The Kern Rwer Outing of ipi2. 



21 



on its way. The coloring of the walls surpasses that of the 

 sister valley — soft pastel shades giving an almost eerie radiance 

 to the picture. A storm gathered as we went and the passing 

 clouds lent their play of lights and shadows to the wonder 

 of the whole. The rain fell just enough to bring out all the 

 warm, sweet odors. We were almost sorry when, arriving at 

 the junction of the Kern and Kern-Kaweah Canons, we found 

 ourselves in camp. 



And yet the place was most attractive. The length of the 

 canon was below us, its walls rose up above us, while over 

 us Kern Peak, a most majestic cliff, stood guard. The Kern- 

 Kaweah poured over a great rock-barrier in a series of lovely 

 cataracts. The Kern slipped through another barrier in a 

 narrow, winding gorge. And in the midst of all this grandeur, 

 gay and unabashed, blossomed a lovely garden — meadow-rue 

 and columbine and hundreds of tiger lilies under the trees. 



From the Junction Camp everyone had an opportunity to 

 visit one of Mother Nature's most perfect bits of handicraft — 

 the hanging canon of the Kern-Kaweah. Towering walls, a 

 tumbling stream, sharp granite peaks at its head and, framed 

 in its rocky walls, a wonderful vista — the wild peaks of the 

 opposite range seen at the head of the East Fork Canon. By 

 trail or by the bed of the stream the entrance to it from the 

 Kern is most alluring. A short distance up, the stream widens 

 out to form Rockslide Lake, which shows the most pellucid 

 water, clear as crystal and emerald green. Just beyond the 

 canon widens into a sort of granite amphitheater. Two tribu- 

 tary streams pour over the walls, and meeting, dash into the 

 main canon over a rocky ledge. The main stream, too, comes 

 tumbling down in a lovely fall. Between them is a fine grove 

 of pines and a perfect little meadow. And so this canon goes, 

 lakes and cataracts and towering walls and at its head the 

 savage company of mountains. Triple Peak Divide and the 

 Milestone Bow. The Kern-Kaweah lives in the memory as one 

 of those rare glimpses of perfection that we are now and then 

 vouchsafed. 



At Junction Camp our family was divided, a large party trav- 

 eling farther up the Kern to the vicinity of Mounts Tyndall and 

 Williamson and Table and Thunder Mountains. Here the 



