Seeing the Sierra in the Springtime. 



by 



Don C&rlos Kills 



r is the subject of my story, for though I ar. 

 the pleasant task of working up the northern por- 

 tion of my Sierra trip, weather exercised so controlling 

 ar. influence upon my Joumeyings oo to be a controlling 

 factor . 



The place i a California, golder. California, tha land 

 of sunshine; tho time, the first of iOay. Lnng since had 

 the sr.ews c-f winter ai;d the season of rain disappeared. I 

 knew this to be true , because the railroad prospectuses 

 and the long-tine residents of the 3tate said so, and I 

 had boor, adequately assured from all sides, at the San 

 I-'ranoisoo of fie* that wow was the ideal time for my visit. 



I had been ur.fertunate thus far in my selection *f 

 weather in which to visit the Forests. Because of the snow 

 and the extreme cold, most of the activities on the Coconi o 

 and Tusayan had been closed, except the Backus University 



r sale whioi. I took in on the Coconino, and Ranger .ay's 

 tnuriats a:id Indians at Grand Canyon. 1- ith the temperature 

 ten c.iid fifteen degrees below zero at /illiams and flagstaff 

 wher* r.y Itinerary required me to change trains in the wee 

 srr.a' hours, I conclude? that I would better proceed further 

 a ruth. 



n I reached Presoott, rains had set in such as had 

 been known before in the hiotory of the Southwest. I 

 I two days, hoping that the cllwite would let up so 

 : might see the Presoott Forest, but it only grew 

 worse and the r^ads were impassable. I had to be content 

 with the view it it which I obtained from the trein window. 



had hc.Tjec 1 to take the auto-sta^e irom Phoenix to the Roose- 

 vplt Lam, but the stage could not run because the ro&d was 

 made up mainly of swollen , rushing arroyas. The Roosevelt 

 Roaervnir was soon thereafter filled to its capacity and 

 running OVPT and the State of Arizona had just been 

 vctod 'dr-"I I can never a^ain put any stock in the phrase 

 Bub-hunid Southwest'. 



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