222 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



in the High Sierra. Situated at an elevation of between 

 8,000 and 9,000 feet above the sea-level, surrounded by 

 noble ranges and fantastically shaped peaks which rise 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 feet higher, and from which the 

 snow never entirely disappears, traversed by a clear 

 rapid river, along which meadows and clumps of pines 

 alternate, the effect of the whole is indeed most superb. 

 The vicinity of Soda Springs [on the north side 

 of the valley], and, indeed, the whole region about the 

 head of the upper Tuolumne, is one of the finest in the 

 State for studying the traces of the ancient glacier 

 system of the Sierra Nevada." Glacier-polished granite 

 extends over a vast area, and ''this is so perfect that the 

 surface is often seen from a distance to glitter with the 

 light reflected from it, as from a mirror. The main 

 portion of the valley is about four miles long, and from 

 half to a third of a mile wide." 



''The canon of the Tuolumne runs in a nearly east- 

 and-west direction, about parallel with that of the 

 Merced, and some twelve miles north of it. The length 

 of the portion included between the Tuolumne Meadows, 

 at Soda Springs, and the head of the Hetch-Hetchy, is 

 about twenty-two miles. During this distance the river 

 runs everywhere in a very narrow gorge, with lofty and 

 very precipitous walls, and with frequent and beautiful 

 cascades, as might be expected, since the fall of the river 

 in the distance named is about 4,650 feet, or over 200 feet 

 to the mile. It is to be regretted that it is not pos- 

 sible to pass through the canon with animals, entering 

 at the Hetch-Hetchy and coming out at the upper end, 

 or vice versa. This will undoubtedly be done in 

 time." 



