-I" ^^ /ETHELINE B. PILLSBUKY University of California Berkeley \ (Eamera ab {fen and (EopgrlgJjtsi, ISflB. by ffiablanb, (Eal. ERE there no Yosemite with its wealth heaped on wealth of sight and sound and feeling, were skirt ing along the margin of the beautiful River of Mercy, the only end in view, even then this trip would be a joy to remember. Leaving the plains country at Merced, where the Yosemite Valley Railroad connects with the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe routes, one enters the Qanyon of the Merced and begins the ascent to El Portal, the Gateway to Yosemite, eighty-five miles distant. Nearly eighty-five miles of beauty low farming land and an occasional vineyard, on to the foothills, then the Canyon, rugged, or low-lying with its ever changing, fascinating river, sometimes dashing, white, angry, sometimes dimpling, limpid, seductive as it is in all its length. We are always in friendly touch, now beside it, then far above looking straight down into its allur ing emerald depths and shadows. It is a matter for congratulation that owing to the grades and sharp turns in the track we must jaunt along at a leisurely pace over this part of pur journey, particularly that portion taking us through and past the scenes of the early mining excitements. 7-7 I "7 D In and out, on this crooked track. We. seem to go forward* and then to go bacft ^f*' ERE at El Portal the river seems a less dominant note, the mountains making a greater claim on our attention. The night spent at El Portal will be a pleasure to remember, and the start to the valley in the cool, fresh morning air promises great things of the pleasures yet to come. Cultivate your stagedriver. He may tell you things like these: That in 1851 the Yosemite was first entered by white men, by Major Savage and Captain Boling, Com manding Mariposa Battalion, in pursuit of troublesome Indians ; that the first party of tourists visited -the Valley under the guidance of Mr. Hutchings, to whom credit must be given for giving to the world the first news of its wonders in 1855. These and many other things he may tell you, bt, in the language of the poet (?) "Dot not tease your gentle driver, For he has been known to josh, And you might accept as truthful Some things that are simply And ipfien they reach the end of the route | The stage pu//s up and the folf(s step out. >*p NTERING the Valley via El P 9 rtal or the Coulter- ville route, the first fall of note is the Cascade. It , is at this fall, about six miles from El Portal, that we make one of the first stops and get our sip of Adam's Ale of the real Yosemite brew, clear, cool and sparkling. Here we experience the tin cup in its variety. Casca.de Fall is approximately six hundred feet in height, and is, when the streams are running full, peculiarly beauti ful and[ charming from the mist and spray which fills its little canyon and often envelopes its sides, giving the impres sion of a phantom cataract. The eight-mile drive from the Cascades to the village is wonderfully interesting- a panoramic view of wonders to which we return to absorb, feature by feature. Hear the tintinnabulation of the cup. As the thirsty beasts and human sup Adam's Ale for all &ho wish it. Although only tin to dish it; Just listen to the jingling of the cup!. over the Wawona road, leaving Inspiration Point with its shock of awakening, and driving on down the grade two miles, one stops at Artists* Point. This is a place much loved and frequented by artists -brush, camera, or pen for here is the best scenic composition. Stretching away to the eastward is the flat, narrow valley, varying in width from one-half to one mile, and in its entire length about eight miles. The emerald Merced is seen curving in and out through nearly six miles of its course. Many interesting points of difference between this and Other known valleys are here strikingly apparent. The great height of the walls, not only real, but comparative with its width, the remarkable clearness of outline, and the near verticality of the walls are here most impressive^ Not the least of the fascination of the view from this point is its coloring not from intensity of color, but from the contrast of the light gray, peculiarly luminous walls with the green and an occasional blur of other color, of its pines, firs, oaks, and low-growing shrubs and flowers. "Behind me lay the forests hushed with deep, Above me, in its granite majesty. Sphinx-like* the peaf? thro' silent centuries Met the eternal question of the sj>. In the araed silence of this dim, high place, One fyeeping vigil might not fear, indeed, If it befell him as that man of old. Who in the mountain met Cod face to face." RIVING on from the Cascades into the Valley, one feels, for the first time since leaving El Portal, a sense of restful enjoyment Leaving the mad, racing rapids, whose course we have followed so long, we emerge from the semi-seclusion of forest and low-growing trees and shrubs and stop to absorb some of the quiet beauty of Bridal Veil Meadows. Here we get the general view of the Valley for the first time. Bridal Veil Fall, Cathedral Rocks, Sentinel Rock, the top of Half Dome, to the right. On the left, the huge El Capitan fills the picture. At this point we come on the River of Mercy in one of her happiest moods; in its greater width it spreads out, limpid, the green depths emerging into blue for here a bit of the sky is brought down, an azure mirror for the reflection of the "green things a-growing" all along the banks. The beautiful, fragrant azaleas, some members of the Fern family, dogwood; that sweetest of our flower friends, the wild rose, even the tall, nodding meadow grasses peep into this mirror and know that they are beautiful. Looking on from this peaceful place, the sense of the grandeur ahead comes to us as a strong voice calling over a deep chasm softened by distance, but losing nothing of its quality. '*'';'.. . . . , . and a s^y so lair Is bending above, so cloudless, blue, That you gaze and you gaze, and you dream and J>u See God and the portals of heaven there." Joaquin Miller. ty^ L CAPITAN, the Captain, is an enormous rock, rising three thousand three hundred feet above the floor of the Valley. Even, among the high Sierras, where we expect huge, concentric masses of granite. El Capi* tan is unique, its great height and clear-cut profile giving it a calm majesty never seen in serrated cliffs. Its tremendous proportions are almost incomprehensible. When we say that on its face is an area equal to one hundred and sixty acres, that full-grown pine trees seem as lichen on boulders, we are still at a loss to grasp its true proportions in the scheme of things. While it is possible to reach the top, climbing up a trail which approaches it from the back, the view does not compensate one. One of the prettier Indian legends centering about this huge cliff is of To-tau-kon-nu-la, a wise and much loved chieftain of the Ah-wah-nee-chees. One day he saw approaching him strangers from the far south, a people different from his, bearing gifts and greetings. To-tau- kon-nu-la had built for them a dwelling, and Tis-sa : ack, the lovely, one of the fair strangers, taught the women of Ah-wah-nee how to make the beautiful baskets still made by them. So charmed was the chieftain with Tis-sa-ack that he wished her to marry him, but this she refused to do, disappearing one night. Impelled by his love for her, forgetting his people, he wandered out through the world, always looking for her, while through many moons his people waited and mourned for him who never came. Look up three times. A- B. C. and perhaps D., If to the very top you really wish to see. For m no other way could you expect to scan The topmost heights of old El Capitan. *y^"ALLING gently, as if half reluctant to leave its I .higher estate, Bridal Veil Fall glides over the clitf on the southern wall, a distance of six hundred feet, then in half cascades, rather more than three hundred feet, to the creek Sowing into the Merced River. Its name suggests the character of the Fall soft, filmy, veil-like, caught in the winds that always play through its course, it is swayed and coaxed into innumerable phantom forms. The sighing and wailing of the winds, the dash and swirl of waters, the weird fantastic shapes seemingly arising from its sea of mist, have given to this cataract, dashing itself to death in the semi-darkness, the name of , Pohono, meaning, in the language or the Yosemite Indians, "Spirit of the Evil Wind." You may visit Bridal Veil during the early hours of the day and find it variously fascinating, but remember that between half-past three and five o'clock in the afternoon it is at its beautify! best, for at this time the sun pays one of his infrequent visits, and .rainbows add glory to glory. Here Is a beautiful, filmy veil And gorgeous jewels galore For the maid who would marry, I pray you II not tarry But haste to the church next door. TANDING out at their greater height, but con nected at the base, the Cathedra! Spires form a part of the south wall of the Valley. Seen from some viewpoints, these spires seem almost t or quite, of equal height, but there is in reality an appreciable difference, the one more nearly connected with the wall being two thousand six hundred and seventy-eight, the other two thousand five" hundred and seventy-nine feet high. Looking from the hollow between the two highest of the "Three Graces," the effect is of one thousand seven hundred feet of solid masonry, topped by the spires. From this point the illusion of an enormous cathedral is most complete. The effect of these spires varies greatly from time to time; they have a most peculiar way of sometimes standing out boldly, a clear-cut jagged outline against the sky ; some times seeming to diminish in height and merge into the walls. So far as known, the Cathedral Spires are practically inac cessible, but the walls of the Cathedra] itself and all through that vicinity are very interesting, suggesting all sorts of hiding places for goblins and gnomes, or perhaps grizzlies and Indians, who have called these spires roo-see-nah- Chuck-ka on account of their fancied resemblance to the acorn store baskets of these people. Come up, come now f ye youths and all Who into Hymen's clasp would fall,\ Here maids are, her* church is ; Why shonld you, then, Wait long /or riches P HE most beautiful distant view of Yosemite Falls is from Glacier Point trail at a spot seemingly at a height equal to Yosemite's, although early in the sea son, when the river overflows its banks, the falls may be seen to their entire length in reflection, and it seems that nothing could be more lovely than this nearer view. Up in the Hoffman group of mountains, ten miles above the top of Yosemite Falls, rises Yosemite Creek, which gathers volume and momentum until it dashes over a dangerously smooth rock at the head of, the fall, where it is thirty-five feet wide, down to the first ledge, sixteen hundred feet below. From here on is a series of cascades, sometimes through a dark, utterly inaccessible gorge, sometimes in bright sunlight, making a descent equal to six hundred feet in perpendicular; then comes a final straight leap of four hundred feet to rocks, and brooks and femy nooks, for the lower part of the fall is most approachable and lures one on up into the spray, where a thorough drenching is the worst one has to fear. There is a theory that in ages past these three parts of the cataract fell without a break, in one sheer drop, the change of contour being due to erosion, but we have nothing to regret in this change, for surely nothing can be more inexpressibly beautiful and impressive than the variety of this fall. In the first fall the volume of water seems too great to permit of its being dashed into spray, the \vhole .- stream being impelled from side to side with a peculiar, vibratory, pendulous movement, then the riot of cascades with their butterfly rainbows, then the final plunge, where all the little canyon is shrouded in mist. the mountains, I and have tidings from kah would go lied "Cho-lack, a; on which would ! He foot of the cliff, hop- .ut neither lover nor arrow brought With c mition of evil ana *he cJimi acre tly up the Yosemite Point. Peering over ,ice,. s saw ess on a ledge, far beneath. mmoned her d by means of a and deer was lowered mg herself on his >ur'5t ^>f gfief, -andered out nting Grounds and they were united, even -*jy^-ALF DOME, North Dome and Washington :alf miles orth Dome, in height, those semi-circle sc .rches, a little over 2,000 feet hing much interest domes tvel^d from o.ary and worn- ;urden husband carrying a staff and a roll of blankets So it happened that Tis-$a-ak, be< \Vater (Mirror Lake) before her id being thirsty, drank all the wafer in the lake, husband that he beat her cruelly. She ind when he followed, and continued beatin : iim, and him her burden basket, woven with ? in the far away home country. For this belligerent attitude, turned to stone. So they stand to this da; lalf Dor: rough cr l)r husband, North ridure her eet,and is even now called Basket Dome. c p- s. J&3i:'- ^k-yO ONE need forego a trip into Yosemite VaHey on unodation, for from the time one the new and spacious hotel. El Portal, until one leaves the Valley, good and adequate entertainment is assured. At the Sentinel Hotel, which people who have several times visited the Yosemite, regard as an old friend and land-mark, comfort is assured. If the rather les* formal life of, the camps is desired, there is Camp Curry, Camp Yosemite, and the hew , Yosemke Valley Terminal Company's tamp. The Sentinel, one finds quite in the midst of things, while each of the camps offers some peculiarly desirable feature in relation to the various j of interest. The Terminal Camp is at the foot of the Glacier Point trail -near the .river bank. Camp Curry is at the base of Glacier Point and Camp Yosemite, across the river, near Yosemite Falls. Those . traveling with their own ramping outfits have only to apply to our government's representative. Major Benson, for a place in which to pitch their tents; for this there is no charge. Gentle, sure-footed horses and burro* with competent guides can always be obtained by communicating with Mr. Kenney, so in all the essential points, one's comfo; thoughtfully considered. Marty -people* there are* both ill and ai ' jest?) pgef the 4nd Kenney, the rest YING between Washington Column and North Dome on the north and Half Dome on the south, is . one of the joys of the earth, Mirror Lake, Ah-wei-ah nit three miles from the center o road to it is excellent, and takes one through the extreme eastern end; By all means see the lake before sunrise, as after it the illusion of a perfect mirror is lost. Old. Sol plays some i tricks with us mere mortals as we watch and wait for his appearance. Queerly enough in 'this elfin place one does not look. up, but down, to catch the first glimpse of him, peering down like a vain old satyr into the mirror he is so soon to shatter. Watch him intently, now gliding, now t on and through the water, then look up *nds, and my word for il, you will see a halo where halo never was before. Nor is the appeal to the sense of sight the only one made in this strange pi Halloo or yodel and your voice goes wandering over the lake, up through the id recesses of the haunted T cnciy3 canyon corninc nccx hcttins brick to YOU < Here 'Went out to gel a bite When a great big shaggy grizzly Round a corner came in sight. When Bruin met his warrior bold He straightway showed great enmil\, The chieftain slew him, so we're told. And for this was named Yosenjite. /CROSSING the bridge over tke south fork of the w|L Merced, near the foot of the trail leading to Nevada and Vernal Falls, we find waiting the trail animals, horses, and burros. Here mount and recrossing the bridge commence the climb Passing the power-house of the Yosemite electric light plant, and crossing on a log bridge, We reach the Happy Isles, loved of the. leisurely .beauty seeker, This is a plaice peculiarly inviting to rest, for here are sunshine and shadow, warm, sheltered nooks among the rocks or, mossy banks and trees Campers, particularly, will find this a beautiful objective. Bring luncheon and perhaps a good book for here one loses the sense of the awf ul impressiveness, of compelling grandeur, and comes into a little world of quiet and ;peace. 3 g 1 g -S E .s -* *-3: -3 ^ C ^ -fcf " 'ERE all the snowy white and azure blue satins, Is, ali the diamond* minecj and polished since the beginning of time, .with millions of yards of the fleeciest tulle woveh into one gorgeous tap- eslry, it must suffer in comparison with this wonderfully beau tiful, peculiarly approachable fall. Pi-wa-ack, the Indians call it-* the "Cataract pf Diamonds," about three hundred and twenty feet high, is considered by many the most beauti- all in the Valley., It is two miles from' the foot of the trail and may be seen by those too feeble to make longer trips. Every foot of this trail holds something of beauty and interest. Here is the wonderful Panoramic Wall of the Merced, a sheer cliff , rising four thousand feet iri perjpendicu- lar from the river. The look-out at Sierra Point is near this trail. The lovely but almost inaccessible, Illilouette Falls, five hundred feet high, can be seen also, and so many other points of beauty that a very long day could be profitably spent between, the Happy Isles and Vernal Kails. See thin line of people Come here this fall to sec They. cannot seem to find one word So n>/ry, / pray, should we? HETHER you have come up through the mists over the Granite Stairway, or have ridden over the '<>.. -er trail to the top of Vernal Fall, you leave this incomparable tning in its perfect environment with reluctance. Passing on, one looks down, into the cpol depths of raid Pool, stops beside the Silver Apron, that swift \rls and diamonds, passes the Diamond Cascade and soon reaches the foot of Nevada Fall, where the ion, Gasa Nevada, used to be. The luncheon hour is spent here. Continuing, one ascends the * 'zigzags," and never forgets them. At the top of Nevada is a plateau, with all sorts of sunny corners inviting to rest, but we all seem inoculated with the spirit of unrest and there is no peace or thought of other things until we have^ leaned over the iron railing and ;d down into the seething caldron, a mad riot of un- ollable forces impelling the river o^ 'rik of a precipice six hundred feet in Heigh : Liberty Cap, too, is hear Nevada Falls, as is the Little Yosemite, beloved of fishermen, through which you pass on the six-mile trip to Cloud's P - Upon my word, I almost think I see this little burro wink As he pauses on the very brink Of this high precipice. But let our tourist never fear \tthomfa the beastie goes so near He t only means to change his gait id : hopes to shift a heavy weight. '^rH]. al trips 'to I '"torn Glacier VrLl ^ the Valley ana adjacent mountains, two and a half miles to the the 'new Pohono trail wit \ .--five yards down the trail toward the floor of the valley On the leclg; his rock, if your. a thotley iuncheon boxes in ods and 1 about, "pointing ty adorning a tale. ill you step out on mp sun My very dear Gasion?" would, and thank you i'm/fy, // / wished to be passed on." F YOUR time is very limited, if you can make but one trail, let that be Glacier Point. I walked the entire distance from the center of the Valley to the very pleasant, homelike inn over which Mrs. Lewi* so hos pitably presides, and could truthfully say, with Mama Squirrel. '7'm glad I'm here." It seems impossible that from any other spot in the world, can be seen such a panorama in the distance the vast expanse of the high (or higher) Sierras, then nearer, Half Dome, Cloud's Rest, Liberty Gap, Mt. Lyell, Mt. Glark, Mt. Starr King, and many other peaks and crags, each one a marvel, varying with its illumination and change of viewpoint. Yosemite Falls, too, forms part of this wonder ful view, while to the northeast one looks away into the Weird, inaccessible crannies of the Teneiya Ganyon. Di rectly east, is the imperial Nevada Falls, like a resplendent white peacock trailing its snowy plumage over the face of the wall, while farther down, the more companionable Vernal Falls glides into its lower depths. By moonlight, this view is bewitching; by day, a golden memory; but what words have we, when in the early morn ing we see this grandeur as through a veil of rose, crimson, gold and amethyst? * . c ,2 ^ ? 1*. S * CO 5 "o "o "^ &S M.e c^rlr CO OUNDLESSLY rich as is Yosemite in form, in color, and the absence of it, in mass heaped on mass, of tremendous proportion, in the appeal of the beau tiful in every part of the Valley, to see, from above the clouds, the sun sink below the western level is one of the com pensations. Not more beautiful, perhaps, than other sunsets -nothing could be more glorious than when old Sol makes his adieux, on many other days, leaving a trail of prismatic splendor, or throws a marvelous crimson mantle over dome and crag. In this sunset above the clouds on February 22, 1908, there is no miracle of color. Looking down from the Glacier Point trail, a little way above Moran Point, the Valley is entirely filled with billows of softest, fleeciest white. White is, in fact, a predominant note, for there had been a retent fall of snow, and the misty clouds made the lace-like frills for the snowy garments of the hills. Nearest, and on the left, the grand old Sentinel Rock stands guard, while on the right, El Capitan stands head and shoulders above the clouds and yet more clouds, until the sense of sight is lost in the feeling of lurid, luminous immensity a light that never was, on land or sea. <*JTHE Mariposa Grove of Big Trees is of such general 111 interest to travelers from all parts of the world, that a trip into the Yosemrte seems incomplete without a jaunt over to this other corner of the Yosemite National Park. Perhaps the most interesting route is that via Glacier Point, over the Chinquapin wagon road, which bears' off to the left, taking you through about five miles of this peculiar, tough, wiry, green Chinquapin brush. Emerging from this cut-off, one goes on to beautiful Wawona on -the stage road. You will be fortunate, indeed, if your time allows of a stop-over at Wawona, for here is charm and beauty and comfort to tempt you to a long stay. On eight miles beyond Wawona is the grove of what Colonel Irish has called "the oldest vegetable citizens in the world," the Mariposa Big Trees, discovered by Mr. Galen Clark in May of 1857. There are 606 of these veterans in this grove, or in these two groves, which are one mile apart. Although these monsters seem indiginous to so small a section of our State, the Sequoia Gigantea thrives aind makes rapid growth in many parts of America and other countries, the climate of England being peculiarly friendly to it. By actual count some of these trees nave been found to be ffom 1,300 to 2,200 years old, seemingly everlasting unless destroyed by lightning, fire, or uprooted by high' winds. Of course the patriarch of this community is the Grizzly Giant, a t'rifle over 93 feet around on the ground and 285 feet in height. A day is not too much time to devote to the grove, where are hundreds of the beautiful and interesting crimson snow plants, very jealously protected by the Guardian of this part of Uncle Sam's domain. <*#S'