36 



Sierra Club Bulletin, 



THE SODA SPRINGS PROPERTY IN THE TUOLUMNE 

 MEADOWS. 



By J. N. Le Conte. 



On the twenty-sixth day of June of last year, the title to 

 the Lembert (usually called Lambert) homestead of one 

 hundred and sixty acres, including the famous Tuolumne 

 Soda Springs, in the eastern portion of the Yosemite Na- 

 tional Park, passed from its previous owners, the McCau- 

 leys, to the Sierra Club. Lying as it does directly across the 

 finest portion of the Tuolumne Meadow^s, and situated in the 

 midst of the most beautiful of the high Sierra scenery, this 

 locality has for the past forty years attracted hundreds of 

 tourists, campers, and California mountain lovers. The 

 Tioga Road skirts the southern boundary of the property, 

 the Sunrise Trail to Yosemite Valley, and the Rafferty Trail 

 to Lake Merced branch off near its southern boundary. The 

 continuation of the Tioga Road to the east, the Bloody 

 Canon Trail, and the new State Road through Leevining 

 Cafion give direct access to the Mono Lake region. North- 

 ward and westward branch the trails which cover the whole 

 upper basin of the Tuolumne River, while only a few miles 

 to the westward is the gateway to the great Tuolumne 

 Cafion, which ends in the Hetch Hetchy Valley. It is the 

 great central starting point of the eastern portion of the 

 park, more important in this regard than any other locality 

 in the park, except the Yosemite itself. Its importance as 

 a central location was soon appreciated by the government 

 officers, when one of the principal outposts was located 

 there, and connected by telephone with the Yosemite Valley. 

 Its convenience as a starting point, and its splendid scenic 

 features were also early appreciated by the Outing Commit- 

 tee of the Sierra Club, for the first annual Outing in 1901 

 was made to Soda Springs, and it has been the policy of the 

 committee to arrange an Outing with this as a base of opera- 

 tions at least once in three years. 



