l82 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



the rim of our frying-pan, so while passing up the valley 

 we kept a sharp look-oUt for them. But, though the water 

 seemed ideal, we saw no trace of a fish. Snakes there 

 were in this as in the other Paradise, but not a trout of any 

 kind ; and although it seemed useless to "go a fishin' " 

 when no fish were to be seen, we dropped our flies into 

 most of the promising water, but neither from riffle nor 

 pool did we get a rise. What has become of the fifteen 

 thousand fish planted here in 1906? Have they worked 

 their way up the stream to the headwaters? We saw 

 nothing of Eastern brook trout up Wood's Creek. Or 

 have they gone down over Mist Falls? Some certainly 

 have, for more than a dozen have been caught about 

 Kanawyer's during 1907 and 1908. It is much to be 

 hoped that most of them may yet be found in the waters 

 of the upper basin. 



We made camp that night at the foot of the spur which 

 so conveniently runs out on the floor of the valley, afford- 

 ing a magnificent view of the three canons radiating from 

 this point: to the north the gorge beneath Muro Blanco, 

 to the east the valley of Wood's Creek looking to Mt. 

 Baxter and Sawmill Pass, to the south at our feet the 

 beautiful Paradise. Our sunset reveries from this bluff 

 were interrupted by the bringing in of a fine buck which 

 furnished us with venison for several days to come. 



The ardor of the next day's tramp up Wood's Creek 

 was dampened somewhat by showers and the fear of 

 showers. Our views were confined to the immediate 

 valley, for a pall of cloud rested on the shoulders of the 

 titan peaks — King, Gardner, Rixford, Black, Diamond 

 and Baxter — which guard Rae Lake. We made camp in 

 the rain, but by night-fall a few stars and a faint moon 

 appeared. As we sat about the camp-fire, drying out and 

 enjoying the warmth which worked its way into the 

 marrow of our bones, the flickering shadows brought to 

 our minds thoughts of one who was "sleepin' out an' far" 

 that night somewhere beneath the crests of the same peaks 

 that loomed above us. 



