The Second King's River Outing. loi 



alien eye. They are set apart, fenced around, labeled, 

 and made a show for the curious till half their charm is 

 lost. But as one journeys farther from accustomed 

 ways, where each new height brings a wider outlook into 

 the stern gray heart of the mountain country, a turn of 

 the trail brings one unexpectedly into a group of these 

 silent, majestic trees. It is then that a more intimate 

 sense of their beauty possesses one, the marvel of that 

 life where "a thousand years are but as yesterday," and 

 wonder, even admiration, is lost in reverence. 



We had heard that the King's River was in flood, but 

 I think few of us appreciated what that meant until we 

 first caught sight of the foaming white torrent that raced 

 through the canon below Cedar Grove. It was a wicked- 

 looking, dangerous river, full of swirls and eddies and 

 treacherous backwaters whence some passionate, despair- 

 ing living thing seemed to be fighting to escape. Willow 

 bushes, borne down by the force of the rushing waters, 

 barely lifted their straining tops above the current; trees 

 outlining the normal banks stood six feet deep in water ; 

 and on one pine fairly in the middle of the stream a large 

 placard gave futile warning of the danger from forest 

 fires. 



Of course, bridges and footlogs had suffered a whole- 

 sale destruction, and the main bridge, leading to our 

 permanent camp, where a large part of the commissary 

 supplies were already installed, had been swept away. 

 Rangers and packers were already at work felling trees 

 for its reconstruction; so we went into camp at Cedar 

 Grove — and waited. As many of the Sierra Club men 

 joined heartily in the work, the first stringer was very 

 soon across. But unfortunately the river rose again, 

 carrying away the log and leaving four honored members 

 who had shinnied across upon it to join the workers on 

 the other shore, marooned, with not even a toothbrush 

 among them. 



In view of some such mishap, however, another plan 

 had been perfected for a temporary bridge, utilizing the 



