274 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [Proc. 3D Ser. 



In September, 1899, a short trip was made among the 

 spurs of the east side of White Mountain and nearly posi- 

 tive evidence obtained, from the shape of the canyons and 

 the heaps of the moraine-Hke material, of the former exis- 

 tence of glaciers about this peak. The moraines, however, 

 were seen only from a distance. The ice does not appear 

 to have extended below an estimated altitude of about 8,000 

 feet. In the Sierra Nevada at a corresponding altitude and 

 latitude the glaciers extended much lower. 



The storms of the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo Mountains 

 at the present time come largely from the southwest. There 

 must be excepted from this the summer thunder showers, 

 which in the Great Basin are ordinarily called cloud bursts. 

 They are extremely local in character, often raining heavily 

 at one or more points within an area of one hundred square 

 miles, the adjacent region receiving no precipitation at that 

 particular time. As a consequence of the storm clouds com- 

 ing from the southwest, the atmosphere is largely bereft of its 

 moisture by the first high ridge, which is the Sierra Nevada, 

 leaving but little for the Inyo Range lying next east. The 

 fact of the small development of glacial phenomena in the 

 Inyo Mountains relatively to the Sierra Nevada in the same 

 latitude would seem to suggest that in glacial times, as at 

 present, the climate of the Inyo range was a dry one rela- 

 tively to that of the Sierra Nevada. 



Goodyear,^ in a description of the southern Sierra 

 Nevada, detected no evidence of glacial markings or of 

 moraines anywhere in the region from Mt. Whitney south. 

 Considering the general accurateness of the observations 

 of Mr. Goodyear, this is somewhat remarkable. The old 

 Hockett trail which was used by Goodyear in his explora- 

 tion of this region crosses several large moraines, and the 

 new trail to Mt. Whitney' passes over as typical moraines 

 as may be seen anywhere in the world. Glacial markings 

 and polish are very clear on the rocks forming the walls of 

 the canyons which extend west from Mt. Whitney, and 



1 Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Vol. V, 1S75, pp. 180-183. 



2 This trail leaves the Hockett trail west of Cottonwood Creek, passes over into Whit- 

 ney Meadows, and thence takes a northerly course acro.ss Rock Creek to Crabtree 

 Creek, which it toUows up east to the west base of Mt. Whitney. 



