The Tuolumne Canon. 



295 



heard nor seen on this trip, but at Lake Tioga they made 

 night hideous With their blood-freezing howls. 



As might be expected, the canon is a good breeding- 

 place for rattlesnakes. We encountered a large number. 

 Most of them seemed shy and disinclined to give warn- 

 ing until attacked. I secured one specimen, a diamond 

 rattler, with eleven rattles and one button. This Cro talus 

 was the only one that disputed the right of way with 

 me. 



On approaching the upper Hetch-Hetchy Valley, dur- 

 ing the fourth day's climb, the vegetation of the canon 

 changed considerably. There was a large intermixture 

 of scrubby oak, and open places frequently were covered 

 with Rhus, We had descended from an altitude of eight 

 thousand five hundred feet to an altitude of four thou- 

 sand, and were entering upon the zone of foothill vegeta- 

 tion. The water of the river also had grown warmer 

 and had lost something of its crystal clearness. Trout 

 seemed to be less abundant and less inclined to take the 

 fly. The river, checking the headlong momentum of its 

 plunges over a thousand falls, began to loiter in immense 

 pools that might have been taken for lakes. Enormous 

 specimens of the California black oak, worthy of the 

 traditions of Dodona, spread their shapely crowns against 

 the horizon. On the sides of the cafion wherever taluses 

 afforded a foothold, the goldcup oak in scattered groves 

 reared its noble arches. 



In the gloaming of the fourth day we reached the 

 Hetch-Hetchy Valley and heard that the main party of 

 the Sierra Club had just arrived and was encamping 

 half a mile farther down the river, where we found a 

 friendly reception that next morning. Relieved of 



