REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATORIES 75 



tain spruce and the ridges are covered with chaparral — a growth of 

 Ceanothus (buckthorn), scrub oak, and other evergreen bushes, so 

 luxuriant, so dense, that passage through it is quite impossible with- 

 out the aid of an ax. This appealed to me at once as an ideal cov- 

 ering, changeless the year around, for the checking of solar radiation. 



On exploration, Mount Wilson seemed to have in addition these 

 points of advantage: A water supply remarkable for abundance and 

 nearness to the summit; a small peak adjacent to and above the 

 source of this water, somewhat higher than Wilson's peak, which 

 could be utilized for pressure in a water system ; abundance of granite 

 rock, both dark and light, some of it showing excellent cleavage, for 

 building purposes. 



Absence of wind, as reported by every one acquainted with the 

 place, is evidenced here by the straightness and symmetry of the 

 trees, one apparent exception being the Ponderosa pine, with a great 

 flat crown as if bent under the pressure of storm and wind. Later, 

 I learned from a paragraph in a report of the United States Forestry 

 Commission that the peculiar shape of this tree is a matter of age 

 and habit and not due to local conditions. 



The live oak is everywhere, both as tree and shrub, and in the 

 canyons maple, alder, sycamore, bay, and cottonwood are found. 

 Of the conifers, the big-coned spruce most abounds, and it is to this 

 and the chaparral that the mountain owes its unbroken slopes of 

 green. 



In one thing only does Mount Lowe have an advantage, and that 

 is in the possession of an electric road. As to electric power for 

 mechanical and other uses, a line 4 miles in length from Wilson 

 peak would connect with existing systems. An electric railroad 

 could be constructed from Pasadena to the summit of Mount Wilson 

 quite as easil)' as to the summit of Mount Lowe ; or, as an altern- 

 ative, it would be possible to extend the present railway from Alpine 

 Tavern around Markham and San Gabriel peaks to the summit of 

 Mount Wilson. It is estimated that such an extension would not 

 need to be more than lo miles in length. 



On the evening of May 19 I reached San Diego and occupied the 

 following day with business matters and acquiring information con- 

 cerning conditions in the back country, especially as to the routes 

 into the mountains. On the 21st I made an early start for the 

 nearest of these, San Miguel, a peak 2,600 feet high, standing 

 conspicuous and alone about 13 miles in an air line east of the 

 town. The trip was made in a buckboard, as far as there was any 



