128 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



It is needless to say we were up early. With the unknown 

 troubles ahead, I for one did not need an alarm clock, but 

 was awake hours before the appointed time of 4 a. m. After 

 a hasty breakfast of mush, coffee, and bread, we repacked our 

 knapsacks, hid our sleeping-bags amongst the rocks near the 

 trail, and long before sunrise struck out up the canon. 



For the first half-mile we followed a footpath which leads 

 to the base of Snow Creek Falls. After crossing this tributary, 

 there is no trail or track of any kind except an occasional 

 bear trail. The next mile along the base of Mt. Watkins is 

 savagely rough. Gigantic rock masses, fallen from Mt. Wat- 

 kins and the Clouds Rest ridge, choke the cafion, while between 

 these there is a dense growth of scrub oak timber, and higher 

 up the slopes almost impenetrable brush. This, while probably 

 the roughest part of the canon, presents no element of danger 

 whatever. We covered the distance in about an hour. 



Toward the upper end the canon bottom opens out into a 

 small flat, fairly free of brush. Here, stretching directly across 

 the canon, is a continuous wall of cliffs from three to five 

 hundred feet in height, through which the creek cuts in a ver- 

 tical walled gorge. This is the entrance to the inner or box 

 canon of Tenaya Creek, the passage of which is one of the 

 only two serious obstacles in the canon. This transverse wall 

 is pretty well broken to the east or right of the inner gorge, 

 where brush and small trees grow in breaks of the rock. From 

 below, it seemed possible to ascend this right wall to the 

 brushy slope a5ove, and thus avoid the inner gorge entirely. 

 This might require considerable time, as the way looked by no 

 means easy, and time would be needed to search out a passable 

 route. 



We decided to try the bottom of the inner gorge. Its ragged 

 portal looked most inviting, and we certainly would not give it 

 up without a trial. The creek was fortunately very low. We 

 made our way into the gloomy chasm by walking most of the 

 time in the water, for even at this season there was little space 

 on the sides. So jumping from boulder to boulder, or wading, 

 we progressed without trouble for perhaps a quarter of a mile. 

 The gorge was very narrow, sometimes not over thirty feet 

 wide. The first difficulty was encountered where the creek 



