72 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



sixty days to Deadman's Canon). We camped opposite that 

 singular mountain, the Whaleback, above the mouth of Table 

 Creek. The next day we cHmbed Table Mountain (altitude 

 13,646 feet) in the great western divide, whence by far the finest 

 view of the High Sierra I have ever had rewarded us — a view 

 including the upper cafion of the Kern, the Mt. Whitney Range 

 north from Olanche Peak, the north walls of the King's Cafion, 

 the Great Western Divide, the Roaring River Cafion, and Mo- 

 raine Ridge, and perhaps fifty high mountain peaks from Mt. 

 Whitney downward, and many mountain lakes. Table Mountain 

 is individual in having a greater surface area on its fiat top 

 (probably 70 acres) than any other mountain of corresponding 

 or greater height in this country. We found no evidence of any 

 trail to this mountain-top, nor any sign of previous visitors upon 

 it; accordingly we lost considerable time in exploration on the 

 way up and did not reach the summit until 3 140 p. m. As a re- 

 sult we camped, with such comfort as a fire gave us, on the rim 

 of the steep wall of Cloudy Cafion all night at timber-line, in a 

 grove of mountain pine, watching the home campfire 1,500 feet 

 below. Breakfast next morning was hugely appreciated. 



Our route next took us up the cafion to the Triple Peak divide, 

 whence we found an abandoned trail through Miners' Gap ( 12,000 

 feet) across to the head of the western branch of Roaring River, 

 paralleling north and south the Cloudy Canon fork. The canon 

 of the stream known then as Deadman's Cafion has been now 

 changed to Copper Cafion, in honor of the abandoned copper mine 

 charmingly wrought in as a part of Stewart Edward White's storj^, 

 'The Trail." The old trail through the gap we reconstructed, 

 and, crossing, descended Deadman's Cafion to timber-line, where 

 camp was made, while on the ensuing day we explored for a 

 possible route down into the Middle Fork of the Kaweah. This 

 we located with some difficulty, through a saddle (Red Gap) over 

 which v/e passed and which presented no great obstacle. We 

 monumented the route which diverges to the right from the 

 old, unused miners' trail in Deadman's (Copper) Cafion a con- 

 siderable distance above timber-line but below the last (upper) 

 falls. This leads upward to a junction with a small stream flow- 

 ing down from Red Gap, which can be readily recognized as a 

 red, iron-stained saddle, quite to the right of the central point 

 of the cirque-like ridge at the head of the cafion. On its summit 

 is a miner's monument, well built, but not visible from the canon. 

 Crossing the saddle the route is monumented to a little meadow 

 a mile down, where we camped over night in a little clump of 

 trees. The route down into the Kaweah should be explored be- 

 fore being attempted, as we did not monument it. On the United 

 States Geological Survey maps a small unnamed stream, running 



