Whitney’s Geology of California. 367 
s. : 
e high peaks ni hehicewd miles farther north, near Lake 
Mono, are of entirely different aspect.. Mt. Dana rises to an 
altitude of 18,227 feet, and has a more rounded outline. This 
a8 well as its neighbor, Castle Peak, which is about 13,000 feet, 
Consists of metamorphic slates. These slates belong really to 
the eastern slope, but here form the crest; and a little farther 
south they become enclosed in the granite and finally end with- 
In the chain. 
Mt. Dana will doubtless soon become the resort of tourists, 
being very accessible from the Mono Trail, which runs along 
by its southern base, and lying directly back of Yosemite valley. 
It is rare indeed that so much sublime scenery can be found 
within so short a distance as within the forty miles from Yose- 
mite valley to this peak. The ascent is easy, and the view ex- 
tensive, embracing the whole western slope on that side, and 
extending to the coast ranges, which in places are 200 miles 
distant; and in the opposite direction reaching far over the 
deserts, and the many mountain chains that rise from them. __ 
he eastern slope is everywhere very precipitous along this 
part of the chain. From both Mt. Whitney and Mt. Dana, the 
average slope from the summit to the eastern base amounts to 
1000 feet per mile, portions of the declivity being of course 
very much steeper. And such slopes as these are common in 
the higher Sierras, even on slopes as much as 6,000 to 10,000 
feet together. 
Yosemite valley lies in the broad granite belt of the center of 
the chain. It has been so often described that we omit any - 
on the 
