Grand Canons of Tuolumne and Merced. 237 



some huge blocks of granite that made traveling with 

 knapsacks almost impossible, but we later found consid- 

 erable difficulty in making our way along the southern 

 shore of the lake. A very short stretch of blasting would 

 make the more open northern bank accessible to pack- 

 trains, which could then be taken as far as the amphi- 

 theater at the head of the canon. We did not regret the 

 extra work, however, for in making our way up the 

 southern bank of the river above the lake we found, bub- 

 bling forth close to the river, a soda spring whose waters 

 were pronounced to be the equal of the Lambert Spring — 

 even better, some of us maintained. Soon afterward we 

 reached the rocky amphitheater where we had planned 

 to camp ; but, finding that we were still fresh, and know- 

 ing how difficult the next day's work must be, we decided 

 to go on a little farther. So after a brief rest we shoul- 

 dered our packs again and climbed to the top of the 

 cliff over which the Triple Peak Fork tumbles. Near the 

 head of the fall we made camp. The tamaracks gave but 

 a scanty shelter overhead, and the skies looked ominously 

 like rain ; but we chose the most sheltered spots for our 

 sleeping-bags, built a roaring fire against a great boulder, 

 and, after a business-like and highly satisfactory dispatch 

 of supper, felt that cheerful unconcern towards mere 

 weather that marks the well-fed mountaineer. 



Evening wrought a wonderful change in the somewhat 

 desolate spot. The scrawny tamaracks, outlined against 

 the brilliant clouds, formed a sky-line of unexpected 

 picturesqueness. At our feet, to the westward, lay the 

 dusky canon, whose shadows were broken at the farther 

 end by a bit of flaming sunset glow mirrored in the still 

 surface of Lake Washburn. Beside us the turbulent 

 stream, while still aglimmer with the light from the west, 

 caught a new, strange gleam from the east, and turning 

 we saw the whimsical face of the full moon appearing 

 above the tamaracks — a midsummer moon; and who 

 knows what revelries the hidden elves were holding in the 

 falls below us where the silver drops were flung so high? 



