaler is to be seen excepting at a few points Avliere large falls occur, though the rush and rumble of the heavier currents may still be heard, Towa.rd spring, Avlieii tjho Aveather is Avarin during the day and frosty at night, repeated thawing and freezing and new layers of suoav render the bridg ing-masses dense aud firm, so that one may safely Avalk across the streams, or even lead a horse across th(>m Avithout danger of falling through. In June the thinnest parts of tho winter ceiling, and those most exposed to sunshine, begin to giA^e way, form ing dark, rugged-e,e the grand(>st sights. Yet even here the wild ga,la.-(la,y of tlie north wind seiMtied .sur passingly glorious. I Avas awakened in the morn ing by the rockuig of my cabin aud the beating of pine-burs on the roof. Detached torrents and ava lanches from the main Avind-llood overhead Avero rushing Avildly doAvii the narroAv side cauons, and over the precipitous Avails, Avitli loud resounding roar, rou.siug the pines to enthusiastic action, and making the whole va.lley A'ibrate as thongli it avim'o an instrument being playiid, Ibit a.fa.r on tlii^ lofty expo.s(>d jieaks of the range standing so high in tlio sky, the storm Avas express ing itself in still grander characters, which I Avas soon to see iu all their glory, I had long been anxious to study soiiio ]ioints in tlio sl,ru('tiii'e of the ice-cone that is formed every Avintcr at tho foot of tli(> iqiper Yosemite fall, but the blinding spray by Avhicli it is invested had hitherto prcA'cnted me from making a sufficiently near approach. This morning the entire body of the fall Avas torn iuto gauzy shreds, and blown horizontally along the face of the cliff, leaving the cone dry; and Avhile making my Avaj'' to the top of an overlooking ledge to seize so favorable au opiiortuiiity to examine the interior of the cone, the peaks of the JMerced gnnip came in sight over the shoulder of the South Dome, each Avaviug a resplendent banner against the blue sky, as regular in form, and as firm in texture, as if AVO veil of fine silk. So rare and splendid a phenom- 44 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA enon, of course, overbore all other considerations, and I at once let the ice-cone go, and began to force my way out of tho valley to some dome or ridgo sufficiently lofty to command a general view of the main summits, feeling assured that I should find them bannered still more gloriously ; nor Avas I in the least disappointed, Indian Canon, through which I climbed, was choked Avitli suoav that had been shot down in avalanches from the high cliff's on either side, rendering the ascent difficult; but inspired by the roaring storm, the tedious walloAV- ing brought no fatigue, aud in four hours I gained the top of a ridge above the valley, 8000 feet high. And there in bold relief, like a (dear painting, ap peared a most uuposing scene. Innumerable peaks, black aud sharp, rose grandly into the dai'k blue sky, their bases set in solid white, their sides streaked and splashed with suoav, like ocean rocks Avith foam ; and from every summit, all free and unconfused, Avas streaming a beautiful silky silvery banner, from half a mile to a mile in length, slender at the point of attachment, then Avideiiing gradually as it extended from the peak until it Avas about 1000 or 1500 feet iu breadth, as near as I could estimati;. The cluster of peaks called the " CroAvii of the Sierra," at the head of the JMerced and Tuolumno livers,— Mounts Dana, Gibbs, Conness, Lyell, IMaclnre, Ritter, Avitli their nameless compeers, — ea.ch luid its own refulgi^nt baniKU', Avaving wiili a, (!lea.rly visible motion in Dm Hunglow, and there was not a single cloud in the sky to mar their simple grandeur. Fancy yourself standing on this Y(-»sem- ite ridge looking eastward. You noti<;e a strange THE SNOW 45 garish glitter in the air. The gale drives wildly overhead Avith a fierce, tempestuous roar, but its violence is not felt, for you are looking through a sluOtored opening in t,ho Avoods as tlirougli a win- .('tcd, tlio uortli sides Jiaving been IioUoavimI by residual slia.dow-glaciors of a form that never existed on the sun-bealini sidi^s. It a.i)peai's, therefore, that shadows in groat part .bMermine not only the forms of lofty icy moun tains, but also those of the snow-banners that the wild Avinds hang on them. CHAPTER IV A NEAR VIEAV OF THE HIGH SIERRA EARLY one bright morning iu tho middle t»f Indian summer, Avhile the glacier meadoAvs were still crisp with frost crystals, I set out from the foot of Mount Lyell, on my way doAvn to Yosemite Valley, to replenish my exhausted store of bread and tea, I had spent the past summer, as many preceding ones, exploring the glaciers that lie on the head waters of the San Joaquin, Tuolumne, Merced, and Owen's rivers; measuring and study ing their movements, trends, crevasses, moraines, etc,, and the part they had played during the period of their greater extension in the creation and de velopment of the landscapes of this alpine wonder land. The time for this kind of AVork Avas nearly over for tho year, and I began to look forward witli delight to the approaching winter Avitli its wondrous storms, when I would be Avarmly snoAV-bound in my Yosemite cabin Avitli plenty of bread and books; but a tinge of regret came on wheu I considereii that possibly I might not see this favorite region again until tho next summer, excepting distant views from the heights about the Yosemite walls. To artists, foAV portions of the High Sierra are, strictly speaking, incturesque. The whole massive A NEAR VtKW Ol^' TJIK HIGH SIERRA 4iJ uplift of the range is one great picture, not clearly divisible iuto smaller ones; differing much in this r(\spect from the older, and what may be cafled, riper moiinbiiiis of t,h(^ ( !oast Range, All the landscapes of' the Sierra,, as avo have seen, Avere born again, re modeled from base to summit by the developing ice- Moods of the last glacial Avinter, Ibit all tlie.so new laiidsca.])es were not brought forth simultaneimsly ; some of the highest, Avhere the ice lingered longest, are tens of centuries younger than those of the Avarmer regions below them. In general, the younger the mountain-landscapes, — younger, I Hi(>a.ii, with refiM'euce to the timiMif their emergeiKio from the ice of the glacial period, — the less sepa rable are they into artistic bits capable of being made into Avarm, sympathetic, lovable pictures with apprecial)le humanity in them. Here, hoAvever, on the head Avaters of the Tuol umne, is a group of Avild jieaks on Avliich the geol ogist may say that the sun has but just begun to shine, Avhicli is yet iu a high degree picturesque, aud iu its main features so regular and evenly balanced as almost to appear conventional — one somber cluster of snoAV-laden peaks Avith gray piiie- fringed granite bosses braided around its base, the whole surging free into the sky from the head of a magnificent A^alloy, Avhose lofty Avails are boA'eled away on both sides so as to enil)ra.ce it all Avithout admitting anything not strictly belonging to it. The foreground Avas iioav aflame Avith autumn col ors, broAvii aud purple and gold, ripe in the melloAv sunshine ; contrasting brightly Avith the deep, cobalt blue of the sky, and the black and gray, and pure. 50 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA spiritual Avliite of the rocks and glaciers, Doavu through the midst, the young Tuolumno was seen pmiring from its ciystal fimntains, now ri^sting in glassy pools as if changing back again into ice, now leaping in white cascades as if turning to suoav; gliding right and left betAveen granite bosses, then sweeping on through the smooth, meadoAvy levels of the valley, SAvaying pensi\^oly from side to side Avitli cahn, stately gestures past dipping Avillows and sedges, and around groves of arrowy pine; and throughout its whole eventful course, Avhotber floAV- ing fast or slow, singing loud or Ioav, ever filliiig tlie landscape Avitli spiritual animation, and manifesting the grandeur of its sources in every moA'cmeut and tone. Pursuing my lonely Avay doAvn the A^alley, I turncid again and again to gaze on tho glorious picture, throwing up my arms to inclose it as in a frame. After long ages of growth in the darkness beneath the glaciers, through sunshine and storms, it seemed now to be ready and Availing for the ehujtcd artist, like yelloAV wheat for tho reaper; aud I could not help Avishing that I might cai'iy colors and brushes Avith me on my travels, and learn to paint, lii the mean time I had to be content Avitli photographs on my mind and sketches in my note-books. At length, after I had rounded a precipitous headland that puts out from the west Avail of the valley, every peak vanished from sight, and I pushed rapidly along the frozen meadows, over the divide lietween the waters of the Merced and Tuolumne, and down through the forests that clothe the slopes of Cloud's Rest, arriving in Yosemite in clue time — Avhich, A NEAR VIEAV OP THE HIGH SIERRA 51 Avitli me, is autj time. And, strange to say, among the first jieople I met here Avere tAVo artists avIio, Avith letters of introduction, were awaiting my re turn. They inquired whether in the course of my explorations in the adjacent mountains I had ever come upon a landscape suitable for a large paint ing; Avhoreupon I began a description of the one that had so lately excited my admiration. Then, as I AV(>ut on further and further into details, their faces began to gloAv, and I offered to guide them to it, while they decjlared that they Avould gladly foboAV, far or near, Avhithersoever I could spare the time to lea,d them. Since storms might come breaking doAvii through the fine Aveather at any time, burying the colors in snow, and cutting otf the artists' retreat, I advised getting ready at once, I led them out of the valley by the Vernal and Nevada Falls, thence over the main dividing ridge to the Big Tuolumne IMeadows, by the old Mono trail, aud tliemje ahmg tho Ujiper Tuolumne River to its head. This Avas my companions' first excur sion into the High Sierra, aud as I was almost al- Avays alone in my mountaineering, the Avay that the fresh beauty was reflected in their faces made for me a novel and interesting study. They naturally Avere affected most of all by the colors — the in tense azure of the sky, the purplish grays of the gi-anite, the red and broAVUs of dry meadows, and the translucent purple and crimson of huckleberry bogs; the flaming yeflow of aspen groves, the silvery flashing of the streams, and the bright green and blue of tho glacier lakes. But the general expres- 52 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA sion of the scenery — rocky and saA^age — seemed sadly disappointing ; and as they threaded the for est from ridge to ridge, eagerly scanning the land scapes as they Avere unfolded, they said: "All this is huge and sublime, but avo see nothing as yet at all available for eff'ective pictures. Art is long, and art is limited, you knoAV ; and here are fore grounds, middle-grounds, ba.ckgrounds, all alike; ba.re rock-waves, woods, groves, diminutive* Mocks of meadoAV, and strips of glittering Avater," " Never mind," I replied, " only bide a Avee, and I will shoAV you something you will like," At length, toAvard the end of the second daj^, the Sierra Crown began to come iuto vicAv, and Avlien avo had fairly rounded the projecting headland befoi'o mentioned, tlie Avliole iiictnns stood revealed in the flush of the alpenglow. Their enthusiasm was ex cited beyond, bounds, and the more impulsive of the two, a young Scotchman, dashed ahead, shout ing and gesticulating and tossing his arms in the air like a madman. Here, at last, Avas a typical alpine landscape. After feasting aAAdiile on the ahoav, I proceeded to make canipiu a sheltered grove a little way back from the meadoAv, where pine-boughs could be ob tained for beds, and Avhero there Avas plenty of dry wood for fires, Avhile the artists ran hero and there, along the river-bends and up the sides of the canon, choosing l'or(!grounds for skiib'hes. After dai-k, Avhen our teaAvas made and a rousing fire luul been buflt, Ave began to make our plans. They decided to remain several days, at the least, while I con- A NEAR VIEAV OF THE HIGH SIERRA 53 eluded to make an excursion in the mean time to the untouched summit of Ritter, It Avas iioAv about the middle of October, the springtime of snoAV-flowers, The first winter-clouds had already bloomed, aud the peaks were strewn Avitli fresh crystals, Avithout, hoAvever, affecting the (^limbing to any da.ngerous extent. And as the Avea.tluM-Avas still prol'(niiidly calm, and the distance to the foot of the mountain only a little more than a day, I felt that I Avas running no great risk of being storm-bound. Mount Ritter is king of the mountains of the uiiddh* portion of the High Si(M'ra, as Shasta of the north and Whitney of the south sections. More over, as far as I kiioAv, it had never been climbed, I had explored the adjacent Avilderness summer after summer, but my studies thus far had never draAvii me to the top of it. Its height aboA^e sea-level is about K),oOO feet, and it is fenced round by steeply inclined glaciers, aud canons of tremendous depth and ruggedness, Avhicli render it almost inaccessi ble. But difficulties of this kind only exhilarate the mountaineer. Next morning, the artists Aveiit heartily to their Avork and I to mine. Former experiences had given good reason to knoAV that passionate storms, invisi ble as yet, might be brooding in the calm sun- gold; therefore^ before bidding farewell, I wa,rnod the artists uot to be alarmed should I fail to appear before a Aveek or ten days, aud advised them, iu case a snoAv-storm should set in, to keep up big fires and shelter themselves as best they could, and 54 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA on no account to become frightened and attempt to seek their Avay back to Yosemite alone through the drifts. My general plan was simply this : to scale the canon Avall, cross over to the eastern flank of the range, and then make my way soutliAvard to the northern spurs of Mount Ritter in compliance with the intervening topography ; for to push on directly soutliAvard from camp through the innumerable peaks and pinnacles that adorn this portion of the axis of the range, liOAVCA^er interesting, would take too much time, besides being extremely difficult and dangerous at this time of year. All my first day Avas pure pleasure; simply mountaineering iiidnlgence, crossing tlie dry iiatli- wa,ys of the aiicieiit glaci(*rs, tracing Inqijiy sl.rea,iiis, and learning the habits of the birds ami marmots in the groves and rocks. Before I had gone a mile from camp, I came to the foot of a white cascade that beats its Avay down a rugged gorge in the canon Avail, from a height of about nine hundred feet, and pours its throbbing Avaters into the Tuol umne, I was acquainted with its fountains, Avliich, fortunately, lay in my course. What a fine travel ing companion it proved to be, Avhat songs it sang, and hoAv passionately it told the mountain's own joy ! Gladly I climbed along its dashing border, absorbing its divine music, and bathing from time to time in Ava.ftings of irised spray. Climbing higher, higher, new beauty came stnvuiiiiig on the sight: painted meadows, late-blooming gardens, peaks of rare architecture, lakes here and there, shining like silver, and glimpses of the forested o A NEAR VIEW OF THE HIGH SIERRA 55 middle region and the yellow lowlands far in the west. Beyond the range I saw the so-called Mono Desert, lying dreamily silent in thick purple light — a desert of heavy sun-glare beheld from a desert of ice-burnished granite. Here the waters divide, shouting in glorious eiitliusia..sui, and falling east ward U) vanish in the volcanic sa.iids and dry sky le (irc^'it IJa.sin, or W(wtwa.rd to the Grea.t V'a.l- l(\y of California, and thence through the Bay of San Francisco and the Golden Gate to the sea. Passing a little way down over the summit until I had reached an elevation of about 10,000 feet, I ]»uslied on soutliAvard toAvard a group of savage peaks that stand guai'd about Ritter on the north and west, groping my Avay, aud dealing instinctiA'ely Avitli every obstacle as it presented itself. Here a huge gorge Avould be found cutting across my path, along the dizzy edge of which I scrambled until some less precipitous point was discovered where I might ,sa,fely A'cuture to the bottom and then, se- l(>ctiiig some f(>asibl(^ portion of the oiiposite Avail, rea.,sc(Mid witli the same slow caution. Massive, iiat-topped spurs alternate with the gorges, plunging abruptly from the shoulders of the snowy peaks, and planting their feet in the warm desert. These Avere everywhere marked and adorned with charac teristic sculptures of the ancient glaciers that swept over this entire region like one vast ice-wind, and the polished surfaces produced by the ponderous flood are still so perfectly preserved that in many places the sunlight reflected from them is about as tryuig to the eyes as sheets of snow. God's glacial-mills grind slowly, but they have 56 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA been kept in motion long enough iu California to grind sufficient soil for a glorious abundance of life, though most of tin* grist has boon carried to tho lowlands, leaving these high regions comparatively lean and bare; Avhile the post-glacial agents of erosion have not yet furnished sufficdent available food over the general surface for more than a foAV tufts of the hardiest plants, chiefly carices and eri- ogoiia;. And it is intei-esting to learn in this con nection that the sparseness and repressed character of the vegetation at this height is caused more by want of soil than by harshness of climate ; for, here and there, in sheltered hollows (countersunk beneath the general surface) into Avliich a few rods of well- ground moraine chips have been dumped, avo find groves of spruce and pine thirty to ftu-ty feet high, trimmed around the edges with Avillow and huckle berry bushes, and oftentimes still further by an outer ring of tall grasses, bright with lupines, lark spurs, and showy columbines, suggesting a climate by no means repressingly seviu'e. All tho stnuims, too, and the pools at this elevation aro furnished Avitli little gardens Avherever soil can be made to lie, Avhich, though making scarce any show at a dis tance, constitute charming surprises to the appreci ative observer. In these bits of leafiness a foAV birds find grateful homes. Having no acquaintance with man, they fear no ill, and flock curiously about the stranger, almost alloAving themseh^es to be taken in the hand. In so Avild aud so beautiful a region Avas spent my first day, every sight and sound inspiring, leading one far out of himself, yet feeding and building up his individuality. A NEAR VIEW OP THE HIGH SIERRA 57 Now came the solemn, silent evening. Long, blue, sjiiky shadoAVS crept out across the snoAV-fields, Avliile a rosy gloAv, at first scarce discernible, gradu ally deepened and suffused every mountain-top. Mushing tli(! ghwiers and the harsh crags above them. This Avas the alpenglow, to me one of the most im- pressiA^e of all the terrestrial manifestations of God, At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, and stood hushed and Avaitiiig like devout wor shipers. Just before the alpengloAv began to fade, tAvo crimson clouds came streaming across the sum mit lik(^ Aviiigs of Ma.nie, r(Mideriiig the sublime scene yet more impressive; then came darkness and the stars. Icy Ritter Avas still miles aAvay, but I could pro ceed no farther that night, I found a good camp ground on the rim of a glacier basin about 11,000 font above the S(>a.. A snia,ll lake nestles in the bottom of it, from Avhicli I got Avater for my tea, and a stormbeaten thicket near by furnished abundance of resuiy fire-Avood, Somber peaks, hacked and shattered, circled half-Avay around the horizon, wearing a savage aspect in the gloaming, and a Avaterf all chanted solemnly across the lake on its Avay doAvn from the foot of a glacier. The fall and the lake aud the glacier Avere almost equafly bare; Avhile the scraggy pines anchored in the rock- fissures Avero so dwarfed and shorn by storm-winds that you might Avalk over their tops. In tone and aspect the scene Avas one of the most desolate I ever beheld. But the darkest scriptures of the moun tains are illumined Avith bright passages of love 58 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA that never fail to make themselves felt when one is alone, I made my bed in a nook of the pine-thicket, where the branches Avere pressed and crinkled over head like a roof, and bent down around the sides. These are the best bedchambers the high moun tains aft'ord — snug as squirrel-nests, Avell ventilated, full of spicy odors, and Avith ])leuty of Avind-played needles to sing one asleep, 1 little expected com pany, but, creeping in through a Ioav side-door, I found five or six birds nestling among the tassels. The night-wind began to blow soon after dark ; at first only a gentle breathing, but increasing toAvard midnight to a rough gale that bil upmi my leafy roof in ragged surges like a ca.sca.de, bea,riiig Avild S(mnds from the crags overli(*a.d. The watc^rfall sang iu chorus, filling the old ice-fountain with its solemn roar, and seeming to in(;rease iu power as the night advanced — fit voice for such a landscape, I had to creep out many times to the fire during the night, for it Avas biting cold and I had no blankets. Gladly I Avelcomed the morning star. The daAvn in the dry, Avavoring air of the desert Avas glorious. Everything eii(;ouragcd my iimhir- taking and betokened siiC(!ess, There Avas no cioud in the sky, no storm-tone in the Avind, Breakfast of bread and tea Avas soon made, I fastened a hard, durable crust to my beltby Avay of iirovision, in case I should be compelliHl toiiass a night on the monii- laiii-b)]»; tlu^ii, securing the remainder of my little stock against wolves and Avood-rats, I set forth free and hopeful. How glorious a greeting the sun gives the moun- A NEAR VIEAV OP THE HIGH SIERRA 59 tains ! To behold this alone is Avorth the pains of any excursion a thousand times over. The highest pea.ks buriKul like islands in a sea of liquid sliade, TluMi the lower peaks and spires caught the gloAv, and long lances of light, streaming through many a notch and pass, bit thick on tin* frozen mea.doAvs, The inajoslic. form of Rillcr was full in sight, and I pushed rajiidly on over rounded rock-bo.s.'^es and pavements, my iroii-sliod sIkk'S making a clanking sound, suddenly hushed now and then in rugs of bryauthus, and sedgy lake-margins soft as moss. Here, too, iu this so-called "laud of desolation," I met ca..ssiop(\ groAving in fringes among tlie bat- t(*r(Ml rocks. Her blossoms had faded long ago, but they Avere still clinging Avith ha.ppy memories to the CA'orgroen sprays, ami still so beautiful as to thrill CA'cry fiber of one's being. Winter and summer, you may hoar Ihm," A'oic(*, tlui Ioav, SAveot ni(iody of her purple b(ils. No cA'angel among all tho uiountaHi plants sjieaks Nature's Ioa'o more iilainly than cassiope. Where she dwtils, the redcniqition of tlii^ col(l(>st solitude is conqih^te. The \'ory rocks and ghiciers seem to feel her presence, and become im bued Avith her oavu fountain SAveetuess, All tlihigs were Avarming and aAvakening, Frozen rills began to floAV, the marmots came out of their nests in boulder-piles aud climbed sunny rocks to bask, and thci duu-hea.ded sparroAvs Avere flitting about seek ing their breakfasts. The lakes seen from every ridge-top were briUiautly rippled and spangled, shimmering like the thickets of the Ioav DAvarf I'iiies, The rocks, too, seemed I'cspoiisive to tho vital heat— rock-crystals and suoAv-crystals thrill- 60 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA ing alike. I strode on exhilarated, as if never more to feel fatigue, limbs moving of themselves, every sense unfolding like the tlniwing Mowers, b) take part in the iioav day harmony. All along my course thus far, excepting when down in the canons, the landscapes Avere mostly open to me, and expansive, at least on one side. On the left Avere the purple plains of Mono, repos ing dreanuly and Avarm; on the right, the near peaks springing keenly iuto the thin sky Avith more and more impressive sublimity. But these larger views were at length lost. Rugged spurs, and moraines, and huge, projecting buttresses began to shut me in. Every feature became more rigidly alpine, Avithout, hoAvever, producing any chifling effect; bu' going to tho mountains is like going home. We always find that the strangest objects in these fountain Avilds are in some degree familiar, and we look upon them Avith a vague sense of having seen them before. On the southern shore of a frozen lake, I en countered an extensive field of hard, granuhir snow, up which I s(!ampered in fine tone, intend ing to follow it to its head, and cross tho rocky spur against Avhicli it leans, hoping thus to come direct upon the base of the main Ritter jieak. The surface was pitted Avith oval hollows, made by stones and drifted pine-needles that had melted themselves into the mass by the radiation of ab sorbed sun-heat. These att'orded good footholds, but the surface curved more and more steeply at the head, and the jiits became shallower and less abundant, until I found myself in danger of being (iKXEHAI,. flKAXT TI!KH— OUNI'UtAI, (ii;ANT JJATIONAL I'AllK. A NE.VR VIEW OF THE HIGH SIERRA Oi shed off like avalauching snow, I persisted, how ever, creeping on all fours, and shuffling up the smoothest places on my back, as I had often done on burnished granite, until, after slipping several times, I Avas compelled to retrace my course to the bottom, and make my way around the west (Mid of the la.k(^, a.nd thence up to the summit of the diAide between the head waters of Rush Creek and the northernmost tributaries of the San Joaquin, Arriving on th(* summit of this dividing crest, one of the most exciting j)icces of pure wilderness wa.s dis(dosed that I over discovei'cd in all my inountaiueering. There, immediately in front, loomed the majestic mass of Mount Ritter, Avitli a glacier SAvooping doAvii its face nearly to my feet, then curving westward and pouring its frozen flood into a dark blue lake, whose shores were bound Avitli precipices of crystalline snoAv; while a deep chasm dra.Avn between the diAudo and the glacier separa.t.cd the massive picture from everything else, 1 coidd SCO only tho one sublime mountain, the one glacier, the one hike ; the Avliole veiled Avith one blue shadow — rock, ice, and water close together Avithout a single leaf or sign of life. After gazing spellbound, I began instinctively to scrutinize every notch and gorge and weathered buttress of the mountaiu, Avith reference to making the ascent. The entire front above the glacier appeared as one tremendous precipice, slightly receding at the top, and bristling Avith spires and pinnacles set above one another in formidable array. Massive lichen- stained battlements stood forward here and there, !-^ 62 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA hacked at the top with angular notches, and sepa rated by frosty gullies and recesses that have been vefled in shadoAV ever since their creation; while to right and left, as far as I could see, Avere huge, crumbling buttresses, olfering no hope to the climber. The head of the glacier sends up a feAV finger-like branches through iiarroAV couloirs; but these seemed too stoep and short to be aA'ai table, especially as I had no ax willi Avhich to cut sti^ps, and tho numerous narrow-lhroated gullies v my pains. Its gencra.1 conr.so is obrnpie to the plane of the mountain-face, and the metamorphie slates of A\'liicli the mountain is built are cut by cleavage planes in such a Avay that they Aveather off in angular blocks, giving rise to irregu- lar steps that grea.tly facilitate climbing on the sheer places, I thus made my Avay into a Avilder- iK-ss of crumbling spires and battlements, built to- getlior in boAvildering combiuatious, and glazed in many places Avith a thin coating of ice, which I had to hammer off Avitli stones. The situation Avas becoming gradually more perilous; but, having passed soA^eral dangerous spots, I dared not think of descending; for, so steep Avas the entire ascent, OHO Avoulil iiievita.bly fall to tlie glacier iu case a\ single misstep Avore made. Knowing, therefore, the\ tried danger beneath, I became all the more anxious \ ^ coiicorning the developments to be made above, \ aud began to be conscious of a vague foreboding of I Avliat actually befell; not that I was given to fear, / 64 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA but rather bccaiise my instiniitii_jiaiiaU¥ bo posi- ij^it ra 4vn__nmjJIvi]c^ geeiiicd AMtiatcd ill some Ava.y, and were leading me astray. At length, after attaining anelevation of about 12,800 feet, I found myself at the foot of a sheer drop in the bed of the avalanche channel I Avas tracing, Avliich seemed alisolntely to bar further progress. It Avas only about forty-five or fifty feet high, and somewhat roughened by fissures and projections; but these seemed so slight and insecure, as footholds, that I tried hard to avoid the precipice altogether, by scaling the AvaU^fJJ-ie channel on either side. But, thouglrfesS'steep, the walls Avere smoother than the obstructing rock, aud repeated cft'orts only shoAved that I must either go right ahea.d or turn back. The tv'w.d da,iigers Ixv neath seemed even greater tliaii that of the cliff in front ; therefore, after scanning its face again and again, I began to scale it, picking my holds with intense caution. After gaining a point about half way to the top, I Avas suddenly brought to a dead stop, Avitli arms outspread, clinging close to the face of the rock, unable to moA^e hand or foot either up or down. My doom appeared fixed, I must fall. There Avould be a moment of beAvilderment, and then a, lifeless rumble down the one general pre- to the glacier below, T'hen this final danger flashed upon me, I became -shaken for the first time since setting foot on the mouiita,ins, and my mind seemed to fill Avith a stilling smoke, ibit this b'.rrible(H-,lip,se hisbxl only a moment, when hfe blazed forth again with pre ternatural clearness, I seemed suddenly to become possessed of a ncAV sense. The other self, bygone A NEAR VIEW OF THE HIGH SIERRA (J5 experiences. Instinct, or Guardian Angel, — call it ' Avhat you Avill, — came forAvarcl and assumed control. Then my trembling muscles became firm again, every rift and flaAV in the rock Avas seen as through a microscope, and my limbs moA'ed Avitli a posi- tiv(Miess and precision Avitli Avhicli I seemed to haA'e nothing at all to do. Ibid I beiMi borm^ aloft upon wings, my d(>liv(M'a.iice could uot have beiMi more conqilete. Above this memorable spot, the face of the mountain is still more savagely hacked and torn. It is a maze of yaAAming chasms and gullies, in the angles of Avhicli riso beetling crags and piles of detached boulders that seem to have been gotten ready to be launched below. But the strange in flux of strength I had received seemed inexhaus tible, I found a Avay Avithout effort, and soon stood upon the topmost ci-ag iu the blessed light. How truly glorious the landscape circled around this noble summit! — giant mountains, A^alleys in- nnnierabh^, ghiciers and mea.dows, rivers a.nd lakes, Avitli thoAvide blm^ sky bent tdiidorly oviM" them all, Ibit in my first hour of frcMMloni from tha.t terrible shadow, the sunlight in Avhicli I was laving seemed all in all. Looking soutliAvard along the axis of the range, the eye is first caught by a row of exceedingly sharp and slender spires, Avliich rise openly to a height of about a thousand feet, above a series of short, residual glaciers that lean back against their bases ; their fantastic sculpture and the unrelieved sharpness with wdiich they spring out of the ice rendering them peculiarly Avild and striking. These 6G THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA are " The Minarets," Beyond them you behold a subbine wilderness of mountains, tluiir snowy sum mits towering together iu croAvdod abundance, pi'.ak beyond peak, SAvelling higher, higher as they sweep on southward, until the culminating point of the range is reached on Mount Whitney, near the head of the Kern River, at an elevation of nearly 14,700 feet above the level of the sea. Westward, the general flank of the range is seen floAving sublimely aAvay from the sharp summits, in smooth undulations; a sea of huge gray granite Avaves dotted Avitli lakes and meadoAVS, and fluted Avith stupendous canons that grow steadily deeper as they recede iu the distance*, BeloAV this gray region lies the dark forest zone, broken liere and there by upsAvelling ridges and domes; aud yet beyond lies a yelloAV, hazy belt, marking the broad plain of the San Joaquin, bounded on its farther side by the blue mountains of the coast. Turning now to the nortliAvard, there in the im mediate foreground is the glorious Sierra CroA\ni, Avith Cathedral Peak, a temple of marA^elous arclii- teciture, a fcAV degrees to tlui h^ft of it ; tlu^ gi'ay, massive form of AlaninKjth IMountain to the right; Avhile Mounts Ord, Gibbs, Dana,, Conness, Tower Peak, Castle Peak, Silver Mountain, and a host of noble companions, as yet nameless, make a sub- Ibne show along the axis of the range, Ea.stwa.rd, the whole region seems a, land of deso lation covered Avitli bea.utiful light. Tiie birrid volcanic basin of Mono, Avitli its one bare lake fourteen miles long ; Owen's Valley and the broad lava table-land at its head, dotted with craters, and 68 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA the massive Inyo Range, rivaling even the Sierra iu height ; these are s^iread, map-like, beneath you, Avith countless ranges beyond, passing aud over lapping one another and fading on the gloAving horizon. At a distance of less than 3,000 feet below the sunnnit of Mount Ritter you may find tributaries of the San Joaquin aud Oavou's rivers, bursting forth from the i(;e and snow of the glaciers that load its fianks ; Avhile a little to the north of hero are found the highest affluents of the Tuolumne and Mei'ced, Thus, the fountains of four of the principal rivers of California are Avithin a radius of four or five miles. Lakes are siuiii gleaming in all sorts of places, — round, or oval, or square, like very mirrors; others narrow and sinuous, draAvn close around the peaks like silver zones, the highest refleijting only rocks, snow, and the sky. But neither these nor the gla ciers, nor the bits of broAvn meadow and moorland that occur here and there, are large enough to make any marked impression upon the mighty wilderness of iiiouuta,iiis, Tho eye, rejoi(ing in its freedom, roves about the vast expanse, yet returns again and again to the fountain peaks. Perhaps some one of the nmltitude excites special attention, some gigantic castle Avith turret and battloment, or some (bitliic (lathedral more abundantly spired tlian Mihin's, But, gciiierally, wIkmi looking (or the first time from an all-embracing standpoint like this,^ the inexperienced observer is oppressed by the incomprehensible grandeur, variety, and abun dance of the mountains rising shoulder to shoulder A NEAR VIEW OF THE HIGH SIERRA 69 beyond the reach of vision; and it is only after tliej^ have been studied one by one, long and lov- i"&ly) that their far-reaching harmonies become manifest. Then, penetrate the Avilderness Avliero you ma.y, the main telling features, to which all the siirroHiiding topography is subordinate, are (piickly piM-ceived, and the most ('omplica,ted clus- tiM's of pea,ks staiul revea.led Inirnionionsly corre- liited and fashioned like Avorks of ai't — elocpient monuments of the ancient ice-rivers that brought them into relief from the general mass of the range. The canons, too, some of them a mile deep, mazing Avildly thrcnigh the mighty host of mountains, Iioav ever laAvless and ungovernable at first sight they appear, are at length recognized as the necessary effects of causes Avhicli foUoAved each other in harmonious sequence — Nature's poems carved on tables of stone — the simplest a.ud most empluitic of her glacial compositicuis. Could Ave have been lu^'c to obseive during the glacial period, we should have overlooked a Avrinkled ocean of ice as continuous as tlia,t now covering the land.scapes of Greenland; filling every valley and canon Avitli only the tops of the fountain peaks ris ing darkly above the rock-encumbered ice-Avaves like islets in a stormy sea — those islets the only hints of the glorious landscapes hoav smiling in the sun. Standing here iu the denj), brooding silence all the Avilderness seems motionless, as if the Avork of creation Avere done. But iu the midst of this outer steadfastness avo knoAV there is incessant motion and change. Ever and anon, avalanches are falUng from yonder peaks. These cliff-bound 70 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA glaciers, seemingly wedged and immovable, are flowing hke Avator and grinding tho rocks beneath them. The hikes a.re la[)]iing tluiir granite shores and wearing them away, and every one of these rills and young rivers is fretting the air into music, and carrying the mountains to the plains. Here are the roots of all the life of the valleys, and here more simply than elsewhere is the eternal flux of nature manifested. Ice changing to Avater, lakes to meadows, and mountains to plains. And Avliile we thus contemplate Nature's methods of landscape creation, aud, reading the records shi* has carved on the rocks, reconstruct, however imperfectly, the landscapes of the past, Ave also learn that as these AVO noAV behold have succeeded those of the pre- glacial age, so thoy iu turn are Avithering and van ishing to be succeeded by others yet unborn. But in the midst of these fine lessons and land scapes, I had to remember that the sun was Avheel- ing far to the Avest, while a new way doAVii the mountain Inid to bo dis(?overcd to some point on the timber line Avliero I could have a fire; for 1 had uot even burdened niysiilf Avitli a coat, I first scaniHid the Avesteru spurs, hoiiing some way might appear through which I might reach the northern glacier, and cross its snout; or pass around the lake into which it flows, and thus strike my morning track. This route Avas soon sufficiently unfolded to show that, if practicable at all, it Avould requh'o so much time that reaching camp that night Avould be out of the question, I therefore scrambled back east ward, descending the southern slopes obliquely at the same time. Here the crags seemed less foi-mid- A NEAR VIEAV OF THE HIGH SIERRA 71 a.l,)le, and tho head of a glacier that flows north east came in sight, which I determined to foUoAv as far as possible, hoping thus to make my way to the foot of the peak on the east side, and thence across the interveuiug canons and ridges to camp. The inclination of the glacier is quite moderate at the head, and, as the sim had softened the neve, I made safe and rapid progress, runuing and sliding, and keeping up a sharp outlook for crevasses. About half a mile from the head, tliere is an ice- cascade, Avhere the glacier pours over a sharp de clivity and is shattered into massive blocks sepa- ra,l(Ml by diu*]), bliii^ fissunw. To tlirea,d my Avay through the sli[)iHMy ma.z(>s of this crc^vasscnl jior- Cioii se(>ni(Ml inqiossihle, and I endeavored to avoid it by climbing oft" to the shoulder of the mountain. But the slopes rapidly stee[)eiied and at length fell aAvay in sheer precipices, compelling a return to the i(;e. Fortunately, the day had been Avarm enough to loosen the icio-crystals so as to admit of hollows being dug iu the rotttm iiortious of the blocks, thus enabling me to pick my way Avitli far less difficulty than I had anticipated. Continuing doAvii over the snout, and along the left lateral moraine, Avas only a confident saunter, showing that tho ascent of the mountain by Avay of this glacier is easy, provided one is armerl Avitli au ax to cut steps here aud there. ¦rhe h)wer (>iid of the glacier Avas beautifully Avaved aud barred by the outcropping edges of the bed(l.red home, — tlia,t is, back to tlie Tuol- uniiK! ca.mp, — bearing away toAvard a cluster of peaks tliat hohl tho fountain snoAvs of .one of the north tributaries of Rush Creek, Here I discovered a group of beautiful glacier lakes, nestled toge ther in a grand amphitheater, ToAvard evening, I crossed tlie divide separating the Mono waters from those of the Tuolumne, and entered the glacier basin that uoav holds the fountain snows of the stream that forms the upper Tuolumne cas cades. This stream I traced doAvii through its many dells aud gorges, meadoAvs and bogs, reach ing the brink of the main Tuolumne at dusk, A loud Avhoop for the artists Avas ansAvered again and a.gaiii. Their camp-fire came in sight, and half an hour a.ft,ei'ward 1 was Avitli them. They seemed unreasonably glad to see me, I had been absent only three days; nevertheless, though tho Aveather was fine, they had already been weighing chances as to Avhether I would ever return, and trying to decide Avhether they should wait longer or begin to seek their Avay back to the loAvlands. Now "their curious troubles Avere over. They packed their precious sketches, and next morning Ave set out homeward bound, and in two days entered the Yosemite VaUey from the north by Avay of Indian Canon, CHAPTER V THE PASSES THE sustained grandeur of the High Sierra is strikingly illustrated liy the great height of the passes. Between latitude 30° 20' and 38° the lowest pass, gap, gorge, or notch of any kind cut ting across tliii axis of tlui I'auge, as far as F have! discoveriHl, e.xcHHMJs 0000 feet in height above the level of the sea.; while the avi^rago height of all that are in use, either by Iiulians or whites, is per haps not less than 11,000 feet, and not one of these is a carriage-pass. Farther north a carriage-road has been con structed through Avliat is knoAvn as the Sonora Pass, on the head Avaters of the Stanislaus and Walker's rivers, the sunimitof Avliich is about 10,000 feet above the sea. Substantial Avagon-roads lia\'e also been built through the Ca,rsoii and Johnson passes, near the head of Lake Taboo, over which immense quantities of freight were hauled from California to the mining regions of NoA'ada, before the construction of tlie Ciiiitral Pa.(ific R.a.ilroa,d. Still farther north a ccnisiderable number of com paratively low passes occur, some of which are ac cessible to Avheeled vehicles, and through these rugged defiles during the exciting years of the gold TIIE PASSES 75 ])eriod long sc^ uioiinlain iminsioiis a.rc^ decent, delightful, evcMi diviii(\, |)la.c(is to dici in, coiiipa.red with thc^ doleful chambers of civilization, F{i\v places in this Avoiid are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They Avill kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth cA^ery faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action. Even the sick should try these so-called dangerous passes, because for eA^ery unfortunate they kill, they cure a thousand. All the passes make their steepest ascents on the eastern flank. On this side the average rise is not far from a thousand feet to the mile, Avhile on 80 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA the west it is about two hundred feet. Another marked difference between tho eastern and Avestern portions of the passes is that the former begin at the very foot of the range, Avliile the latter can hardly be said to begin loAver than an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet. Approaching the range from the gray levels of Mono and Oavcii's Valley on the east, the traA'cler sees before him the steep, short passes in f nil A'iew, fciKHMl in by rug ged spurs that come plunging doAvii from the shoul ders of the peaks on either side, the courses of the more direct being disclosed from top to bottom without interruption. But from the Avest one sees nothing of the way he may be seeking until near the summit, after days have been spent in thread ing the fiu'csts groAving on the main dividing ridges betAveen the river canons. It is interesting to observe how surely the alp- crossing animals of OA^ery kind fall iuto the same trails. The more rugged and inaccessible the gen eral character of the topography f)f any particular region, the more surely Avill the trails of Avliite UK^ii, I'ndiaiis, bc^ars, Avild slicuii, o.U:., be buuid converging inb) the bcist passers, 'i'lio Indians of the Avestern slope venture cautiously OA'cr the passes in settled Aveather to attend dances, and obtain loads of pine-nuts and the larvie of a small fly that breeds in Mono and Owen's lakes, which, Avhen dried, forms an important article of food; while the Pah Utes cross over from the east to hunt the deer and obtain supplies of acorns; and it is truly astonishing to see what immense loads the haggard old squaws make out to carry bare- TIIE PASSES 81 footed through these rough passes, oftentimes for a distance of sixty or seventy miles. They are ahvays accompanied by the men, who stride on, unburdened and erect, a little in advance, kindly stooi)big at ditficult places to pile stepping-stones for their patient, pack-animal Avives, just as they Avould prepare the Avay for their pouios. Bears evince great sagacity as mountaineers, but although they are tireless aud enterprising travel ers they seldom cross the range, I have several times tracked them through the Mono Pass, but only in late yeai-s, after cattlo and sheep had pa.ssecl tluit wa.y, wlic^ii they doubtless avcm'ii follow ing to fc>.ed on the stragglers and on those that Inicl been killcul by falling ovc'.r the rocivs, Viw.n the Avild sheep, the best mountaineers of all, choose regular passes in making journeys across the sum mits. Deer seldom cross the range in either direc tion, I have never yet observed a single specimen of tho mule-deer of the Great Basin M^est of the summit, and rar(4y one of the black-tailed species on the eastern slopes, notwithstanding many of the latter ascend the range nearly to the summit every summer, to feed in the wild gardens and bring forth their young. The glaciers are the pass-makers, and it is by them that the courses of all mountaineers are pre- (h'stined. Without exception every pa.ss in the Sierra Avas created by them without the slightest aid or predetermining guidance from any of the cataclysmic agents, I have seen elaborate state ments of the auKHint of drilling and blasting ac complished in the construction of the railroad 6 82 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA across the Sierra, aboA'e Doiinor Lake; but for every pound of rocik moved in this way, tlie gla ciers Avliich descended east and west through this same pass, crushed and carried aAvay more than a hundred tons. The so-called practicable road-passes are simply those portions of the range more degraded by glacial action than the adjacent iiortions, and de graded in such a A\'ay as to leaA'e the summits rounded, instead of sharp; Avhile the peaks, from the superior strength and hardness of their rocks, or from more favorable position, having suffered less degradation, are left toAvcning aboA'o the passes as if they had been heaved into the sky by some force acting from beneath, 'The scionery of all the ])a.s.ses, es[)ecially at the head, is of the Avildest and grandest description, — lofty peaks massed together and laden ai'onnd their bases with ice and suoav ; chains of glacier lakes ; cascading streams in endless variety, Avitli glorious views, AvestAvard over a sea of rocks and AVoods, aud eastward over strange ashy plains, volcanoes, and the dry, dead-looking ranges of the Great Ba sin, Every pass, hoAvever, possesses treasures of beauty all its oavu. Having thus in a general Avay indicated the height, leading features, aud distribution of the principal passes, I Avill uoav endeavor to d(\scribo the Mono Pa.ss in i)articiila.r, which may, I think, bo regarded a.s a fair c^.xainphi of the higher aljiine passes ill general. The main portion of the Mono Pass is formed THE PASSES 83 by Bloody Canon, Avhich begins at the summit of the range, aud runs in a general east-northeasterly direetiou to the edge of the Mono Plain, The first Avhite men Avho forced a way through its somber depths Avere, as Ave have seen, eager gold-secicers, Ibit the canon Avas known and traA'- eled as a, jj-'l-^s by tlic^ Indians and uiountain aiii- nnils long before its discoA'cry by Avliite men, as is shown by tho numerous tributary trails Avhicli come into it from every direction. Its name ac cords Avell with the ciiaractcr of the "early times" in California, and may perhaps liaA^e been sug gested by the predouiinant color of the meta morphie slates iu Avhich it is iu great part eroded ; or nioi-e probably by blood-stains made by the un fortunate animals Avliich Avere compellecl to slip aud shuffle aAvkwardly over its rough, cutting rocks, I liaA'e never knoAvn an animal, either mule or horse, to make its Avay through the canon, either in going up or down, Avitlicuit losing more or less blood from wounds on the legs, Occa.sion- a.lly one is killcnl outright — falling hea.dloiig and rolling oA^or precipices like a boulder, ]3ut sucli accidents are rarer than from the terrible appear ance of the trail one would be led to expect ; the more experienced when driven loose find their Avay over the dangerous places with a caution and sa gacity that is truly Avonderful, During the gold excitement it was at times a matter of considerable ]ie<;uniary importance to force a Avay through the ca.rum with pack-trains early in the spring Avhile it Avas yet heavily blocked Avitli snow; and then 84 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA the mules with their loads had sometimes to be let down over the steepest drifts and avalanche beds by UKUiiis of ropes, A good bridle-path leads from Yosemite through many a grove and meadow up to the head of the canon, a distance of about thirty miles. Here the scenery undergoes a sudden and startling conden sation, IMountains, red, gray, and black, rise close at hand on the right, whitened around their bases with banks of enduring snow; on the left swells the huge red mass of Mount Gibbs, while in front the eye wanders down the shadoAvy canon, and out on the warm plain of Mono, Avliere the lake is seen gleaming like a burnished metallic disk, Avith clus ters of lofty volcanic cones to the south of it. When at length we enter the mountain gatoAvay, the somber rocks seem aware of our presence, and seem to come thronging closer about us. Happily the ouzel and the old familiar robin are here to sing us Avelcomo, and azure daisies beam Avith trustfulness and sympathy, enabling us to feel scunethiiig of Nature's love evcni here, beneath the gaze of her coldest rocks. The etfect of this cxpressiA'o outspokenness on the part of the canon-rocdcs is greatly enhanced by the quiet aspect of the alpine meadoAvs through which Ave pass just before entering the narroAV gateway. The forests in Avhich they lie, and the mountain-tops rising beyond them, seem quiet and tranquil. We catch their restful spirit, yield to the soothing influences of the sunshine, and saun ter dreamily on through floAvers and bees, scarce touched by a definite thought ; then suddenly Ave THE PASSES 85 find ourselves in the shadowy canon, closeted with Nature in one of her wfldest strongholds. After the first boAvilderiug impression begins to Avear off, Ave perceive that it is not altogether ter rible ; for besides the reassuring birds and floAvers Ave discover a chain of shining lakelets hanging doAvn from the very summi.t of tlie pass, and linked together by a silvery stream. The highest are set in bleak, rough boAvls, scantily fringed with broAvn and yelloAv sedges. Whiter storms bloAv snow through the canon in blinding drifts, and ava lanches shoot from the heights. Then are these sparkling tarns filled and buricjd, leaving not a hint of their existence. In June and July they begin to blink and tliaAV out like sleeiiy eyes, tke carices thrust up their short brown spikes, the daisies bloom in turn, and the most profoundly buried of them all is at length warmed and sum mered as if Avi liter Avere only a dream. Red Lake is the loAvest of the chain, and also the largest. It seems rather dnll and forbidding at first sight, lying motionless in its deep, dark bed. The canon wall rises sheer from the water's edge on the south, but on the opposite side there is sutficient s^^ace and sunshine for a sedgy daisy garden, the center of which is brilliantly lighted with lilies, castilleias, larkspurs, and columbines, sheltered from the wind by leafy AvilloAvs, and forming a most joyful outburst of plant-life keenly emphasized by the chill baldness of the onlooking cliffs. After indulging here iu a dozing, shimmering lak'o-rost, the happy stream sets forth again, warb- 86 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA ling and trifling like an ouzel, ever delightfully confiding, no matter Iioav dark the Avay; leaping, gliding, hither, thither, clear ov foaming : manifest ing the beauty of its Avilduess in every sound and gesture. One of its most beautiful developments is the Diamond Cascade, situated a short distance beloAV Red Lake, Here the tense, crystalline Avater is first dashed into coarse, granular spray mixed Avith dusty foam, and then divided into a diamond pat tern by foUoAving the diagonal cleavage-joints that intersect the face of the precipice over Avhich it pours. Viewed in front, it resomblos a strip of embroidery of definite pat,terii, \'aryiug through the seasons Avith the tenqieratiiro and the AMibime of Avater, Scuirce a flower may be seen along its siiOAvy border, A foAV bent pines look on from a distance, and snudl fringes of cassiope and rocis- fcriis are groAving iu fissures near the head, but these are so loAvly and undemonstrative that only the atteutiA^e observer Avill be likely to notice them. On the north Avail of the canon, a little behiw the Diamond Cascade, a glittering side stream makes its appearance, seeming to leap directly out of the sky. It first resomblcis a crinkled ribbon of silver hanging loosely down the Avail, but groAVS Avider as it descends, and dashes the dull rock with foam, A long rough talus curves up agabist this yiart of the cliff, OA'orgroAvn with snow-in-essod Avil- loAvs, in Avhieh the fall disappears Avith many an eager surge and SAvirl and plashing leap, finally beating its way doAvn to its confluence with the main canon stream. THE PASSES 87 BeloAv this point the climate is no longer arctic, ButtcH'Mies become larger and more abundant, grasses Avith bnposing spread of panicle Avave above your shoulders, aud the summery drone of the bumblebee thickens tho air. The Dwarf Pine, the trec-mouutaineer that climbs highest and braves the coldest blasts, is found scattered iu stormbeaten clumps from the summit of the pass about half-Avay doAvn the canon. Here it is suc ceeded by the hardy TAVo-leaved Pine, Avhich is speedily joined by tho taller YelloAv aud Mountain Pines, These, Avitli the burly juniper, and shim mering a.speii, rajiiclly grow la.rgcM' as the sunsliino becunnes richer, forming groves tlia.t block tho vioAv; or they stand nun'o apart here aud there in picturesque groups, that make beautiful and obvious harmony Avith the rocks and AAith one another. Blooming underbrush becomes abun dant, — azale-i, spiraia., aud tho bric,n-roso weaving fringes for the streams, and shaggy rugs to relievo the stern, untlinching rock-bosses, Throngh this (hiightful Avihlerness, Canon Creek roves Avithout any constraining channel, throbbing and Avavering ; iioav in sunshine, uoav in thoughtful shade ; falling, SAviiiiug, flashing from side to side in Aveariless exuberance of energy, A glorious milky Avay of cascades is thus developed, of Avliich BoAver Cascade, though one of the •smallest, is perhaps the most beautiful of them all. It is situated in the loAver region of the pass, just Avliero the sunshine begins to mellow between the cold and Avarm cli mates. Here the glad creek, groAvn strong with tribute gathered from many a snowy fountain on 88 THE MOUNTAINS OF C:.\LIPOKNIA the heights, sings richer strains, and becomes more human and lovable at every stop. Now you may by its side find the rose and homely yarrow, and small meadoAVS full of bees and clover. At the head of a low-broAved rpck, luxuriant dogwood bushes and avIUoavs arch over fro:n bank to bank, emboAvering the stream with their leafy branches ; and drooping plumes, kept in motion by the cur rent, fringe the broAV of the cascade in front. From this leafy covert the stream leaps out into the light in a fiutcd curve thick soavu Avith sparkling crystals, and falls into a pool filled with broAvii boulders, out of Avliich it creeps gray Avitli foam-bells and disap pears in a tangle of verdure like that from Avliich it came. lleiicte, to the foot of tho c;anon, the metamorphie slates give place to granite, whose nobler sculpture calls forth expressions of corresponding beauty from the stream in passing over it, — bright trills of rapids, booming notes of falls, solemn hushes of smooth-gliding sheets, all chanting and blending in glorious harmony. When, at length, its impetu ous alpine life is done, 'it slips through a meadow Avitli scarce an audible Avhispor, and falls asleep in jMoraiiie Lake, This Avatcr-bccl is one of the finest I ever saw. Evergreens Avave soothingly about it, and the breath of flowers floats over it like incense. Here our blessed si ream r(\sl.s from its rockv wa.ndoi-iiigs, all its uiountameering chnie, — no more foaming rock-leaping, no more wild, exulting song. It falls into a smooth, glassy sleep, stirred only by the night- wind, which, coming doAvn the canon, makes ¦I'HE PASSES 89 it croon and mutter in ripples along its broidered shores. Leaving the lake, it glides quietly through the rushes, destined never more to touch the living rock. Henceforth its path lies thrcmgh ancient moraines and reacdies of ashy sage-plain, which iio- wli(>r(^ a.('ford rocks siiibdile \'oy the dcwelopnicMit of cascades or sheer falls. Yet this beauty of maturity, though less striking, is of a stifl higher order, en ticing us lovingly on through gentian meadows and groves of rustling aspen to Lake Mono, where, spirit-like, our happy stream vanishes in vapor, and Moats free again in the sky. Bloody Canon, like every other in the Sierra, was recently occupied by a glacier, Avhicli derived its fountain snows from the adjacent summits, and descended into Mono Lake, at a time Avhen its Avaters stood at a much higher level than iioav. The principal characters in which the history of the ancient glfieiers is preseiwcd are displayed here in marvcious freshness a.ncl simplicity, furnishing the student Avitli extraordinary adA^autagos for the accpiisition of knoAvledge of this sort. The most striking passages are polished and striated surfaces, Avliich in many places reflect the rays of the sun like smooth Avater, The dam of Red Lake is an elegantly modeled rib of metamorphie slate, brought into relief because of its superior strength, and be cause of the greater intensity of the glacial erosion of the rock immediately above it, caused by a steeply inclined tributary glacier, which entered the main trunk Avith a heavy down-thrust at the head of the lake. 90 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA Moraine Lake furnishes an equally interesting example of a basin formed wholly, or in part, by a tcM-miiial moraine chiin ciii'vcmI across the path of a stream between two lateral moraines. At Moraine Lake the caiioii proper terminates, although apparently continued by the two lateral moraines of the vanished glacier. These moraines are about 300 feet high, and extend iinbrokenly from the sides of the caiioii into the plain, a dis tance of about five miles, curving and tapering in beautiful lines. Their suiiAvard sides are gardens, their shady sides are groves; the former devoted chiefiy to eriogouse, compositte, aud gramiufe ; a square rod containing five or six profusely flowered eriogonums of several species, about the same number of baliia and linosyris, and a few grass tufts ; each species being iilanted trimly apart, Avitli bare gravel between, as if cultivated artificially. My first visit to Bloody Canon Avas made in the summer of 1869, under circjumstances Avell calcn- latiicl to hcightcMi tlie impressions tluit a,re the ]h)- (Miliar orfsining of mountains, I came from tlu^ blooming tangles of ii'lorichi, and Avadcd out into the plant-gold of the great valley of California, wheu its flora Avas as yet untrodden. Never before had I beheld congregations of social JloAvers half so ox- tensive or half so glorious. Golden compositiB covered aU the ground from the Coast Range to the Sierra like a stratum of curdled sunshine, in Avliich I reveled for weeks, watching the rising and setting of their innumerable suns; then I gave myself up to be borne forward on the crest of tho summer wave that sweeps annually up the Sierra and spends itself on the snoAvy summits. TIIE PASSES 91 At the Big Tuolumne Meadows I remained more than a month, sketching, botanizing, and climbing among the surrounding mountains. The moun taineer Avitli Avhoiu I then happened to be champing Avas one of those remarkable men one so frequently meets iu California, the hard angles and bosses of Avhose characters have been brought into relief by the grinding excitements of the gold period, until they resemble glacial landscapes. But at this late day, my friend's activities had subsided, and his craving for rest caused him to become a gentle shepherd and literally to lie doAvii Avitli the lamb. b'ecogHiziiig the iin.sa.lisliable longings of my Scotch llighland instincts, he throw out some hints coiiccM'ning Ifloody CaTioii, and advised mo to ex plore it, "[ have noA^er seen it myself," he said, "for I ncA^er Avas so unfortunate as to pass that way, Ibit I have heard many a strange story about it, and I Avarraiit you Avill at least find it Avihl enongb," Then of c-ourso I made haste to see it. Early next morning I made up a bundle of bread, tied my note-book to my belt, and strode away in the brac ing air, full of eager, indefinite hope. The plushy lawns that lay in my path served to soothe my morn ing haste. The sod in many places was starred Avith daisies and blue gentians, over Avhich I lingered, I tracecl the paths of the ancient glaciers over many a shining pavement, aud marked the gaps in the upper forests that told the poAver of the winter ava lanches, Clbnliing higher, I saw for the first time the gradual dAvarfing of the pines in compliance with climate, and on the summit discovered creep- in <>• mats of the arctic willoAV overgrown with silky 92 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA (;atkins, and patches of the dwarf vaccinium Avith its round flowers sprinkled iu the grass like pur ple hail; Avhile in every direction the landsc;ape stretched sublimely aAA^ay in fresh wildness — a manuscript written by the hand of Nature alone. At length, as I entered the pass, the huge rocks began to close around in all their Avild, mysterious impressiveness, Avhen suddenly, as I was gazing eagerly about me, a drove of gray hairy beings came in sight, lumliering toAvard me Avith a kind of boneless, walloAving motion like bears, I never turn back, though often so inclined, and in this particular instance, amid such surroundings, everything seemed singularly unfavorable for the (ialni accepbiuce of so grim a com])a,uy. Su])press- ing my fears, 1 soon discovercMl tlnit although as hairy as bears and as crooked as summit pines, the strange creatures were sufficiently erect to belong to our own species. They proved to be nothing more formidable than Mono Indians dressed in the skins of sage-rabbits. Both the men and the Avomeii begged persistently for Avhisky and tobacco, and seemed so accustomed to denials that I found it im possible to convince them that I had none to givc^ Excepting the iianies of these two products of cIa-- ilizatiou, they seemed to understand not a word of English ; but I after Avard learned that they Avere on their Avay to Yosemite Valley to feast aAvliih^ on trout and ])rocure a loa.cl of acorns to ca,rry ba.ck through the pass b> their huts on the shore of Mono Lake, Occasionally a good countenance may be seen among the Mono Indians, but these, the first speci- THE PASSES 97, mens I had seen, Avere mostly ugly, and some of them altogether hideous. The dirt on their faces was fairly stratified, and seemed so ancient and so undisturbed it niight almost possess a geological significance. The older faces were, moreover, strangely blurred and divided into sections by fur rows tlia.t hioked like the cleaA^ago-jouits of rocks, suggesting exposure on the mouut,aiiis in a cast away condition for ages. Somehow they seemed to have no right place in the landscape, and I was glad to see them fading out of sight down the pass. Then came evening, and tho somber cliffs were inspired Avitli tho ineffable beauty of the alpengloAV, A solemn calm fell upou everything. All the lower portion of the canon Avas in gloaming shadow, and I crejit into a IioUoav near one of the upper lakelets to smooth the ground iu a sheltered nook for a bed. When the short twilight faded, I kindled a sunny fire, made a cup of tea, and lay doAvn to rest and look at the stars. Soon, the night-Avind began to Mow and pour iu torrenl,s a,niong the jagged pea.ks, miiigliug strange tones Avitli those of the waterfalls souuduig far below; and as I drifted toward sleex) I began to experience an uncomfortable feeling of nearness to the furred Monos, Then the full moon looked doAvii over the edge of the canon Avail, her countenance seemingly filled with intense concern, and apparently so near as to produce a startling effect as if she had entered my bedroom, forgetting all the world, to gaze on me alone. The night Avas full of strange sounds, and I gladly Avelcomed the morning. Breakfast Avas soon done, and I set forth in the exhilarating freshness 94 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA of the new day, rejoicing in the abundance of pure wildness so close about me. The stupendous rocks, hacked aud scarrcsd with ceiitiiricw of sbu'ins, stood sharply out in the thin early light, Avhile down iu the bottom of the canon grooved and polished bosses heaved and glistened like swelling sea-Avaves, telling a grand old story of the ancient glacier that poured its crushing floods above them. Here for tho first time I met the arctic daisies iu all their perfection of purity and spirituality, — gentle mountaineers face to face Avitli the stormy sky, kejit safe and warm by a thousand miracles. I leaped lightly from rock to rock, glorying in the eternal freshness and sufficiency of Nature, and in the ineffable tenderness Avith Avhich she nurtures her mounbiiu darlings iu the very bnmtains of storms. Fresh beauty appeared at every step, deli cate rock-ferns, and groups of the fairest floAvers. Now another lake came to view, uoav a waterfall. Never fell light iu brighter spangles, never fell water in Avhiter foam. I seemed to float through the canon enciianted, feeling notliiiig of its rongli- ness, and Avas out in the JMoiio levels before \ Avas aware, Ijooking back from the shore of Moraine Lake, my morning ramble seemed ull a tlream. There curved Bloody Canon, a mere glacial furroAV 2000 feet deep, with smooth rocks projecting from the sides and braided together iu the middle, like bulg ing, SAvelling muscles. Here tho lilicis were higher than my head, and the suushine Avas AA'arm enough for palms. Yet the snow around the arctic AvilloAVS was plainly visible only four miles away, and be- THE PASSES 95 tweeii Avere na.i row S[)ecimen zones of all the princi pal climates of the globe. On tho bank of a small brook that comes gurg ling doAvn the side of the left lateral moraine, I found a c;amp-fire still burning, which no doubt belonged to the gray Indians I had met on the sum mit, aud I listened instinctiA'ely and moved cau tiously forward, half expecting to see some of their grim faces peering out of the bushes. Passing on toA^yard the open i)lain, I noticed three well-defined terminal mora.ines curved gracefully across the ca.rioii stream, and joined by long splices to tho two noble Laterals, Tlu^se ma,rk the haltiug- ]»laces of llie vauishcid glacier avIicmi it Ava.s retreat ing inlo it,s siiinmit sliach)ws on the brea.kiiig-up of the glacial Aviiitcr, Five miles beloAV the foot of Moraine Lake, just Avhere the latei'al moraines lose themselves in the plain, there Avas a field of Avild rye, groAving in mag nificent AvaA'iiig bunches six to eight feet high, bear ing heads from six to twelve inches long. Rubbing out some of the grains, I found them about fiA^e eighths of an inch long, dark-colored, and SAveet, Indian Avomen Avere gathering it in baskets, bend ing doAvn large handfuls, beating it out, and fan ning it in the Avind. They Avere quite picturesque, coming through the rye, as one caught glimpses of them here and there, in Aviuding lanes and open ings, with splendid tufts arching above their heads, Avhile their incessant chat and laughter showed their heedless joy. Like the rye-field, T found the so-called desert of Mono blooming in a high state of natural culti- 9G THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA vation with the wild rose, cherry, aster, and the delicate abrouia; also innumerable gilias, phloxes, poppies, and busli-composita3. I observed their gestures and the various expressions of their corollas, inquiring Iioav they could be so fresh and beautiful out in this volcanic desert. They told as happy a life as any plant-company I ever met, and seemed to enjoy even the hot sand and the Aviiid. But tho vegetation of tho pass has been iu great part destroyed, and the same may be said of afl the more accessible passes throughout the range. Im mense numbers of starving sheep and cattle have been driven through them into Nevada, trampling tho Avild gardens and meadows almost out of exis tence. The lofty walls are untouched by any foot, and the falls sing on unchanged ; but the sight of crushed flowers aud stripjied, bitten bushes gocss far toward destroying the charm of wildness. The canon should be seen in winter, A good, strong traveler, who knoAvs the way and the A\^eather, might easily make a safe excursion through it from Yosemite Valley on snoAV-shoes during some tran- cpiil time, when tlio slorins are liushod, Tlie lakes and falls would be buried then; but so, also, Avould be the traces of destructive feet, Avliile the vioAvs of the mountains in their winter garb, and the I'ide at lightning speed down the pass betAveen the snoAvy walls, Avould be truly glorious. VIEW OF THE MONO PLAIN FROM THE FOOT OF BLOODT CANON. CHAPTER VI THE GLACIER LAKES AMONG the many unlooked-for treasures that XJL are bound up and hidden away in the depths of Sierra solitudes, none more surely charm and sur prise all kinds of travelers than the glacier lakes. The forests and the glaciers and the snowy foun tains of the streams advertise their wealth in a more or less telling manner even in the distance, but nothing is seen of the lakes until Ave have climbed above them. All the ux)per branches of the rivers are fairly laden Avith lakes, like orchard trees with fruit. They lie embosomed in the deep woods, down in the grovy bottoms of canons, high on bald table lands, and around the feet of the icy peaks, mirror ing ba.(ic their Avild beauty over and "over again. Some cjonception of their lavish abundance may be made from the fact that, from one standpoint on the summit of Red Mountain, a day's journey to the east of Yosemite Valley, no fewer than forty-two are displayed within a radius of ten miles. The Avhole number in the Sierra can hardly be less than fifteen hundred, not counting the smaller pools and tarns, which are innumerable. Perhaps two thirds or more lie on the western flank of the range, and all are restricted to the alpine aud subalpine 88 TIIE GLACIiai LAKES 99 regions. At the close of the last glacial period, the middle and foot-hill regions also abounded in lakes, all of Avhicli have long since A'anished as completely as the magnificent ancient glaciers that brought them iuto existence. Though the eastern flank of the range is exces- sivciy steci), we find lakes jiretty r(>giila.rly dislrib- uted throughout even tho most precipitous por tions. They aro mostly found in the upper branches of the cauons, and in the glacial amphitheaters around tho peaks. Occasionally long, iiarroAV specimens occur upon the steep sides of dividing ridges, their basins swung lengthwise like hammocks, and very rarely one is found lying so exactly on the summit of the range at the head of some pass that its Avaters are discharged down both flanks Avlieu the snow is melting fast. But, hoAvever situated, they soon cease to form surprises to the studious mountaineer ; for, likci all the lovo-AVork of Na.tnre, tlic>y are liai'- moniously rciated to one another, and to all the other features of tho mountains. It is easy, there fore, to find the bright lake-eyes in the roughest and most uugoA^ernable-looking topography of any landscape countenance. Even in the loAver regions, Avliere they have been closed for many a century, their rocky orbits are still discernible, filled iu Avitli the detritus of flood aud avalanche, A beautiful sys tem of grouping in correspondence with the glacial fountains is soon perceived ; also their extension in the direction of the trends of the ancient glaciers ; and in general their dependence as to form, size, and position upon tho character of the rocks in which 100 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA their basbis liaA'O bcicn eroded, and the (]uautity and direcitiou of application of the glac;ial force ex pended upon each basin. In the upper canons Ave usually find them in pretty regular succession, strung together like beads on the bright ribbons of their feeding- streams, which pour, Avliite and gray with foam and spray, from one to the other, their perfect mirror stillness making impressive contrasts Avitli the grand blare and glare of the connecting cataracts. In Lake Hollow, on the north side of the Hoffman spur, immediately above the great Tuolumne canon, there are ten lovely lakelets lying near together in one general liolloAV, like eggs in a nest. Seen from above, in a gciiieral view, blathered with Hemlock Spruce, a.iid fringed with seclge, lliey seem to me the most singularly beautiful and interestingiy lo cated lake-cluster I have ever yet discovered. Lake Tahoe, 22 miles long by about 10 wide, and from 500 to OA^er 1600 feet in depth, is the largest of all the Sierra lakes. It lies just beyond the nor thern limit of the higher portion of the range be tween the main axis and a s^mr tbat puts out on tlie east side from near the head of the (Jarson River. Its forested shores go curving in aud out around many an emerald bay and piue-croAvned promon tory, and its waters are cveiyAvhere as keenly pure as any to be found among the highest mountains, ^ Donner Ija.ke, rendered memorable by tho ter rible fate of the Donner party, is about three miles long, and lies about ten miles to the north of Tahoe, at the head of one of the tributaries of the Truckee, A few miles farther north lies Lake Independence, THE (iLACIER LAKES 101 about the same size as Donner, Pmt far the greater number of the lakes lie much higher aud are quite sinall, foAv of them exceedbiga mile bi length, most of them less than half a mile. Along the loAver edge of the lake-belt, the small est have disap])eared by the fiUing-in of their basins, lea.ving (uily thosc^ of considerable size. But all along tlici upper freshly glaciated nuirgin of the lake-bearing zone, every hollo av, hoAvever smafl, lying Avithiu reach of any iiortion of the close net- Avork of streams, contains a bright, brimming pool; so that the landscape AicAved from the mountain- tops scHims b)be sown broadcast with tliein, Ma,ny of tho larger lakes aro encircled witli smaller ones like central gems gircll(>cl Avitli sparkling brilliants. In genera], Iioavca'cm-, there is no marked dividing lino as to size, Iu order, therefore, to prevent con fusion, I Avould state here that in giving numbers, I include none less than 500 yards in circumference. In tlio basin of tbe JMerced RiA-er, I conntc^d 131, of which 111 are upon tlic^ tribiitaric\s tlnit fall so grandlyintoYoscimite Valley, I'oIhjiio Creek, Avhicli forms the fall of that name, takes its rise in a beau tiful lake, lying beneath the shadow of a lofty granite spur that puts out from Buena Vista peak. This is UOAV the only lake left in the AAiiole Pohoiio Basin, The Illilouette has sixteen, the NoA^ada no fcAA'cr than sixty-seven, the Teuaya eight, Iloffniann Creek five, and Yosemite Creek fourteen. There are but tAvo other lake-bearing affluents of the Merced, viz,, the South Fork with fifteen, and Cas cade Creek Avitli five, both of which unite Avith the main trunk beloAv Yosemite, 102 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA The Merced River, as a whole, is remarkiably like an elm-tree, and it requires but little effort on the part of the imagination to picture it standing up right, with all its lakes hanging upon its spreading branches, the topmost eighty miles in height. Now add all the other lake-bearing rivers of the Sierra, each in its place, and you will have a truly glorious spectacle, — an avenue the length and width of the LAKE TENAYA, ONE OF THE YOSEMITE FOUNTAINS. i-ange; ^ . tho long, slender, gra.y sha.fts of the main trunks, the milky way of arching branches, and the! silvery lakes, all clearly defined and shining on the sky. How excitedly such an addition to the scenery would be gazed at ! Yet these lakef ul riv- THE GI,ACIER LAKES 103 ers are still more excitingly beautiful and impres sive in their natural positions to those Avho have the eyes to see them as they lie imbedded iu their meadoAvs and forests and glacier-sculptured rocks. When a mountain lake is born, — Avhen, like a young eye, it first opens to the light, — it is an irreguhir, expressionless crescent, inc^losed in banks of rock and ice, — bare, glaciated rock on the lower side, the rugged snout of a glacier on the upper. In this condition it remains for many a year, until at length, toward the end of some auspicious cluster of seasons, the glacier recedes beyond the upper iiHirgiii of the basin, l(!a,viHg it ojiiMi from shore to shore for the first time, thousands of years after its conception beneath the glacier that excaA^ated its basin. The landscape, cold and bare, is reflected in its pure depths ; the Avinds ruffle its glassy surface, aud the sun fills it with throbbing spangles, while its waves begin to lap and murmur around its leaf less shores, — sun-spangles during the day aud re flected sta,rs at night its only MoAvcrs, the Aviiids and the SUOAV its only visitors, MeauAvhile, tho glacier continues to recede, and numerous rills, still younger than the lake itself, bring down glacier- mud, sand-grains, and pebbles, giving riso to margin- rings and plats of sofl. To these fresh soil-beds come many a Availing plant. First, a hardy carex Avitli arching leaves and a spike of brown flowers ; then, as the sea.sous groAV Avarmor, and the soil-beds deeper and Avider, other sedges take their appointed places, and these are joined by blue gentians, daisies, dodecatheons, violets, honey worts, and many a lowly moss. Shrubs also hasten in time to the ncAV 104 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA gardens,— kalmia with its glossy leaves and purple flowers, the arctic willow, making soft Avoven car pets, together with the heathy bryauthus and cas siope, the fairest and dearest of them all. Insects now enrich the air, frogs pipe cheerily in the shal lows, soon followed by the ouzel, which is the first bird to Adsit a glacier lake, as the sedge is tho first of plants. So the young lake groAvs in beauty, becoming more and more humanly lovable from century to century. Groves of aspen spring up, and hardy pines, and the Hemlock Spruce, until it is richly overshadoAvod and embowered. But Avhile its shores are being enriched, the soil-beds creep out witli in cessant growth, contracting its area, while the lighter mud-particles deposilod on tin* bottom c-an.se it to grow constantly shalloAver, until at length the last remnant of the lake vanishes, — closed for ever in ripe and natural old age. And uoav its feeding-stream goes winding on Avithout halting through the uoav gardens and groves that have taken its place. The length of the life of any lake depends ordi narily upon the capacity of its basin, as compared with the carrying poAver of the streams that floAV into it, the character of the rocks over which these streams flow, and the relative position of the lake toAvard otlier lakes. In a series Avliose basins lie in tlie same canon, and aro fcjd by one and the sa.iiio main stream, the iqipermost Avill, of ccmrsii, va.iiisli first unless some other lake-filling agent comes in to modify the result; because at first it receives nearly all of the sediments that the stream brings THE GLACIER LAKES 105 down, only the finest of the mud-par deles being carried through the highest of the series to the next below. Then the next higher, and the next would be successively filled, and the lowest would be the last to vanish. But this simplicity as to clura.t.iou is liroken iu ujion in various Avays, chiefly through, the a.ction of side-stn^a.nis tlia.t ()uU\y tlio lowcii- lakes direct, li'or, notwithstanding many of these side tributaries are quite short, and, during lat(,^ summer, fec^ble, thoy all become powerful tor- rc^nts iu springtime Avhen tho snow is melting, and carry not ouly sand and pine-needles, but large trunks and bouldc^rs tons in Aveight, sweejiiug them cloAvu their steeply inclined channels and into the lake basins Avith astoundbig energy. Many of these side affluents also liaA'e the adA'antage of access to rhe main lateral moraines of the vanished glacier that occupied the canon, and upon these they draw for lake-lilliug material, Avliile the main trunk stream Mows mostly over clean, glacier iiaA'cmonts, Avhere but litthi mora.iiio nuitter is evc^r left for them to carry. Thus a small ra,p,id stream with abundance of loose transportable material Avithin its reach may fill up au extensive basin in a few centuries, while a large perennial trunk stream, flowing oA'er clean, enduring pavements, though ordinarily a hundred times larger, may not fill a smaller basin in thou sands of years. The comparative influence of great and small streams as lake-fillers is strikingly illustrated in Yosemite Valley, through Avhich the Merced flows. The bottom of the valley is uoav composed of level meadoAV-lands and dry, sloping soil-beds planted 106 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA with oak and pine, but it was once a lake stretch ing from Avail to wall and nearly from one end of the vaUey to the other, forming one of tho most beautiful cliff-bound sheets of water that ever existed in the Sierra, And though never perhaps seen by human eye, it Avas but yesterday, geologi- cafly speaking, since it disappeared, and the traces of its oxistenco aro still so fresh, it may easdy bo restored to the eye of imagination and viewed in all its grandeur, about as truly and vividly as if actually before us. Now we find that the detritus which fills this magnificent basin Avas not brought down from the distant mountains by the main streams that converge here to form the river, Iioaa''- ever powerful and available for the pni'poso at first sight thoy appear; but almost AvlioUy by the small local tributaries, such as those of Indian Canon, the Sentinel, aud the Three Brothers, and by a few small residual glaciers Avliich lingered in the shadoAvs of the walls long after the main trunk glacier had receded beyond the head of the valley. Had the glaciers that once coA^ered the range* been mellcid at once*, heaving tlics entire siiii'ace bare from top to bottom simultaneously, then of course all the lakes Avould have come into existence at the same time, and the highest, other circum stances being equal, would, as Ave have seen, bo the first to vanish. But because they melted gradu ally from the foot of the range u])Avard, the lower lakes were the first to see the light and the first to be obliterated. Therefore, instead of finding the lakes of the present day at the foot of the range, avo find them at the top. Most of the lower lakes van- THE GLACIER LAKES 107 ished thousands of years before those now bright ening the alpine landscapes were born. And in general, OAving to the deliberation of the upward J~ - -^-.-^ THK UKATII (IV A LAKK. retreat of tho glaciers, the lowest of the existing lakes are also the oldest, a gradual transition being ai^parent throughout the entire belt, from the older, forested, meadow-rimmed and contracted forms aU 108 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA tho way up to those that are new born, lying bare! aud meadowless among the highest jieaks, A few small lakes unfortunately situat(3d are ex tinguished suddenly by a single swoop of an ava lanche, carrying clown immense numbers of trees, together with the soil they Avere growing upon. Others are obliterated by laud-slips, eartlupiake taluses, etc, but these lake-deaths compared with those resulting from the deliberate and incessant deposition of sediments, may bo termed accidental. Their fate is like that of trees struck by lightning. The lake-line is of course still rising, its present elevation being about 8000 feet aboA^e sea-level; somcAvhat higher than this toward the southern extremity of the range, lower b)ward the uorthc^rn, on acuioimt of the diU'eronco in time of the witli- dniAval of the glaciers, due to diff'orence in climate. Specimens occur here and there considerably beloAV this limit, in basins specially protected from in- washing detritus, or exceptional in size. These, however, are not sufficiently numerous b) make any marked irregularity in the line. The highest I have yet found lies at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, in a glacier Avomb, at the foot of oue of tho highest of the summit pcuiks, a few niih^s to the north of Mount Ritter, Tho basins of peiinqis twenty-five or thirty are still in process of forma tion beneath the foAV lingeiing glaciers, but by the timo they are born, an ecpial or greater number will probably have died, Sinc;e the beginning of the close of the ice-period the Avliole number in the i-ange has perhaps never been greater than at present, A rough approximation to the average duration THE GLACIER LAKES 109 of these mountain lakes may be made from data already suggested, but I cannot stop here to present the subject in detail, I must also forego, in the mean time, the pleasure of a full discussion of the interesting question of lake-basin formation, for Avliich fine, clear, demonstriitive material abounds ill l.lic\sc! nioiiHtains, liMidditioii to what has becMi already giAa^,ii on the subject, I Avill only make this one statement. Every lake in the Sierra is a glacier lake. Their basins Avere not merely remodeled and scoured out by this mighty agent, but in the Iirst Iilace were eroded from the solid, I must UOAV make haste to give some nearer vioAvs of representative specimens lying at different eleva tions on the main lake-belt, confining myself to des criptions of the features most characteristic of each. SHADOW LAKE Tins is a, fine specimen of tho oldcvst and lowest of the i>xisling hikes. It lies about eight miles above Yosemite Valley, on the main branch of the Merced, at an elevation of about 7350 feet above the sea ; and is overyAvhere so securely cliff-bound that without artificial trails only Avild animals can get down to its rocky shores from any direction. Its original length was about a mile and a half ; now it is only half a mile iu length by about a fourth of a mile in width, and over the loAvest portion of the basin ninety-eight feet deep. Its crystal waters are clasped around on the north and south by majestic granite Avails sculptured in true Yosemitic style into domes, 110 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA gables, and battlemented headlands, which on the south come plunging down sheer into deep Avater, from a height of from 1 500 to 2000 feet. The South Lyell glacier eroded this magnificent basin out of solid porphyritic granite Avliile forcing its Avay Avest- Avard from the summit fountains toward Yosemite, and the exposed rocks around the shores, and the projecting bo.sses of the walls, ground and burnished beneath the vast ice-tlood, still gloAV with silvcny radiance, uotAvithstandiiig the innumerable coi-rod- iiig storms that liaA^e fallen upon them. The gen eral conformation of the basin, as Avell as the mo raines laid along the top of the Avails, and the grooves and scratches on the bottom and sides, indicate in the most unmistakable manner the di rection pursued by this mighty ice-river, its great depth, and the tremendous energy it exerted in thrusting itself into and out of the basin ; bearing doAvn with superior pressure upon this jiortion of its channel, because of the greater declivity, con- secpieutly eroding it deeper than the other portions about it, and producing the lake-bowl as the neces sary result. With these iiia.gniliccuit ice-ciiara,ctc(rs so vividly before us it is not easy to realize that the okl glacier that made them vanished tens of centuries ago ; for, excepting the vegetation that has sprung up, and the changes effected by an earthquake that hurled rock-avalanches from the Aveaker headlands, the basin as a Avliole presents the same appearance that it did when first brought to light. The lake itself, hoAvever, has undergone marked changers; one sees at a glance that it is groAving old. More THE GLACIER LAIOES HI than two thirds of its original area is now dry land, covered Avith meadoAv-grasses aud groves of pine and fir, and the level bed of alluvium stretching across from Avail to wafl at the head is evidently groAving out all along its lakeward margin, and Aviil at length close the lake forever. Every lover of fine wildness would delight to saunter on a summer day through the flowery groves UOAV occupying the filled-up portion of the basin. The curving shore is clearly traced by a ribbon of white sand upon which the ripples play ; then comes a belt of broad-leafed sedges, inter- TU] )tc>d here and there by impenetrable tangles of willows; beyond this there are groves of trembling aspen; then a dai'k, shadoAvy belt of Two-leaA-ecl Pill(^, Avitli here and there a round carex meadow ensconced nest-like in its midst; aud lastly, a nar- roAV outer margin of majestic Silver Fir 200 feet high. The ground beneath the trees is covered Avitli a luxuriant crop of grasses, chiefly triticum, broinus, and calamagrostis, Avith purple spikes aucl panicles arching to one's shoulders; while the open ineadoAV patches gloAv throughout the summer Avith shoAvy floAvers, — heleniunis, goldenrods, eiigerons, lupines, castilleias, and lilies, and form favorite hid ing- and feeding-grounds for bears and deer. The rugged south wall is feathered darkly along the top Avith an imposing arraj^ of spirey Silver Firs, Avliile the rifted precipices all the Avay doAvn to the Avater's edge are adorned with picturesque old juni pers, their cinnamon-colored bark showing finely ui'.on the neutral gray of the granite. These, with a few venturesome Dwarf Pines and Spruces, lean 112 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA out over fissured ribs and tablets, or stand erect back in shadoAvy niches, iu an indescribably wild and fearless manner. Moreover, the white-flowered Douglas spiroea and dwarf evergreen oak form grace ful fringes along the nan'ower seams, A\dierever the slightest hold can be ett'ected. Rock-ferns, too, are here, such as allosorus, pellnea, and cheilanthes, mak ing handsome rosettes on the drier fissures ; and the delicate maidenhair, cistopiu'is, and Avoodsia hide back in mossy grottoes, moistoned by some ti'ick- ling rill ; and then the orange wall-flower holds up its showy panicles here and there in the sunshine, and bahia makes bosses of gold. But, notwith standing all this plant beauty, the general impres sion in looking across the lake is of storii, unfliuch- iiig rocdciness; the ferns and floAvers are scarcely seen, and not one liftieth of the Avliole surface is screened with plant life. The sunnier north wall is more varied in sculp ture, but the general tone is the same, A f cav head lands, flat-topped and soil-covered, support clumps of cedar aud pine ; and up-curving tangles of chin quapin and live-c)a.k, growing on rough earthcpiake taluses, girdle their ba.ses. Small streams cohk* cas cading down between them, their foaming margins brightened with gay primulas, gilias, and miniu- luses. And close along the shore on this side there is a strip of rocky meadoAV enameled Avitli butter cups, daisies, and Avliite violets, and the imrjilo topped grasses out on its boA^eled border dij) their leaves into the water. The lower edge of the basin is a dam-like sweU of solid granite, heavily abraded by the old glacier, THE GLACIER LAKES 113 but scarce at all cut into as yet by the outflowing stream, though it has flowed on unceasingly since the lake came into existence. As socni as the stream is fairly over the lake-lip it breaks into cascades, never for a moment halting, aud scarce abating one jot of its glad energy, until it reaches the iic>xt filled-up basin, a mile below. Then swirling a.ncl curving droAvsily through meadow and grove, it breaks forth anew into gray rapids and falls, leaping and gliding in glorious exuberance of wild bound and dance down into another and yet another filled-up lake basin. Then, after a long rest in llici lcn'(^ls of Little YoscMiiitc*, it nuikes its grandest display iu the famous Nex'ada Fall, Out of tho clouds of spra,y at tho foot of the fall the bat tered, roaring liA^er groiies its way, makes auother mile of cascades and rapids, rests a moment in Emerald Pool, then plunges over the grand cliff of the Vernal Fall, a,Hd goes thundering and chafing doAvn a boulder-choked gorge of tremendous depth a,iid Avildnc>ss iuto the tranquil reaches of the old Yosemite lake basin. The color-beauty about Shadow Lake during the Indian summer is much richer than one could hope to find in so young and so glacial a wilderness. Almost every leaf is tinted then, and the golden rods are iu bloom ; but most of the color is given by the I'l^ie grasses, Avillows, aud aspens. At the foot of the lake you stand iu a trembling aspen grove, every leaf painted like a butterfly, and away to right and left round the shores sweeps a curv ing ribbon of meadow, red and brown dotted with pale yellow, shading off here and there into hazy 114 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA purple. The wafls, too, are chished with bits of bright color that gleam out on the neutral granite gray. But neithor the Avails, nor the margin meadow, nor yet the gay, fluttering grove in Avhicli you stand, nor the lake itself, flashing with spangles, can long hold your attention; for at the head of the lake there is a gorgeous mass of orange-yelloAV, belonging to the main aspen belt of the basin, Avhicli seems the very fountain Avheuce all the color below it had floAved, and here your eye is filled and fixed. This glorious mass is about thirty feet high, and ex tends across the basin nearly from wall to Avail, Rich bosses of willow flame in front of it, and from the base of these the broAvnmoadoAV comes forward b> the waU*i''s oclge, the Avlioh* being rciieved aga,iiist the unyielding green of the coiiib^rai, while thick sun-gold is poured over all. During these blessed color-days no cloud darkens the sky, the winds are gentle, and the landscape rests, hushed everywhere, and indescribably impres sive, A few ducks are usually seen sailing on the lake, apparently more for pleasure than anything else, and the ouzels at the head of the rapicls sing alAvays; Avliile robins, grosbeaks, and the Douglas scinirrcis are, busy in tiie groves, making dciightful company, and intensifying the fcciing of gratcl'ul sequestration Avithout ruffling the deep, hushed calm and jieace. This autumnal meUoAvness usually lasts until the end of November. Then come days c')f cpiilea.iiotlier kind. The winter clouds groAV, and bloom, anc I shed their starry crystals on every leaf aucl rock, and all the colors vanish like a sunset. The deer gather \ Kl;,\ M, l',\l.l,, N (1M,,\JI'|'|.; \ ,M,|.|,^ , THE GLACIER LAKES 115 and hasten doAvn their well-knoAvn trails, fearful of being snoAv-bouud. Storm succeeds storm, heap ing snow on the ciiffs and meadoAvs, and bending thci slcMid(>r piiicis b) tlio ground in wide arc;h(>s, ono c)\'er the other, clustering and iuteiiacing like lodged wheat. Avalanches rush and boom from the sheh-- ing heights, jiiling inimenso lieajis upon tbe frozcMi lake, and all the summer glory is buried and losb Yet in the midst of this hearty Avinter the sun shines warm at times, calling the Douglas squirrel to frisk in the snowy pines and seek out his hidden stores ; and the Aveather is never so severe as to drive aAvay tlic^ groii.se and little imldiatches and ciiicicadeos. Toward May, the lake begins b> open. The hot sun sends down innumerable streams over the cliffs, streaking them round and round Avitli foam. The snow slowly vanishes, and the meadows shoAv tint- iiigs of green. Then spring comes on apace; flow ers and tlicis eniieii the air and the sod, and the elisor come bacic to the upper groves like birds to an old nest, I first discoA'ered this charming lake iu the au tumn of 1872, Avliile on my Avaj^ to the glaciers at the head of the river. It Avas rejoicing then in its gayest colors, untrodden, hidden in the glorious Avildness like numined gold. Year after year I Avalked its shores Avithout discovering any other trace of liunianity than tho remains of au Indian cam])-fire, and the thigh-bones of a deer that had been broken to get at the marrow. It lies out of the I'egular Avays of Indians, who love to hunt in more accessible fields adjacent to trails. Their knoAvledge of deer-haunts had probably enticed them here some 116 THE IMOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA hunger-time avIioii they Avished to make suro of a feast; for Ininting in this lakes-hollow is like hunt ing iu a biiiced park, I had told the beauty of Shadow Lake only to a f cav friends, fearing it might come to be trampled and "improA^ed" like Yosem ite, On my last visit, as I Avas sauntering along the shore on the strip of sand betAveen the water and sod, reading the tracks of the Avild animals that live here, I Avas staiiled by a human track, which I at once saAV belonged to some shepherd; for each step was turned out 35° or 40° from the general course pursued, and Avas also run over in au uncertain spraAvling fashion at the heel, AvhilearoAV of round eh)ts on the right iudieuitcHl the staff' that sliei])lierels carry. None but a shcipherd could make such a traciv, a,iid after tracing it a, I'ciw minub'S I began to fear that he might be seeking pasturage ; for Avliat else could he be seeking 1 Returning from the glaciers shortly afterAvard, my Avorst fears were realized, A trail had been made doAvii the moun tain-side from the ncu-tli, and all the gardens and meadoAvs Avere destroyed by a horde of hoofed lo custs, as if sAvept by a fire. The money-changers were in the temple. ORANGE LAKE Besides theses large^r caiion la.ke.s,bvl by tbe main caiioii streams, there are many smaller ones lying aloft on the top of rock benches, entirely indepen dent of the general drainage channels, and of course drawing their supplies from a very limited TIIE GLACIER LAKES 117 area. Notwithstanding they are mostly smaU and shalloAV, owing to their immunity from avalanche detritus aucl the iiiAvashings of poAverful streams, they often endure longer than others many times larger but less favorably situated. When very slial- loAV they become dry toAvard the end of summer; bnt because theiir ba.sins are ground outof siviinlc^ss stone they suiter no h)ss save from eva.pe)ratiou alone; and the grea.t depth of snow that fafls, lasting into June, nialces their dry season short in any case. Orange Lake is a fair illustration of this bench form. It lies in the middle of a beautiful glacial pa.vcMtient lle^¦lr tlie lower margin of the lake-line, about a mile aud a half to the nortliAvest of Shadow Lake, It is only about 100 yards in circumference. Next the Avater there is a girdle of carices Avith Avide OA^erarching leaves, then iu regular order a shaggy ruff of huckleberry bushes, a zone of AvilloAvs Avith hero and there a bush of the Mountain Ash, then a zone of aspens Avitli a foAV pines around the outside. These zones are of course concientric, aud together form a Avall beyond Avliich the naked ice- burnished granite stretches aAvay in every direction, leaving it conspicuously relieved, like a bunch of palms in a desert. In autumn, Avhen the colors are ripe, the whole circular grove, at a little distance, looks like a big handful of floAvers set in a cup to be kept fresh — a tuft of goldenrods. Its feeding-streams are ex ceedingly beautiful, uotAvithstauding their incon stancy aud extreme shallowness. They have no ciiannel Avhatever, a,iid consequently are left free to sju-ead in thin sheets upon the shining granite 118 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA and Avander at will. In many places the current is less than a fourth of au inch deep, and flows Avith so little friction it is scarcely visible, Semietimes there is not a single foam-bell, or drifting pine- needle, or irregularity of any sort to manifest its motion. Yet Avheii observed narrowly it is seen to form a web of gliding lacoAvork exquisitely Avoven, giving beautiful reflections from its minute curv ing ripples and eddies, and differing from the Avater- laces of large cascades in being everyAvhere trans parent. In spring, when the snow is melting, the lake-bowl is brimming full, and sends forth quite a large stream that slips glassily for 200 yards or so, until it comes to an almost vertical precipice 800 feet high, down Avhich it plunges in a fine cataract ; then it gathers its scattered waters and goes smoothly over folds of gently dipping granite to its confluence with the main canon stream. During the greater portion of the year, hoAvever, not a single A^'¦ater sound will you hoar either at head or foot of the lake^, not even the Avhisperecl lappings of ripjilo-Avaves along tlie^ shore; Un- the Aviiids are b^icod out;. Hut llie deep nioiinlain silencet is sweetened now and then by birds that slo[) here to rest and drink on their way across the canon. LAKE STARR KING A BEAUTIFUL A'ariety of the bench-top lakes occurs just where the great lateral moraines of the main glaciers have been shoved forAvard in outsAvelling concentric rings by small residual tributary glaciers. 120 THE JIOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA Instead of beiug encompassed by a narroAV ring of trees like Orange Lake, these lie einbosomeel iu dense moraine Avoods, so dense that in seeking them you may pass them by again and again, although you may know nearly Avhere they lie concealed. Lake Starr King, lying to the north of the cone of that name, above the Little Yosemite Valley, is a fine specimen of this variety. The ouzels pass it by, and so do the ducks; they could hardly get into it if they would, without plumping straight down inside the circling trees. Yet these isolated gems, lying like fallen fruit detached from the branches, are not altogether Avith out inhabitants and joyous, animating visitors. Of course fishes cannot get into them, aud this is gen erally true of nearly overy glacier hdce in tlie ranges, but they are all well stocked with hapxiy frogs. How diel the frogs get into them in the first placje ? Perhaps their sticky spaAvii was carried iu on tlicj feet of ducks or other birds, else their progenitors must have made some exciting excursions thi'ough the woods and up the sides of the canons, Doavu in the still, pure depths of these hidden lakelets you may also find the larvie of iiinumerable insects and a great variety of beetles, Avliile the air aboA'^e them is thick with humming Aviiigs, through the midst of which fly-catchers are constantly darting. And iu autumn, when the hucfldebei-ries are ripe, bands of robins and grosbeaks come to finist, binning alto gether delightful little bywoiids for the naturalist. Pushing our way up Avar d toAvard the alxis of the range, we find lakes in greater and greater abun dance, and more youthful in aspect. At an eleva- 'rilE CHAClEU LAKES 121 tion of about 9000 feet above sea-level they seem to luiA-e arrivcMl at midcUe age,— that is, their basins seem to be about half fflled Avith alluvium. Broad sheets of meadoAv-land are seen extending iuto them, imperfec-t and boggy in many places and more nearly level than those of the older lakes below t hem, a.ucl the vegetation of their shores is of course mores alpine. Kalmia, ledum, and cassiope fringe the mea.ile)w roeics, Avliile the luxuriant, Avaving groves, so ediaracteristic of the lower lakes, are rep resented only by clumps of the Dwarf Pine and Hemlock Spruce, These, however, are oftentimes A'csry pict.uresc]uciy groiipe'd on rocky headlands around the outer rim of the meadows, or Avith stfll more striking effect crown some rocky islet. Moreover, from causes that Ave cannot stop here to explain, tho ciiffs about these middle-aged lakes are scidoni of t,ho massive Yosemite type, but are more broken, and ks.ss shc>,er, and they usuafly stand ba,ci<:, leaving the shores coni]ia,ratively free; Avhilo thes fesw ])rescipib)HS rocks that do come forAva.rd a.nd plunge directly into decsp water are seldom more than three or four hundred feet high, I have never yet met ducks in any of the lakes of this kind, but the ouzel is never wanting where the feeding-streams are perennial. Wild sheep and deer may occasionally be seen on the meadows, and very rarely a bear. One might cauq? on the rugged shores of these bright fountains for weeks, without meeting any animal larger than the marmots that burroAv beneath glacier boulders along the edges of the mca.clows. The highest and yoiingest of all the lakes lie 122 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIFORNIA nestled in glacier AVombs, At first sight, they seem pictures of pure bloodless desolation, miniature arctic sea.s, bound in perpetual ice and snow, and overshadowed by harsh, gloomy, crumbling preci pices. Their waters are keen ultramarine blue in the deepest parts, lively grass-green toward the shore shaflows and around the edges of the small bergs usually floating about in them, A foAV hardy sedges, frost-pinched every night, are occasionaUy found making soft sods along the sun-touched por tions of their shores, and when their northern banks slope openly to the south, and are soil-covered, no matter how coarsely, they are sure to be brightened with floAvers, One lake in particular now comes to mind which illustratess the floA\^eriness of tho'sun- touched ba,nks of thewe icy gems, (!loso up undesr the shadow of the Sierra Matterhoru, on tho eastern slope of the range, lies one of the iciest of these glacier lakes at an elevation of about 12,000 feet. A short, ragged-edged glacier craAvls into it from the south, and on the opposite side it is em banked and dammed by a series of coiu;eiitric ter minal moraines, made by the glacier AAdieu it en- tircily filled tho basin. Half a mile below lies a second lake, at a height of 11,500 feet, about as cold and as pure as a suoAV-enystal, The Avaters of tho first come gurgling doAvii into it over and through the moraine dam, Avhile a second stream pours into it direct from a glacier that lies to the southeast. Sheer precipices of crystalline suoav rise out of deep water on the south, keeping perpetual winter on that side, but there is a fine summery spot on the other, notwithstanding the lake is only about 300 yards THE GLACIER LAKES 123 Avide, Here, on August 25, 1873, 1 found a charming company of floAvers, not pinched, crouching dwarfs, scarce able to look up, but warm and juicy, stand ing erect in rich cheery color and bloom. On a narrow strip of shingle, close to the Avater's edge, there Avere a fcAV tufts of carex goue to seed ; and a little AA-ay back up tho rocity bank at tho foot of a crumbling Avail so inclined as to absorb and radiate as Avell as reflect a considerable quantity of suu-heat, Avas the garden, containing a thrifty thicket of CoAva.iiia coA^ered Avith large yellow flowers; several bushes of the alpine ribes with berries nearly ripe and wildly a.csid; a few Inindsome gra.sses belonging to two distinct species, and one goldeiirod; a fcAV Iniiiy lii[)ines aud radiant spragueas, avIioso blue and rose-colored flowers Avere set off to fmo advantage amid green carices ; and along a narrow seam in the very warmest angle of the Avail a perfectly gorgeous fringe of Epllohium ohcordatum Avitli flowers an inch Avide, crowdesd together in lavish ])rofusion, and colored as royal a piir[)les a.s e\ver was worn by any high-bred plant of the tropics; and best of all, and greatest of all, a noble thistle in full bloom, stand ing erect, head and .shoulders above his companions, ami thrusting out his lances iu sturdy vigor as if growing on a Scottish brae. All this braA^o Avarm bloom among the raAV stones, right in the face of the onlooking glaciers. As far as I have been able to find out, these upper lakes are snoAV-buried in Aviuter to a depth of about thirty-five or forty feet, and those most exposed to avalanches, to a depth of even a hundred feet or more. Those last are, of course, nearly lost to the 124 THE MOUNTAINS OP CALIPORXIA landscape. Some remain buried for years, when the snoAvfall is exceptionally great, aud many open only on one side la,to in tho s(sa..son, Thes snow of the closed side is composed of coarse granules com pacted and frozen into a firm, faintly stratified mass, like the neve of a glacier. The lapping Avaves of the open portion gradually undermine aud cause it to break off in large masses like icebergs, Avhicdi gives rise to a precipitous front like the discharging Avail of a glacier entering the sea. The play of the lights among the crystal angles of these snow-cliffs, the pearly Avliite of the outsAvelliug bosses, the bergs drifting in front, aglow in the sun and edged Avitli green Avater, and the deep blue disk of the lake itself extending to your feet, — this forms a picture' that enrieihes all your afteiiifts, and is never forgotten. But hoAvever perfect tho season and the day, the cold incompleteness of these young lakes is alAvays keenly felt. We approach them Avith a kind of mean caution, and steal unconfidingly around their crystal shores, dashed and ill at ease, as if expect ing to hear some forbidding voice. But the love- songs of the ouzels and the Ioams-IooIcs of the daisies gradually reassure us, and manifest tlio warm bmii- tain humanity that pervades the coldest and most solitary of them all. CHAPTER VII THE GLACIER JIEADOWS AFTER the lakes on the High Sierra come the -L\- glacier meadows. They are smooth, level, sflky laAvns, lying embedded in the upper forests, on thes Moors of llies vallcsys, and along I lies broa.d baei