Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Vol. VIL San Francisco, January, 1909. No. i 



THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ROUTE BETWEEN 

 YOSEMITE AND THE KING'S RIVER 

 CANON. 



By Joseph N. Le Conte. 



The southern High Sierra is, from a scenic stand- 

 point, the finest part of the range. As one passes south- 

 ward from Mount Lyell, the Main Crest becomes pro- 

 gressively higher, the river canons deeper, and the area 

 above the timber line broader and more savagely sculp- 

 tured, till the climax is reached at the head of King's 

 River. To find a route through the entire length of this 

 rugged region has been the ambition of many a lover 

 of the High Sierra. Such a route, if practicable for pack 

 animals, would furnish the most delightful outing imag- 

 inable, for it would show in a few weeks the entire 

 length of the finest portion of the Main Crest, and place 

 one within striking distance of all the great sumrriits, 

 including Lyell, Ritter, Red Slate, Abbott, Humphreys, 

 Darwin, Goddard, the Palisades, Pinchot, Williamson, 

 and Whitney, a distance of over one hundred miles in 

 an air line. 



The first who attempted an exploration of the south- 

 ern High Sierra were Professor William H. Brewer and 

 his assistants, of the California Geological Survey in 

 1864-65. Although they crossed some of the highest 

 parts of the range, and succeeded in getting a very gen- 

 eral idea of this great region, their work was largely 

 reconnaissance, and not of a detailed nature.* 



* California Geological Survey, Vol. I, Geology, pp. 364-437. 



