THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 77 



and silver pine. And how bright is the shining 

 after summer showers and dewy nights, and after 

 frosty nights in spring and autumn, when the 

 morning sunbeams are pouring through the 

 crystals on the bushes and grass, and in winter 

 through the snow-laden trees ! 



The average cloudiness for the whole year is 

 perhaps less than ten hundredths. Scarcely a 

 day of all the summer is dark, though there is 

 no lack of magnificent thundering cumuli. They 

 rise in the warm midday hours, mostly over the 

 middle region, in June and July, like new moun- 

 tain ranges, higher Sierras, mightily augmenting 

 the grandeur of the scenery while giving rain to 

 the forests and gardens and bringing forth their 

 fragrance. The wonderful weather and beauty 

 inspire everybody to be up and doing. Every 

 summer day is a workday to be confidently 

 counted on, the short dashes of rain forming, 

 not interruptions, but rests. The big blessed 

 storm days of winter, when the whole range 

 stands white, are not a whit less inspiring and 

 kind. Well may the Sierra be called the Range 

 of Light, not the Snowy Range ; for only in 

 winter is it white, while all the year it is bright. 



Of this glorious range the Yosemite National 

 Park is a central section, thirty-six miles in 

 length and forty-eight miles in breadth. The 

 famous Yosemite Valley lies in the heart of it, 

 and it includes the head waters of the Tuolumne 



