CHAPTER YI 



THE GLACIER LAKES 



MONG- the many unlooked-for treasures that 

 are bound up and hidden away in the depths 

 of Sierra solitudes, none more surely charm and sur 

 prise all kinds of travelers than the glacier lakes. 

 The forests and the glaciers and the snowy foun 

 tains of the streams advertise their wealth in a more 

 or less telling manner even in the distance, but 

 nothing is seen of the lakes until we have climbed 

 above them. All the upper branches of the rivers 

 are fairly laden with lakes, like orchard trees with 

 fruit. They lie embosomed in the deep woods, down 

 in the grovy bottoms of canons, high on bald table 

 lands, and around the feet of the icy peaks, mirror 

 ing back their wild beauty over and over again. 

 Some conception of their lavish abundance may be 

 made from the fact that, from one standpoint on 

 the summit of Eed Mountain, a day's journey to the 

 east of Yosemite Valley, no fewer than forty-two 

 are displayed within a radius of ten miles. The 

 whole number in the Sierra can hardly be less than 

 fifteen hundred, not counting the smaller pools and 

 tarns, which are innumerable. Perhaps two thirds 

 or more lie on the western flank of the range, and 

 all are restricted to the alpine and subalpine 



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