AUTO TOUR 



85 



B MARIPOSA GROVE MUSEUM. 



a This museum, devoted exclusively 

 to the story of the sequoias, marks 

 the site of the original cabin built by 

 Galen Clark in 18S7, shortly after he 

 first visited the grove. The original cabin 

 was destroyed about 30 years later. In 

 18 8 5 the State Board of Commissioners 

 in charge of the Yosemite Grant built 

 a second one on the same site, enlarging 

 it in 1902. In 193 the present cabin, 

 a replica of the former structure, was 

 constructed as a museum. The tallest 

 sequoia in the Mariposa Grove, the 2 86- 

 foot-high Columbia Tree, can be seen 

 across the meadow from the museum. 

 Its height is almost equal to the length 

 of a football field. This museum is open 

 during summer only. 



B THE WAWONA (Tunnel) TREE. 



|- Probably the most photographed 

 and certainly one of the most fa- 

 mous trees in the world, the picture of 

 this "tunnel" tree has appeared in geo- 

 graphy texts the world over. In 1881 the 

 Yosemite Stage and Turnpike Company 

 hired the Scribner Brothers for $75 to 

 enlarge an old burn to the present size 

 of 8 feet wide, 26 feet long, and 10 feet 



high. The tree is 234 feet high, 19.8 

 feet in diameter at 10 feet above mean 

 base. The name comes from the Miwok 

 Indian word, "Wall- wo-nah," meaning 

 "big tree." There are two other tunnel 

 trees in Yosemite; the California Tree 

 within a few hundred yards of the Griz- 

 zly Giant and the "dead tunnel tree" on 

 a loop just off the road through the 

 Tuolumne Grove. The Wawona tunnel 

 tree may now be dying from the tramp- 

 ing of millions of human feet on its 

 delicate roots and the former depreda- 

 tion of man in cutting the tunnel. 



B WAWONA POINT. The spur 

 m road leads a short distance to Wa- 

 wona Point. From this point you 

 will have a fine view of the canyon of 

 the South Fork of the Merced River, the 

 meadow and golf course in front of the 

 Wawona Hotel. To the eastward, near 

 the headwaters of the south fork, you 

 can usually see Gale Peak, 10,693 feet in 

 elevation, beyond which lies the drain- 

 age system of the upper San Joaquin 

 River. To the west (left) beyond the de- 

 scending hills is the lower San Joaquin 

 Valley, part of the great Central Valley 

 of California. This is a choice spot from 

 which to see colorful sunsets. 



CHINQUAPIN TO GLACIER POINT 



(Total driving distance 18 miles) 



G GLACIER POINT ROAD. The 

 original road to Glacier Point, built 



in 18 82, was acquired by the Federal 

 Government in 1917 along with the 

 old Wawona Road, at which time tolls 

 were abolished. The present road was 

 completed in 193 6 and follows the 

 original road bed in many places. 



(J MERCED CANYON VIEW. Be- 

 low is seen the gorge of the Merced 



River winding through the foot- 



hills with the Merced Road paralleling 

 it. Near where these disappear beyond a 

 bend are buildings of El. Portal just 

 outside the west boundary of Yosemite 

 National Park. On a clear day you can 

 see the San Joaquin Valley where the 

 town of Merced is located and on the 

 other side of the valley the Coast Range, 

 about 12 5 miles distant. The Wawona 

 Road passes directly beneath you at this 

 viewpoint. In front of you is a sugar 

 pine with its typical ungainly branching 

 form. 



