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Sierra Club Bulletin. 



view across the San Joaquin Canon became finer. We 

 could see not only to the top of the walls, but far above 

 to the snowy summits which fed the scores of little cas- 

 cades. Down the canon we could look for miles, over 

 the country through which we had come, and then up 

 the gorge till it became lost in the wilderness of peaks 

 which form the Goddard Divide. The trail kept close 

 to the stream, and so we climbed past cataract after 

 cataract, till suddenly the floor of our cafion flattened 

 out, and we entered a magnificent glacial valley. This is 

 one of the most perfect examples of a hanging valley 

 that I have ever seen. The floor at its lower end is fully 

 a thousand feet above the San Joaquin Cafion, yet the 

 volume of water it carries is even greater than that of 

 the main stream above their junction. Just above the 

 falls is a large meadow, farther up the customary 

 U-shaped glacial valley covered with timber, and at its 

 head rises a huge flat-topped peak — Mt. Darwin. The 

 meadow is wet and cold, — in other words, it is not the 

 best of camping-places, — but as night was coming on we 

 were forced to " put up " there and make the best of it. 



Next morning, after an early breakfast, we took our 

 way up this magnificent valley. A half-mile above camp 

 our scarcely distinguishable trail crossed to the north 

 side of the creek, and continued on that side the remainder 

 of the distance. The traveling was fairly easy, though 

 time was often lost in searching out a route through the 

 confusing roches moutonnees. Off to the south could be 

 seen great peaks of the Goddard Group, peaks of black 

 and red slate streaked with snow, and even some with 

 " baby glaciers " at their feet. Standing well out from 

 the south wall some distance above is the Hermit, a 



