The Hetch-Hetchy Valley. 



221 



Extracts from State Geologist Professor J. D. 

 Whitney's Yosemite Guide-Book (Published 1874) 



on the HETCH-HETCHY VALLEY, 



THE BIG TUOLUMNE MEADOWS, and 

 THE TUOLUMNE CANON, 



SHOWING THEIR RELATIONSHIP, ETC. 



"The Hetch-Hetchy is 3,650 feet above the sea-level, 

 or 300 feet below the Yosemite; it is three miles long 

 east and west, but is divided into two parts by a spur 

 of granite which nearly closes it up in the center. The 

 portion of the valley below this spur is a large open 

 meadow, a mile in length, and from an eighth to half a 

 mile in width, with excellent grass, timbered only along 

 the edge. The upper part of the valley is a mile and 

 three quarters long, and from an eighth to a third of a 

 mile wide, well timbered and grassed. The walls of this 

 valley are not quite so high as those of Yosemite; but 

 still anywhere else than in California they would be 

 considered as wonderfully grand. On the north side of 

 Hetch-Hetchy is a perpendicular bluff, the edge of which 

 is 1,800 feet above the valley, and having a remarkable 

 resemblance to El Capitan. In the spring, when the 

 snows are melting, a large stream is precipitated over 

 this cliff, falling at least 1,000 feet perpendicular. The 

 volume of water is very large, and the whole of the 

 lower part of the valley is said to be filled with its spray. 

 A little farther east is the Hetch-Hetchy Fall, the 

 counterpart of the Yosemite. The height is 1,700 feet. 

 It is not quite perpendicular. The volume of water is 

 much larger than that of the Yosemite Fall, and in the 

 spring its noise can be heard for miles. The position 

 of this fall in relation to the valley is exactly like that 

 of the Yosemite Fall in its valley, and opposite to it is 

 a rock much resembling the Cathedral Rock, and 2,270 

 feet high. . . . 



"The valley of the Tuolumne [or Big Tuolumne 

 Meadows] is one of the most picturesque and delightful 



