246 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



are more exposed than others to winds and sun- 

 shine in their falls and thin plumelike cascades ; 

 the amount of dashing, mixing, and airing the 

 waters of each receive varies considerably ; and 

 there is always more or less variety in the kind 

 and quantity of the vegetation they flow through, 

 and in the time they lie in shady or sunny lakes 

 and bogs. 



The water of one of the branches of the north 

 fork of Owens River, near the southeastern boun- 

 dary of the Park, at an elevation of ninety-five 

 hundred feet above the sea, is the best I ever 

 found. It is not only delightfully cool and 

 bright, but brisk, sparkling, exhilarating, and so 

 positively delicious to the taste that a party of 

 friends I led to it twenty-five years ago still 

 praise it, and refer to it as " that wonderful 

 champagne water ; " though, comparatively, the 

 finest wine is a coarse and vulgar drink. The 

 party camped about a week in a pine grove on 

 the edge of a little round sedgy meadow through 

 which the stream ran bank full, and drank its 

 icy water on frosty mornings, before breakfast, 

 and at night about as eagerly as in the heat of 

 the day ; lying down and taking massy draughts 

 direct from the brimming flood, lest the touch 

 of a cup might disturb its celestial flavor. On 

 one of my excursions I took pains to trace this 

 stream to its head springs. It is mostly derived 

 from snow that lies in heavy drifts and avalanche 



