F 868 .Y6 S85 Copy 1 T A H E A few hours delightful ride from Truckee along the banks ol the tumbling Truckee River. Stopovers permitted on all Overland and Pullman tickets. Low side-trip rates to this gem of the Sierra — twenty-three miles long, thirteen wide, over two thousand feet deep. Excellent Hotels. Trout Fishing. Boating and Moun- tain Climbing. LOW SIDE-TRIP RATES Only one night ride each way from Ogden. Stopovers allowed on all Rail and Pullman Tickets. Just notify the conductor and he will arrange. Beautiful Scenery. Giant Geysers. SOUTHERN PACIFIC 884 Market St., 14 Powell St., Market Street Ferry Depot, San Francisco Lake Tahoe Railway & Transportation Co., Tahoe, Cal. TICKET OFFICES 884 Market St., 14 Powell St., Market Street Ferry Depot, San Francisco M — 1 — < IKE™ \ . w'a/s h uc i n;,c t o yJrr*v'S> f M ° f" N T 0" "* l '"'"._AV.' "'i C'""'OT""" SOUTHERN PACIFIC, UNION PACIFIC li OREGON SHORT LINE OREGON R. R. & NAV. CO CHAS. S. FEE, Pa ^-^r— Tk/- / \ ARIZONA i M \ * '' <= . General Passenger Agent SAN FRANCISCO OAKLAND . . . SAN JOSE . ( 884 Market Street LOS ANGELES . . | 14 Powell Street SANTA BARBARA Broadway and 13th Streets FRESNO ... 40 East Santa Clara Avenue SAN DIEGO OR DEPOT AGENTS AT ALL SOUTHERN PACIFIC STATIONS ^<«««__ 5IERRA NEVADA— Snowy Range — has been well renamed by John Muir the Range of Light; for these mountains lifornia are the Illumined Mountains. Their mural walls use to over thirteen thousand feet, and the battlemented and domes fifteen hun- dred feet higher in the clouds. On their flanks and lower sides the dark covers of the oniferous forests; above, the High amber-like in the afternoon sun ol summer, graced with chains mountain lak peak throated ranite walls are here and i chasms, ice-sculptured on a mighty plan. in sheer walls and mighty 1 osemite N k is in the h in cent. alifornia, and is now easy ol access -none of the F rom north and south mite Valley Railroad at the latter with a journey of eighty miles up the ill Merced River takes the traveler to the park line El Portal. i miles completes the trip ol the Valley. Both at El Portal and in the m h ties to civilization the year round as hted hotels, with I ph and iummer for those who would be out-of-doors; and kin to i would rest beneath bright ldlh ol the Sierra, with dry, clear summer and sunny 1 1 .'ell as in is added I hi, to whom lourna- 'I wild flow which a tuneful river runs; a alder, willow, trees; where groves ol tall pines and groups ot black oaks are interspersed with carpets of emerald verdure made colorful by many varieties of wild flowers, such as lupines, daisies, golden- rods, mints, with green ferns in secluded dells; altogether a quaint, flowered landscape of trees and plain and stream with stretches of shrubs — the red-stemmed manzanita, the chinquapin, eautiful California lilac (ceanothus), gold-cup oak and their kind. Above this level, tranquil loveliness rise mile-high, cloud- supporting walls, grim and gray in place, here and there colored marvelously. Sculptured giant-fashion into domes and half- domes, spires and pinnacles and frowning precipices, recessed for dropping rivers, these Sierra walls encompass our meadow and make ol it the flowerful floor of a great chasm. Yet brook and meadow, green and flowering color of wild blossom, own the sunshine and are not overborne by the carved mountains above ; the daisy is as much at home in the Yosemite as is the cloud-like Half Dome at the head of the Valley. In waterfalls and sheer cliffs the Yosemite is supreme. Nowhere else do rivers thunder over clilfs a hall -mile high! nor in any other place have the snow-waters ol high mountains found such variety and beauty ol courses down mountain walls to unify in a valley river. Out from beneath the great snow mantle ol the High Sierra in spring pour the snow-waters into the cup ol the Yosemite; and all summer, though in lessening ted, flowering, lake-dotted mountains, great , continue to feed the streams ol the Valley. With li is are compensatory ad- i are more accessible and the wea Entering the Valli outh wall are Bridal Veil Falls. lop ol granite rock, white, ethereal, ,uh1 sei i nto the treetops, appearing small ai ering is the impression of use of great falls is said to be the Staubbach raps out ol a smoother channel, water and is I he stream is full thirty de, and falls Inst a distance ol six hundred feel, then perpendicular distance ol three hui Mill from the chief points il seems to make but one plunge, and the effect. Prof. J. D. Whitney said, "is that ol being nine hundred feet in vertical height." Around the shoulder, behind which Bridal Veil ('reek makes NEVADA FALLS ame from their resemblance to the Duomo at Florence reach an elevation of 2,660 feet above the Valley floor, spire rising sheer and solitary for 700 feet. Across the Valley, and nearly opposite, is El Capitan. rises 3,300 feet with an apparently vertical front, and ha; two faces nearly at right angles with each other. It project; into the Valley like a buttress, and presents to the vision at a single glance a superficial area of more than four hundred acres. It is said that the stupendous bulk of El Capitan is such tl i seen from a certain vantage-ground at a distam e a fraternal group a little beyond El lance depends upon the point o d the I hree Graces. To the Indians ROCKS Rock faces Three Brothers from the south wall, nd is a splintered granite tower or spire, very slender, and r about 1,500 feet below its apex is nearly perpendicular. 1 whole height above the river at its base is 3,059 feet. Back of this natural and majestic monument stands Sentinel Dome, whose storm-worn top is 4,142 feet above the Valley. We will walk over its conoidal or onion-like layers when we scale the rim of the Valley. We are now at the social center of Yosemite, and the hotel, the camps, the little postofnee, a few shops and offices, are gathered near here and opposite the great waterfall called after the Valley. Seen from the V. Semite Falls seem insig- nificant. It is, in fact, about thirty-five feet wide, and when the stream is full the roar can be heard all over the Valley, and the shock of its descent shakes windows a mile away. Halfway across the Valley it is hard to realize that this volume of white water plum ill a mile. As you walk toward it along the footpath it is seen between the trees, and HALF DOME AND GLACIER POINT BRIDAL VEIL FALLS almost an unbroken fall from its granite lip to its final impact on the Valley floor. And from this point the height, the volume o! the gray and yellow granite wall, the green herbage that frames the picture and the gradations of color and movements of the descending torrent, combine to make it the most wonderful and beautiful waterfall in all the world. In reality it is not one, but three. Time was, doubtless, when it leaped from the topmost edge of the cliff 3,000 feet to the Valley floor, but some convulsion has shaken down the original front to a point halfway down and the first fall is now 1 ,600 feet of sheer descent. Then comes a series of cascades, partly hidden through 600 feet downward, and a final leap, straight down, of 400 feel. Across the Valley the south wall thrusts out a massive shoulder, which is well named Glacier Point. At no other point is the wall so bare and sheer, and you look up, almost from its solid foot, 3,234 feet. The flag which sometimes floats from the brink of the precipice is eighteen feet long, but it is seen dimly, looking no larger than a lady's handkerchief. An iron railing at the point protects visitors, and from here fireworks are often displayed. Once more crossing on the north or left-hand side as we go up the Valley, stands Yosemite Point, flanked on the east by Indian Canyon, so called because by means of it the Indians of early days used it to enter or leave the Valley. The Royal Arches are near the head of the Valley, in the vast vertical wall whose highest summit is North Dome. The arches are recessed curves in the granite front, very impressive because of their size, and made by the action of frost. Much of the rock here is formed in layers like the structure of an onion, and the arches are the fractured edges of these layers. Washington's Column is the angle of the wall at this point — a tower completing the massive wall at the very head of the Valley. Over against it, but looking down the Valley, stands the highest rock of all the region — the great South Dome, or Half Dome, as it is often called. It is 8,927 feet above sea-level, or nearly 5,000 feet above the Valley. Its mas- sive front is cleft straight down for about 2,000 feet, and the fractured face turned outward is polished by wind and storm. The side of the Half Dome turned toward the southwest has the curve of a great helmet and is so smooth and precipi- tous as to almost defy the most adventurous mountain "A rock piled up to t Conspicuous afar. alf Dome. It dominates the Valley from almost every point. ime to Mirror Lake, only lie slow sun il flank of the Soulh Dome — the visit should nirror is won- luccd. "round trip" or Meadow Drive on the : will do well i to the rim of the 1 his Merced past I d canyon by Jiama Rock is 4. to the top of jioderick jus; ind the Half Dome iiand. to the hp of lal rim of the lock, where a still o on to the i rail is a At Union Point, 2,350 Icet above the river, all will stop and rest a little on a slight plateau or bench of the gigantic wall. Just below stands an interesting shaft of granite, well named Agassiz Column. Il is eighty-five feet high and its base is eroded until it looks too frail to support the greater bulk of rock above it. int is perhaps the most popular objective point in ion. On the way you visit Vernal and Nevada Falls, returning down the short /: olumn and Sentinel Glacier Point is especially remarkable for its commanding positio: height and the unspeakable sublimity rocks. 1 here is a comfortable hotel oi ill here meet parties which I he projecting rocks oint are but a few yards from the hotel. It ■ mi the top of the jutting rock down to the floor of the Valley, and a pebble dropped from this point will touch nothing until it strikes the talus, 3,000 feet straight down. I he hotel is dwarfed to a hut, stately trees are mere ■iien seem dots on the Valley floor. Much of the northern rim of the Valley lies before you on on which you stand, with a background of ok; here Yosemite Falls, posite are the Royal Arches, the North 1, the Basket Dome; Mirror Lake is but a "ii ; the great fractured face of the South Dome, with the outline of its splendid helmet unmarred, is ond is the naked wind-swept granite of Clouds' ii you and the sky; far to the right is seen the of Liberty with Mount Lyell, Mount Starr King, Mount Clark and the Obelisk, while, shifting your position but a little, Vernal and Nevada Falls are seen shining in the dark n geologist called the view from the Point "thi ight on earth." Ik in the early morning to the top of Sentinel Dome, or down the fine trail to Illilouette Creek and its 500-foot plunge; the rim of the south wall via Lose curious crevices in the rocks, one lour feel several hundred feet deep. You will do well to lie down on your stomach, crawl to the into the abyss. You will never forget it. emite was in primeval and heard only its own cataracts, il was a wild flower garden of >, but the ne nd the trampling of ed the delicate beauty which once was all the more striking by contrast with the towering rock walls the garden. But the Park is still a-bloom, and an excursion beyond the rim of the Valley, and away from the frequented paths will reward the flower-lover with azaleas, wild roses, gilias, phloxes, lupines, potentillas, daisies, harebells, iris, the brodiaea and especially the calochortus, or Mariposa tulip, finer than any ever seen in Europe. There are five or six varieties, the Calochortus albus perhaps the loveliest of the MIRROR LAKE family. Muir says, "It puts the wildest mountaineer on his good behavior. With this plant the whole world would seem rich, though none other existed." The great Valley is a tragedy of the days of wild unrest, when Nature's forces were destructive. Today she is covering the scars of the old wounding with verdure. You will be struck 17 I'lTAN with the persistence of life. Where glaciers plowed the rocky field the ten- derest flowers spring; where awful forces shattered the granite walls, are now swarming files of pine, fir and balsam. High up in granite cliffs, shrub, flower and tree are clinging, con- tent with a handful of soil, as if to live were enough. Life marches up the gorges, climbs the precipices, camps on the sides of splintered peaks and braves the storms in exposed situ- ations, as if just to spread soft petal, notched leaf, feathery plume or green branch were enough. You will miss something in the Valley if over the beauty and music of stream and waterfall, you do not see the marching files of plant-life conquering the granite, covering the nakedness, and hear tree, shrub and flower whisper from the heights of the rapture of living. It was all ugly once — a chaos of rock and denuded gorge. We might have wondered, we could not have admired. Now all is healed with bloom and beauty — all geological terribleness veiled under grass and fern, flower and leafy verdancy of the rejoicing trees. The whole movement today is toward beauty, and you will come away rested, renewed and recreated. For ages this great chasm, whose birthday none can tell, has lain in the heart of the Sierra, unknown and un- visited. It was hut yesterday, when men were feverishly searching these western mountains for gold, that Nature gave to the world this other treasure, beautiful beyond the dreams of men, which all may share and none be poorer for the sharing. Probably the first white man who saw it, was Dr. Bunnell, in the winter of 1849-30. His first glimpse was of El 1 from a long way off. I siding the old Bear YOSEMITE VALLEY FROM OLD INSPIRATION POINT Merced immense cliff loomed apparently to moun- I upon olumn tion," but inquirie- were it was not unti March, 1851, that Dr. Bun rock. He lion place lion in full view of ock I had s< rail, forty miles 1 he d, its pro- d. None but those who have leeling ■n ted." ;on of convulsion of il some mid its dov, n ERS lazy luxuriously in quiet pools ripples .■': ! But nowhere in the i I transition and majesty to peace anc impressed upon the visitor than on the trip to Mirror Lake. A short and ramble by the meadows, through the woods and ■ ply with pine-needles, whose balsam fills the air, brings you to the rim of this liquid looking- u id depths, no sound dis- ip of molten silver it lies in and gaze again into ' lines its shore, the dark pines inl outline of Mt. Watkins towering in the blue with a fidelity that makes d where begins similitude. VERNAL FALLS Ann u will wish to see, is te Memorial Build i ated in the public from May to with n and with lite: initiative for such a Dr. Le ( in July, 1901 . He n times. His first sight of it was in 187 his trip: '"It in my life. . .1 anything else so mu old, and ill, of the splendid cliffs and mdrous i this, and amid its sublil The charms and on you with each su reason of this subtle attraction, ha .most unconsciously, to what might be tern;: ir when the outdoor lo them they throw off the thrall life, leave behind them the burdi d turning their d this Golden Stale, ihe call of the wild. Here, trampim floor of the >nd crag, re al night under the stars, muscles grow firm and healthful unison with d< and life is once again the joy that it is n The mountain climber goes to the trout in a hundri :ar and has its own special delights and advantages. In the spring the melting snow turns the streams which feed the waterfalls into torrents, and the down-rushing water is in full volume; on every side are rivul i berating waterfalls; in the summer the highest trails are accessible, the weather is delightful and the whole atmosphere has a mellow, golden quality that at once rests and invigorates; in the autumn the air is clear, outline and wonderful profile of rock and crag, of giant column and massive dome, stands out as though etched against lly fading through a myriad shades of green and red and bronze — it is the artist's paradise of color; and in winter, with the Valley floor hidden beneath a snowy cover, with red snow plants thrusting their way through the white surface of flame, with every tree and plant drooping gracefully under its wintry burden, with marvelous icicles, like great stalact: from tower and pinnacle and over- arching rock, who shall say which is the best time to visit this wondrous garden of the Sierra? mite was once literally the "happy hunting-grounds" of the Indians where they realized on earth what the "good Indian" usually only expected after death. There are not many of them left today, though the valley is still the home of a few living in the primitive fashion of their ancestors. Ah-wah-nee was the name they gave to the valley, and to themselves the tribal name of Ah-wah-nee-chees. Yosemite or Yo-sem-i-te, was the "de- stroyer." Thus was the grizzly bear known, and so the white men who now own Ah-wah-nee named the great falls of Yosemite, known to the Indians as Cho-look. There are several picturesque legends of the Ah-wah-nee-chees. One of them tells of the giving of the title "Yosemite" to a young chieftain of the tribe. The Ah-wah-nee-chees, says the legend, in pride of power and conquest, for they were well-nigh invincible in their fertile and roi lorgot their gods and the Great Spirit who first split the heart of Kay-o-pha, the Sky Mountains, e it to the Ah-wah-nee-chees for their home, sent a black i ion the valley and nearly destroyed the tribe, so thai from the haunted place, »hes of the funeral fires and the echoes After the Ah-wah-nee-chees had left, the orns, fruits and fish and game, ! i entirely. Some of them took irth Dome, amongst the THE ROYAL ARCHES ihem the chief of the ill-starred of the Evil Wind, and it is a curious fact that a wind persistently Ah-wah-nee chief took to wife a Mono maiden and blows in the neighborhood of the fall when elsewhere the air is by her he had a son, Ten-ie-ya, after whom the canyon is named. still. Finally reaching man's estate, decided to return Tu-tock-ah-nu-lah was the godlike guardian of the Ah-wah- to his -nee, and so he gathered the remnants nee-chees and saw that they were provided with fish and deer, of his tribe about him and gradually the valley be< I- with nuts and berries. He dwelled in his watchtower on the lated. Not urn the young chieftain, hunting summit o . and was beloved by the Ah-wah-nee-chees. in the spring by the oo-too-yem, the SI :r, One dawn I u-tock-ah-nu-lah heard a soft voice whisper his found his way disputed by a mighty grizzly, hungry and angry name and on the granite dome of the southern wall he saw after 1 ick, the Fair One, with golden hair and azure eyes, the spear, but < or a broken limb of a i uldess ol the valley, who shared with him the loving care of exchanged blows with the great bear until finally he crushed its the Ah-wah-nee-chees. From that day the god, carried away skull and returned to his admiring tribe, who from that hour by love, wooed the goddess to the neglect of the tribe so that the called him Yo-sem-i-te, the Large Grizzly Bear. grass withered, the trees shriveled, fish failed in the streams and Other legends tell of Po-ho-no, the evil 01 lorsook the coverts. T ls-sa-ack did not encourage his Bridal Veil Falls. In the ripple of I Indians think wooing, tor she was sorry for the tribe, who prayed unavailingly they hear Po-ho-no's voice, and in the mocking to Tu-tock-ah-nu-lah. Finally, she prayed herself to the Great features and the wraiths of the maidens and hunters he has Spirit, am er he rent the granite dome where Tis-sa-ack trapped on I s at the head of the fall and prayed, and filled the dry basin of Wai-ack, the Mirror Lake, d down to destruction. Po-ho-no is known was gone, pursued by Tu-tock-ah-nu-lah, blinded by the down that fluttered from the wings of the goddess, feathers fell, up sprang white violets, which blossom to this d I I . , > • ■ " ' — jr .,,^,- ■ , l 1 1 r ««».LL. J^- **te..u.o« (^:.,,,\V *SrS"""V " vt%''°i$i* ^Nv\ .4/1 fer^rC ,'*'•*' ^ Ws&ei ' :/":,,, ®n ' [ 'V.-^.l^-^C" ■ r \" ' ' I 1« y Iyosemite^ \\^ r^-JVALLEY T \ :#^3) ' \f -■■"«- '■""*"■ rliTV -■"■\v X, \w^ ,►*'* ■ ,. \ 5 ""'' 1 ^*vV H '-°V'''' r . - ' Tn-M^'.r^T"^ V^L."V.- C , ^^ k5 >*^V, / ""'V V-"-\ ^:i>Jrl™T ! -^^v 1— V °"°° V \ \ ... v { ■ u " c * \ y "■"■'i/' " ^"""N £^™«.». • ,.,»} \ P§Pf iSr"' i -. -. .".. ? .-:-■>?« i ■ s U^r?=r- • ?JtM / SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES ****~\ ""'- Yosemite Valley - - igagi^ 1 'S«5sSSs«r'. ' ^s^f>J Lea San ["O GET THERE srry via Southern Pacific in the mom- h Y. V. R. R. and arriving at El Portal 11 Portal 7:30 a. m. next morning, arriving ight train service will be established in isco $22.35 Fro . 31.20 . 21.35 old by all Southern Pacific agents. Bagga; h to El Portal. Free allowance on railroads pounds; ex per cwt. Obser\ Y. V. R. R. from Mei >0 cents; tickets them be for use. Overcoats and wraps will nigh clothing and strong shoes. during the day and always many crisp days — HOTELS AND CAMPS Sentinel Hotel. J. B. Cook, Proprietor. Rates from $3.00 to $4.00 per day, $20.00 to $25.00 per week. The hotel is electric-lighted and steam-heated throughout. Wells-Fargo Express, office, barber shop an hotel. Open all the y< Camp Lost Arrow. J. B. per day, at the foot < grove of oaks. Miss Open during summer s( Camp Curry. D. A. Curn nd postoffice, ill be found stage it the )int Hotel and Camp. J. s, hotel, $4.00 per day. Q the top of Glacier Point com Mrs. Nettie Lewis is in cl Hoi Cam Sell, Proprietor. Rates Open dur a:: lmunica- TABLE of ALTITUDES ABOVE FLOOR of VALLEY WATERFALLS Bridal Vernal Nevada Royal Arch Yosemite: r Fall Middle Fall Lower Fall Ribbon 940 feet 400 feet 3300 feet POINTS, PI Three Graces . . . . . .34 Cathedral Rock 2661 i 2~> 78 feet Sentinel Rock 3100 feet Sentinel Dome . . .412 Glacier Point . .32 Mt. Starr King 5 1 2000 feet Half D me . . 5000 me 37 38 Eagle Peak 39 itan 3300 feet 1 2 Round 1 ower ...... 2400 feet i^est .... Yosemite Point ...... 3220 feet Floor ol /vation MEADOWS MT STARR KING MAP OF YOSEMITE VALLEY In 2 VTHE THREE GR/ 3j 4 BRIDAL VEIL FALLS 5 LEANING TOWER 6 MERCED RIVER 7 WAWONA ROAD 8 EL PORTAL ROAD 9 RIBBON FALLS 10 EL CAPITAN 11 I 12 ■{ THE THREE BROTHERS CATHEDRAL SPIRES SENTINEL ROCK UNION POINT SENTINEL DOME GLACIER POINT YOSEMITE FALLS ROYAL ARCHES WASHINGTON COLUMN NORTH DOME BASKET DOME MT. WATKINS HALF DOME MIRROR LAKE VERNAL FALLS NEVADA FALLS LIBERTY CAP ILLILOUETTE FALLS MT. STARR KING LITTLE YOSEMITE CLOUDS' REST TENAYA CANYON SENTINEL HOTEL CAMP AHWAHNEE CAMP CURRY CAMP LOST ARROW BIRD'S-EYE V1EV THE "GRIZZL The Big Trees (Sequoia Gigantea) are found only in the Sierra Nevada Range, at an altitude of from 3,500 to 8,000 feet. They are the largest and oldest living things in the world. Their only near relative is the Sequoia Sempervirens, found in the Coast Range of California. The Big Trees of the Sierra Nevada grow to an altitude of 340 feet, and have a base circumference of over one hundred feet. The bark sometimes exceeds forty inches in thickness. The Big Tree unques- tionably antedated the Christian era. The age is determined by counting the annular rings from the center, each ring indicating a year's growth. When John Muir, best known of California scientists, carefully examined a tree burned part way through, it was found to be over 3,000 years of age. It is believed that many of them greatly exceed that age, and Dr. David Starr Jordan, of Stanford University, thinks there is no reason why the oldest of them should not have been living seven or eight thousand years. The trunk of the Big Tree is columnar, fluted perpendicularly, and in appear- ance and color varies from a very light brown to cinnamon. The older trees usually have little lohage for the first hundred feet, save feathery The rule is not absolute, however, and some of the larger trees, especially those in exposed branch near the earth. The limbs reach an enormous size, one, eighty feet from the ground on the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove, a diameter of nearly seven feet. The best known the Calaveras, South Park, 1 uolumnc, Mariposa and Fresno, ranging from thirty trees in the 7 uolumne to thirteen hundred in the Calaveras. But along the Kings, Kaweah and 1 ule rivers the groves become forests, and the ■ distributed by thousands over wide it being estimated that in the Giant Forest alone there are over six thousand trees with a diameter equaling or exceeding fifteen feet each, ■est known of all the groves, however, is the Marip' fitful daylight stage with forests all the is maintained during the sum- and the well conducted resort at ; the visitors. !7®@H}ffl! LIBRARY OF CONGRESS YOSEI VALLEY 017 168 311 7 # SOUTHERN ?m