350 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Park trails do, or should, receive, and here and there, 

 between these two places it is rather indistinctly marked. 



The passage from Fernandez Pass, down to the ravine 

 below, is perhaps the most difficult and terrifying portion 

 of the entire circuit, but it is not in any way dangerous. 

 After reaching the headwaters of the west fork of 

 Granite Creek, 

 the character 

 of the scenery 

 changes mate- 

 rially. The 

 trail leads 

 through forest 

 cover and over 

 more or less 

 rolling country 

 until it begins 

 the ascent of 

 Isberg Pass on 

 its way into the 

 Park again. 



The Indians 

 once had a pic- 

 turesque name 

 for Isberg 

 Pass, but the 

 committee on 

 names saw fit 

 to change it to 

 Isberg. Would 

 that they might 

 in their fran- 

 tic efforts to 

 change names 

 revert to some- 

 thing more in 

 keeping with 

 the dignity of 

 lofty places ! 



From the 

 base of the pre- 

 cipitous por- 

 tion of the 

 slope, leading 

 to the Pass, to 

 the top there 

 is little or no 

 foliage and for 

 the last thousand feet of the climb there is nothing 

 visible except great boulders. The trail is poorly 

 marked and rather difficult to keep on. The knowledge 

 of the fact that it would be practically impossible to 

 cross the summit at any other point than at the Pass is 

 not particularly encouraging even though one is repeat- 

 edly told that if upward progress is continued the Pass 

 must eventually be found. All thoughts of safety and 

 security seem to be driven from the mind by the 

 curiously desolate and abandoned aspect that pervades 

 the entire scene surrounding Isberg Pass. 



It is with a sigh of relief, therefore, and a feeling that 



THE YOSEMITE FALLS CAMP 



The camp lies at the foot of the falls, cooled by the breezes created by the half mile of falling water. 

 The camp is operated by the Desmond Park Service Company under the direction of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, and offers, for the first time in the history of our National Parks, that degree 

 of privacy in camping life which is so essential to comfort. The enthusiastic approval with which 

 the establishment of this camp, where real service is rendered, has been greeted by the public, 

 should be a source of real satisfaction to the Secretary. 



home is near at hand that warms the heart and steadies 

 the shaking knees of him who recognizes Red Peak, Gray 

 Peak and Mt. Clark silhouetted against the western sky. 

 These peaks were on the east for the first day out, and tt 

 find them again, this time to the west, makes one feel 

 that they are a sort of anchor to the windward. 



The view 

 from Isberg 

 Pass is one of 

 the finest to be 

 had in the 

 Park, for from 

 this ridge the 

 minarettes and 

 Ritter group 

 are prominent 

 to the east, 

 while Gray 

 Peak and Red 

 Peak cast their 

 long afternoon 

 shadows almost 

 at the foot of 

 the ridge over 

 which the trail 

 passes. The 

 descent from 

 Isberg Pass is 

 not at all ardu- 

 ou s . From 

 the summit to 

 the small pla- 

 teau at the foot 

 of the ridge 

 the trail if 

 in decomposed 

 granite and 

 earth almost 

 throughout. As 

 a matter of 

 fact, from Is- 

 berg Pass back 

 to the floor of 

 the Yosemite 

 Valley, with 

 the exception 

 of one or two 

 short passes, 

 the trail is surprisingly easy going. There is a steep 

 pitch into the Lyell Fork Canyon of the Merced but 

 the trail is very good. 



Just before reaching Lyell Fork, there is a promontory 

 to the left of the train which overhangs the upper basin 

 of the Merced, in which is Washburn Lake. The prom- 

 ontory is almost half a mile above the Lake below and 

 from it a view down the Canyon of the Merced shows 

 Washburn Lake in the foreground with a tip of Merced 

 Lake visible in the distance. If there are any views in the 

 Sierra which I would travel fifty miles on horse to wit- 

 ness, this is certainly one of them 



