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Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park. John Muir

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Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park. John Muir University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes John Muir Papers 9-1-1890 Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park. John Muir Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb Recommended Citation Muir, John, "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park." (1890). John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes. 203. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/203 This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the John Muir Papers at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I '· I FEATURES OF~THE PROPOSED YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. upper Tuolumne Valley is half a miie wide; but the width of the valley the widest, smoothest, most is, on an average, about eight miles. Tracing serenely spacious, and in every the river we find that it forks a mile above the way the most delightful summer Soda Springs, which are situated on the north pleasure park in all the high bank opposite the point where the Cathedral Sierra. And since it is con­ trail comes in- the main fork turning south­ nected with Yosemite by two good trails, and ward to Mount. Lyell, the other eastward to with the levels of civilization by a broad, well­ Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs. Along both graded carriage-road that passes between Y a­ forks strips of meadow extend almost to their semite and Mount Hoffman, it is also the most heads. The most beautiful portions of the accessible. It lies in the heart of the high Sierra meadows are spread over lake basins, which at a height of from 8soo to gooo feet above have been filled up by deposits from the river. the level of the sea, at a distance of less than A few of these river-lakes still exist, but they ten miles from the northeastern boundary of are now shallow and are rapidly approaching the Yosemite reservation. It is bounded on extinction. The sod in most places is exceed­ t11e southwest by the gray, jagged, picturesque ingly fine and silky and free from rough weeds Cathedral range, which extends in a south­ and bushes; while charming flowers abound, easterly direction from Cathedral Peak to especially gentians, dwarf daisies, ivesias, and Mount Lyell and Mount Ritter, the culmi­ the pink bells of dwarf vaccinium. On the nating peaks of the grand mass of icy moun­ banks of the river and its tributaries Cassiope tains that form the " crown of the Sierra " ; and Bryanthus may be found where the sod on the northeast, by a similar range or spur, curls Gver in bosses, and a,bout piles of boul­ the highest peak of which is Mount Conness; ders. The principal grass of these meadows is ( on the east, by the smooth, majestic masses of a delicate Calamagrostis with very slender Mount Dana, Mount Gibbs, Mount Orcl, and leaves, and when it is in flower the gmund others, nameless as yet, on the axis of the seems to be covered with a faint purple mist, main range; and on the west by a heaving, the stems of the spikelets being so . fine that billowy mass of glacier-polished rocks, over they are almost invisible, and offer no appre­ which the towering masses of Mount Hoff­ ciable resistance in walking through them. man are seen. Down through the open sunny Along the edges of the meadows beneath the levels of the valley flows the bright Tuolumne pines anu throughout the greater part of the River, fresh from many a glacial fountain in valley tall ribbon-leaved grasses grow in abun­ the wild recesses of the peaks, the highest of dance, chiefly Bromus,,;r :·t'cum, and Agrostis. which are the glaciers that lie on the north In October. the night~ are frosty, and then sides of Mount Lyell and Mount l\llcChtre. the meado"ts, at .s,t · , when every leaf is Along the river are a series of beautiful laden with c,l.'N'r,aH1 e fine sight. The days glacier meadows stretching, ' ith but little are warm m~-d~ -1~, ,a, · Cl bees and butterflies interruption, from the lower end of the valley continue to- waver i nd hum about the late­ to its head,. a distance of about twelve miles. blooming flowers until the coming of the These form cha,rming sm.Hatering grounds from snow, usually late in November. Storm then which the glorious mountains may be enjoyed follows storm in close succession, burying the as they lelOk clown in divine serenity over the meadows to a depth of from ten to twenty feet, majestic swaths of forest that clothe their bases. while magnificent avalanches descend through Narrow strips of pine woods cross the meadow­ the forests from the laden heights, depositing carpet from side to side, and it is somewhat· huge piles of snow mixed with uprooted trees roughened here and there by groves, moraine and boulders. In the open sunshine the snow boulders, and dead trees brought down from lasts until June, but the new season's vegetation the heights by avalanches; but for miles and is not generally in bloom until late in July. miles it is so smooth and level that a hundred Perhaps the best time to visit this valley is in horsemen may ride abreast over it. August. The snow is then melted from tht The main lower portion of the meadow is woods, and the meadows are dry and warm, about four miles long and from a quarter to while the weather is mostly sunshine, reviving 6s6 It FEATURES OF THE PROPOSED YOSEJ1!fiTE iVAT./OiVAL PARK. 657 } BIG T UOLUi\I NE i\IEADOWS WITH i\IOU N T DAN A AND i\IOUNT , GlOBS, FN.Ol\1 NEA H THE SO DA SPRINGS. ' l and exhilarating in quality; and the few clouds unme Glacier, which, );Jroacl aml deep and far­ that rise and the showers they yield are only reaching, exerted vast influence on the scenery enough for fr eshness, fragrance, and beauty. of this portion of the Sierra. But there are fine The groves about th e Soda Springs are fa­ camping-grounds all .along the meadows, an<! . ( vorite camping-grounCf'l\ 9n account of th:z one may mo ve from greve to grove every clay\1 ( ) pleasant-tasting •i@ co!c1 0",~ a ter of the spring,sr all summer e njoying~ ·fH~s l~ 0 m e~,> -an€l ~~ charged with car15o · acid, and becau s e - O'(th ~ ing-tmemgl~ . to satisfy every ro vin g desire for 1-v~> fin e views of the mountains across the meadow change. ftvO.. .; tf'\.,.1\M/,ii, -the Glacier Monument, Cathedral Peak, There are £0.ur capital excursions to be ~ <>VV ::l ' Cathedral Spires, Unicorn Peak, and their many made from here - to th e sumti1its of M~·~~~ts nameless ..<; ® lpanions rising in.. .gnaJad...beaut.y Dana H; n ~~ Ly e ll ~ to Mono Lake and the vol- - . ~0' 1\ fl t ~ J. above a, ·~re~swa;Jr ot 1foresVtl:t.1.t.-i&-growing canoes, througlt" Bloody Canon; and to the ~ · on tlw left latera moraine of the ancient Tuol- great Tuolumne Canon as far as the foot of the 1 s-ol.vrvu. ( 1'/1/f ' I 1( ' \) i J T UOL Ui\I N ii 1\ I EADOWS, LOOKI N G SOUTH. u· NICOI~N PEAK AND CA TI-I EIJ I ~AL PEAK. Vor.. XL. - 87. 03 r2.G'3 / 11'\A,-IJ'Vl; ~ 1.: Co(., ---- ~A t.o.. lf'~ v-J\.::1 6s8 FEA' URES OF Tl-IE PROPOSED YOSEJ11JITE A T.JJ.L PARK. / ~ 1!. ' ~I \· l ~ main case, des. All ~ f these are gl01:ious, a,n'tl dom hidden by i Tegular foregrounds. As,) ou1 sure to be -et'0 W (il (j(i~ with joyful and exciting · gradually .as~end new mountains come. i~1 m.-­ experiences; but perhaps none of them will be sight, re nnclnn 1r he lanelsea:pe-; peak n smg remembered with keener delight than the clays above peak with -its- individuaJ. a:rchitecture;" ~ . [' _ ~ . \ . 11 spent in sauntering in the broad velvet law ns J(H-d Tf. masse. or--.:O tl'H taJH sno"' m enc ess variety of position and light and shade. Now your atten­ tion is turned to the moraines, sweepin g in beautiful curves from the hollows and canons ·of the mountains, regular in form as railroad embank­ ments, or to the glossy waves and pavements of granite rising here and there from the flowery sod, polished a thousand years ago and still shining. Towards the base of the mountain you note the dwarfing of the trees, until at a height of about I I,ooo fe et you find patches of the tough white-barked pine pressed so flat by the ten or twenty feet of snow piled upon them every winter for centuries that you may walk over them as if walking on a shaggy rug. And, if curious about such things, you may discover specimens of this hardy mountaineer of a tree, not more than four feet high and about as many inches in diameter at the ground, that are from two hundred to four hundred years old, and are still holding on bravely to life, making the most of their short summers, shaking their tasseled needles in the breeze right cheerily, drinking the thin sunshine, and maturing their fine purple cones as if they meant to live forever.
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