A Thousand-Mile Walk 



Merced and the Tuolumne, within ten miles 

 of the slaty foothills, is most elaborately carved 

 into valleys, hollows, and smooth undulations, 

 and among them is laid the Merced Yosemite 

 of the plain Twenty Hill Hollow. 



This delightful Hollow is less than a mile in 

 length, and of just sufficient width to form 

 a well-proportioned oval. It is situated about 

 midway between the two rivers, and five miles 

 from the Sierra foothills. Its banks are formed 

 of twenty hemispherical hills ; hence its name. 

 They surround and enclose it on all sides, 

 leaving only one narrow opening toward the 

 southwest for the escape of its waters. The 

 bottom of the Hollow is about two hundred 

 feet below the level of the surrounding plain, 

 and the tops of its hills are slightly below the 

 general level. Here is no towering dome, no 

 Tissiack, to mark its place ; and one may ramble 

 close upon its rim before he is made aware of 

 its existence. Its twenty hills are as wonder 

 fully regular in size and position as in form. 

 They are like big marbles half buried in the 

 [ i94] 



