A Few Words About 



The Sierra Club 



MISS MARION RANDALL 



HE Sierra Club's yearly outings to the high mountains have 

 become quite well known throughout California, hardly more 

 from newspaper accounts than from the rhapsodies of the re- 

 turning members of the party. One hundred and fifty differ- 

 ent enthusiasms come home from the outing every summer 

 and are spread broadcast to arouse the envy or scorn of the 

 enthusiasts' friends. This one glories in the mountain climbs, that one 

 waxes eloquent over the trophies of the rod, one takes delight in the camp- 

 fire gatherings and the social side of camp life on so large a scale, another 

 in the wonderland that every mile of trail reveals — Titan lands of forest 

 and mountains, or fairy worlds of tiny, busy creatures dwelling in the elfin 

 forest of the meadows. But all temperaments (save possibly that of the 

 recluse) unite in voting the happy-go-lucky weeks a most delightful ex- 

 perience. 



So much has been said of these trips to the Kings and Kern River 

 Canons, to the Yosemite and Tuolumne Meadows, of the climbs of Brewer, 

 Whitney, Williamson, Ritter and Lyell, which have been such picturesque 

 and interesting features of the summer expeditions for four years past, that 

 the question is sometimes asked whether the Sierra Club only pays atten- 

 tion to the "big game" among mountains, and whether the wonders of the 

 Sierra Nevada make us indifferent to the lesser beauties near home. 

 Within the last year a series of local walks has been instituted to points of 

 interest near San Francisco, and similar expeditions have been taken in 

 the vicinity of Los Angeles by members of the southern section. Two day 

 trips have been made to Mount Diablo and Mount St. Helena, while de- 

 lightful one day tramps have been enjoyed almost weekly by small parties 

 of from ten to thirty members. We do not have to go very far afield to find 

 oaks and redwoods and great high hills overlooking a wide sweep of ocean 

 and hills and sky. Mann County is particularly beautiful, especially in 

 spring time, when the streams are full and the tender leaves of the alders 

 and maples scarcely darken the yellow sunlight beneath their branches; 

 when the hills are covered with baby blue eyes, iris, and yellow poppies, and 

 preat masses of wild lilac clothe the canon sides with a veil of purple. The 

 San Bruno hills, too, rising in apparent barrenness behind San Francisco, 

 have a charm all their own in flower time, wind-swept gardens of starry 

 yellow blossoms stretching upwards to meet a blue sky, with a glimpse, 

 now and again, of the white-capped bay lying far below in the notches of 

 the hills. 



One rule is rigidly adhered to on these walks — no Sierran may add 

 to the unsightly traces of picnic lunches which disfigure many a beautiful 

 place as far as the cheerful picnicker penetrates. It is reported that one 

 punctilious member spent her noonday hour on Clouds' Rest in collecting 

 into one orderly heap the sardine cans that bestrewed the mountain top. 

 Dame Nature, lavish hostess that she is, has no protection against this 

 common abuse of her hospitality; but one cannot help wishing that there 

 were some way of banishing from her halls the ill-bred guests who show 

 her such scant respect. 



The lighter, social part of the Sierra Club is often dwelt on, to the 

 exclusion of the serious side of its work — its constant efforts to help in the 

 preservation of the forests "and other natural beauties of California"; "to 

 render accessible the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast"; "to publish 

 authentic information concerning them"; to quote from its articles of in- 

 corporation. This is the Club's real purpose for which it was organized in 

 1892; the outings, inaugurated nine years later, were meant only to in- 

 crease the interest and appreciation and to aid in the furtherance of its 

 work. 



