The White Mountains of California 285 



number of plant species on the peak proper is very small and 

 the vegetation is exceedingly scanty. 



If one is a pigmy one cannot view a giant very well by 

 standing at his feet. One does, to be sure, obtain a certain im- 

 pression of the vastness and height of the eastern wall of the 

 Sierra Nevada by standing at its base in the Owens Valley; 

 but these impressions are not in any wise comparable to the 

 impressions thronging instantly on the mind as one surveys the 

 Sierra from the altitude of White Mountain Peak. The high 

 snow fields and plateaux and peaks unfold in a way to reveal 

 unexpected and unusual grandeur. It is a revelation of the 

 highest Sierra — almost as if one were viewing them from the 

 vantage point of a separate planet which had wandered near. 



In the end of April and early May it was my fortune to be 

 in Death Valley, whence a trip was made into the Panamint 

 Range, of which the dominating height is Telescope Peak, 11,- 

 045 feet in altitude. The situation of Telescope Peak, its dis- 

 tance from Mt. Whitney, and its altitude combine to render it 

 an unequalled view-point for comprehension of the premier 

 mountain chain of California. From this pinnacle one sees the 

 Sierra Nevada rising from the great interior plateau as an un- 

 broken wall barring the westward way. One is thrilled with a 

 new sensation, for he feels that he sees the whole snowy range. 

 There it comes, out of the far distance from the Mt. Ritter 

 group of peaks, down to University Peak and Mt. Williamson, 

 curving down to Mt. Whitney, Mt. Le Conte, and Mt. Lang- 

 ley, curving steadily on to Olancha Peak, and always without 

 pass or break, and still curving steadily on westerly till lost in 

 the Double Peak of the Tehachapi Range, thus enfolding to the 

 westward that mysterious land, the light of which one sees 

 through a purple haze beyond the line of snowy peaks. 



To my mind no other view of the Sierra Nevada equals this 

 in romantic character. From no other point does one so nearly 

 seize the whole mighty chain in one sweep of the eye ; from no 

 other point is the contrast of the desert ranges so impressive ; 

 from no other point is there greater possible appreciation of 

 the Sierra Nevada as a barrier, especially in its relation to the 

 westward migration of men. 



The White Mountains, however, far surpass the Panamint 



