Yosemite National Park 191 



of the Valley and finally joining with the modest Merced River 

 which courses its way through the Valley, much in the fashion 

 that the Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kings, Kern and other rivers 

 flow through gorges likewise cut in the hard rocks by water and 

 ice. But the soul that is not stirred and filled somewhat with awe 

 and wonder who stands on the gravel filled plain at the foot 

 of El Capitan or the Cathedral Rocks and gazes upward with 

 his head set backward at an angle of 90 degrees, or who stands 

 on any vantage point, as Glacier Point, and looks out upon 

 Half Dome and Basket Dome and North Dome, and reflects 

 on the valley that separates Half Dome from North Dome and 

 Basket Dome, one who thus gazes and really sees what he looks 

 at, will feel to cry out Incomparable Yosemite, and will despair 

 of words to express the emotions that arise in his soul, and in the 

 souls of those who see beyond the rocks. 



The Yosemite Region Geologically Old 



The history of the Yosemite region goes far back as time is 

 measured in years. Geologically the region is young. In an 

 earlier chapter the uplifting and tilting of the great Sierra 

 block was described. The uplifting of the eastern side of this 

 great block and the westward slope of the tilted block toward 

 the Pacific Ocean caused the streams that flowed westward to 

 move with increased velocities, and hence to erode their valleys 

 more vigorously. Practically all the great streams that flow 

 westward from the Sierra crest toward the Great Valley flow 

 today through deep gorges. South of the Merced the San 

 Joaquin, Kings, Kaweah, and Kern, and to the north the 

 Tuolumne and others, have cut deeply into the great granitic 

 batholith that was upwelled under the Cretaceous and Tertiary 

 (and older) formations. Running water, particularly when 

 loaded with sand and gravel derived from the land surfaces 

 adjacent, erodes the hardest rocks. Thus streams have cut deep 

 channels as they coursed down the inclined slope of the great 

 Sierra uplifted and tilted block. Thus nature set about the task 



