AUTO TOUR 



71 



V LEWIS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. 

 1 # The Lewis Memorial Hospital has 

 a capacity of 16 beds and is equip- 

 ped to handle most emergencies. It is 

 operated under government contract and 

 is staffed by competent doctors and 

 nurses. The park dentist has an office 

 in this building. The hospital was 

 named in honor of W. B. Lewis, an early 

 civilian superintendent of Yosemite Na- 

 tional Park. The houses across the road 

 from the hospital are residences of em- 

 ployees of the Yosemite Park and Curry 

 Co. This area is called Tecoya, from the 

 Indian word To-co-ya, "The Basket," 

 said to be associated with an Indian 

 legend about North Dome. 



V CHURCH BOWL AND GLA- 

 - - CIER POINT VIEW. In a natural 



' * amphitheater at the base of the cliff 

 is the Church Bowl where religious 

 gatherings are held during the summer. 

 Across the meadow Glacier Point rises 

 3215 feet above the valley floor. From 

 here is one of the best views of the fire- 

 fall. (For a description of the firefall 

 read G-12, page 90.) 



V THE AHWAHNEE. The Ahwah- 



lO nee was opened in 1927. It has 115 

 rooms and cottages decorated in an 

 Indian motif. Rooms of special note are 

 the dining room with its lofty massive 

 construction and tall windows which 

 frame the scenic views; the great lounge, 

 a room of cathedral-like proportions, and 

 the El Dorado Diggin's, a cocktail 

 lounge reminiscent of a street in an early 

 California mining town. Ahwahnee is a 

 native Indian word meaning "deep 

 grassy valley" — the Yosemite Valley. 



Y HALF DOME. .Dominating the 

 m q upper end of the valley is Half 

 Dome, hallmark of Yosemite Na- 

 tional Park. It marks the junction of 



Half Dome 



Tenaya Creek (left) and the Merced 

 River (right). Rising nearly one mile 

 above the valley floor it is one of the 

 most majestic rock forms known. On 

 clear days it can be seen from places 

 along Highway 99 in the San Joaquin 

 Valley. Half Dome was climbed for the 

 first time in October 1875 by George G. 

 Anderson. Today hikers reach its 13 -acre 

 top in summer by a trail up the far 

 (east) side with the aid of cables. The 

 likeness of a great face on the 2000- 

 foot high sheer surface gives rise to an 

 interesting Indian legend, told in "Yo- 

 semite Indians." 

 (Take left-hand turn at intersection.) 



Y SUGAR PINE. The largest of the 

 <yfi few sugar pines on the valley floor 

 is the tree growing to the left of 

 the far end of the Sugar Pine Bridge. So 

 highly regarded was this tree that in 

 18 84 James M. Hutchings, then guardian 

 of the Yosemite Grant, built the first 



