The High Sierra 



213 



distance from there by way of Prince 

 Albert to Churchill is about 800 miles, or 

 the same distance as from Regina to Fort 

 William, on Lake Superior, and a thou- 

 sand miles shorter than the distance from 

 Regina to Montreal, at the head of sea 

 navigation on the Saint Lawrence. The 

 distance from Churchill to Liverpool is 

 almost the same as that from Montreal to 

 Liverpool ; consequently there is a saving 

 in distance of a thousand miles of rail or 

 river carriage in favor of the northern 

 route. 



The question of the storage of the 

 grain until the season following the har- 

 vest is at first sight a serious one, but 

 when it is known that not twenty per 

 cent of the grain at present reaches the 

 seaboard before the opening of naviga- 

 tion of the year following that in which 

 it is harvested, this objection practically 

 disappears, for the grain may be as well 

 stored on the shores of Hudson Bay as in 

 the elevators on the plains or at Fort 

 William. 



THE HIGH SIERRA 



ALL lovers of mountain scenery 

 and mountain climbing will be 

 interested in a new publication, Alpina 

 Americana, established as a quarterly by 

 the American Alpine Club, whose ob- 

 ject is to encourage interest in our 

 beautiful western mountains, and at the 

 same time to teach how they may be 

 best appreciated and enjoyed. The first 

 number is entirely devoted to a mono- 

 graph on "The High Sierra" by Profes- 

 sor Joseph N. Le Conte, of the Uni- 

 versity of California. It is illustrated 

 with some excellent views, and also con- 

 tains a map of the mountains prepared 

 by Mr Le Conte. Prof. Charles E. 

 Fay, of Tufts College, the editor, and the 

 editorial committee deserve much grati- 

 tude from the public for their generous 

 support of this worthy undertaking. 



Professor Le Conte gives a highly in- 

 structive account of the Sierra, describ- 

 ing their geological history, their scenery, 

 and the best means of exploring them. 



The following paragraphs are abstracted 

 from his article : 



The Sierra Nevada forms a part of 

 the western bulkwark of that great con- 

 tinental plateau upon which is built the 

 North American Cordillera. Though it 

 is but one of the many ranges within 

 the boundaries of the United States, not 

 one surpasses, if any equals, the Sierra 

 when extent, altitude, and grandeur of 

 scenery are taken into account. It is one 

 of the great features of the earth's sur- 

 face, standing in remarkable isolation, 

 wonderfully simple in general outlines, 

 and fascinating alike to the scientist, 

 mountaineer, nature lover, and, in fact, 

 to any one who has once penetrated its 

 deepest recesses. 



The Sierra Nevada, as generally de- 

 fined, is limited strictly to California, and 

 may be considered to extend from the 

 Tehachapi Pass (latitude 35° 10') to 

 Mt. Shasta (latitude 41° 25'), a distance 

 of over 500 miles along the eastern 

 border of the state. The exact termina- 

 tion to the north and south cannot be 

 clearly defined, as its spurs mingle .with 

 those of the Coast Range in those por- 

 tions ; but throughout its central part it 

 forms a single, isolated mountain mass, 

 extending from Tejon Pass (latitude 35° 

 45') to Lassen Peak (latitude 40° 30'), a 

 distance of about 385 miles. Between 

 these points the crest line, which is the 

 hydrographic divide between the Pacific 

 Ocean and the Great Basin, is nearly 

 straight, as are also the lines, about 

 eighty miles apart, which terminate its 

 slopes on the east and west. 



The range is one of the grandest 

 known examples of the "basin" type of 

 formation. It can be briefly charac- 

 terized as a single block of the earth's 

 crust upheaved along its eastern edge, 

 and thus presenting to the west a long 

 gradual rise covering nine-tenths of its 

 entire area, and to the east a precipitous 

 front of imposing dimensions. The total 

 dissimilarity of the two slopes is_ per- 

 haps its most striking feature. It is the 

 result of its geologic history and is the 

 primary cause of the peculiarly Sierran 



