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GRIZZLY BEARS—LIMESTONE— SALT LAKE. 4T 
of drift and debris, mingled with earth, through which the creek has cut a channel, and thus 
formed a terrace or bench on each side, between it and the high mountains. There is very little 
timber on the hills, so that the whole surface was exposed to the sight, and the outcrops of rock 
could be noted here and there. Between these outcrops there were broad patches of good soil, 
which supported a scanty growth of grass and an occasional oak. 
The high hills on each side, presenting occasional outcrops of granitic rocks, were found to 
extend for four or five miles from the entrance; the valley then becomes more open, and the 
granite ridges lower, and nearly covered by a loose sedimentary formation resembling ordinary 
drift, but containing more clay. The surface of the valley is covered with a luxuriant growth 
of grass, and a deep soil supports groves of magnificent oak trees, some of them eight feet in 
diameter. A small brook of pure and cold water was found here, and our camp was on its 
borders, under the branches of the large oaks, while those branches that had fallen, or been 
broken off by bears in gathering acorns, furnished fuel for the fires. While we were encamped 
here an unusual number of grizzly bears were seen. They frequently came to the water to 
drink, in the evening, just after sunset. One of the large oaks bears the following inscription, 
cut deeply into the hard wood: ‘“ Peter le Beck, killed by a bear, Oct. 17, 1837." A broad, 
flat surface was hewed upon the trunk, and well smoothed off before the letters were cut. It is 
a durable monument. 
September 30.—The valley widens out beyond camp, and a broad plain, covered with grass, 
is bordered on each side by oak groves extending for miles. 
Several outcrops of limestone were found near the commencement of this plain, and they 
appear to extend across it obliquely, the rock being found in the ridges on each side. Another 
outcrop was found at the eastern extremity of the plain, and on the north side, at the termina- 
tion of the range of hills. The surface of these hills is rounded and appears barren; but few 
outcrops of rock were observed. 
Salt pond, or Casteca lake, (dry.)—At the eastern end of the grassy plain the pass deflects to- 
wards the south for a short distance, and then again extends east and west. A narrow path or 
trail, however, extends over the hills in a more direct line, and passes by the dry bed of a small 
lake or pond whitened by a solid incrustation of salt. This salt had evidently been left by the 
evaporation of water, which probably collects there to a depth of several feet during the rainy 
season. The salt forms a perfectly white crust, in some places two or three inches thick. It 
looks like a snow-field, and bears a strong contrast with the dark-green foliage of the oak 
timber growing near the shore. The winds, as they course along over this smooth, unobstructed 
surface of salt, loosen large quantities and throw it into drifts, or raise it in clouds and small 
whirlwinds, that dance lightly from shore to shore and fill the air for a great distance to lee- 
ward of the lake, distributing it in a fine powder over the adjoining hills, and salting whole 
acres of vegetation. 
This salt is probably derived from the Tertiary sediments that abound in the vicinity, and is 
dissolved out by the percolation of surface water and by springs. As the lake is a common 
receptacle for the drainage of a large surface of this formation, and has, apparently, no outlet, 
it is doubtless the case that this quantity of salt has been gradually accumulating ; the waters 
becoming annually more and more highly charged, and consequently a larger quantity of salt 
crystallizing with each successive evaporation. 
In this way, interior fresh water lakes may gradually become salt, merely from the supply 
