102 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



Soda Springs, Tuolumne Meadows 



accommodate about. 125 people and is 

 open from about July 1 to September 

 15. It is one of five hikers' and horse- 

 back riders' camps along the high Sierra 

 loop. This scenic route may be covered 

 with relatively easy hiking if spread over 

 5 days or more. Other camps are at May 

 Lake, Glen Aulin, Vogelsang and Mer- 

 ced Lake. All furnish comfortable beds 

 and good meals and limited hiker sup- 

 plies. Motorists may be accommodated 

 at the Tuolumne Meadows camp. 



J MORAINE OF ROCKS LEFT 

 2j BY THE GLACIERS. The roadcut, 

 known as the Blue Slide, exposes 

 here a section of a rounded hill composed 

 of loose rock and fine material left after 

 the front of a glacier melted back. This 

 moraine swings in a great arc toward the 

 peaks to the right (south). 



J DANA FORK OF THE TUOL- 

 ^^ UMNE RIVER. Beyond the turn-off 

 ^^ road to the Tuolumne High Sierra 

 Camp the main highway follows along 

 the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River 

 which has its source on Mt. Dana. 



J TUOLUMNE PEAK. Looking back 

 ^<3 down the highway towards Tuol- 

 umne Meadows you can see prom- 

 ncnt Tuolumne Peak, 10,875 feet in 

 elevation, located a short distance north 

 of the May Lake High Sierra Camp. 



X MAMMOTH PEAK. Looking 



*%m straight ahead along the road from 



this point the great rounded form 



of Mammoth Peak rises to an elevation 



of 12,225 feet. 



J MT. GIBBS. Named for Wolcott 

 -_ Gibbs, well-known professor of 

 ^^ science at Harvard at the turn of 

 the century and life-long friend of Pro- 

 fessor Whitney, California State geolo- 

 gist, Mt. Gibbs (seen directly ahead) 

 rises to an elevation of 12,000 feet. 



T MT. DANA. Mt. Dana can be 

 ^# climbed from Tioga Pass with rela- 

 tive ease. It is not only the second 

 highest peak in the park, elevation 13, 

 05 3 feet, but it is one of the most col- 

 orful. (Inquire of park ranger at the 

 Tioga Pass Entrance Station.) Noted 

 for its beautiful summer wildflower gar- 

 dens, it was named for James Dana of 

 Yale University, pioneer geologist of the 

 past century. 



Looking back towards Tuolumne 

 Meadows the skyline, as shown in the 

 sketch opposite identifies Johnson 

 Cockscomb, Unicorn and Cathedral 

 Peaks. As you drive westward towards 

 Tuolumne Meadows you will see these 

 peaks framed strikingly by the road cor- 

 ridor through the forest. Roadside signs 

 will aid you to recognize them. 



T TIOGA PEAK. The prominent 

 2Tf peak before you is Tioga Peak, ele- 

 vation 11, 513 feet. Tioga Peak, like 

 Tioga Lake, Tioga Pass, and Tioga 

 Road, comes from an Iroquois Indian 

 name meaning "Where it forks." 



J KUNA CREST. If you look back 

 ~o and to the left from this point with- 

 AO in 0.6 of a mile of Tioga Pass En- 

 trance Station you will see a range of 

 peaks known as Kuna Crest at whose 

 northern (right) end stands Mammoth 



