26o 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



the Tuolumne Canon with the four small bands who passed 

 through it to the Hetch Hetchy. Crossing one channel of the 

 Tuolumne just above Piute Creek on an improvised bridge, 

 and fording a second channel nearly waist deep, we followed 

 the south bank of the river very closely, leaving it occasionally 

 when a huge rocky buttress blocked our way and had to be 

 crossed by a steep and circuitous route farther inland. 



These scrambles were more frequent on the second day 

 as we approached Little Hetch Hetchy and afforded us the 

 pleasures of chimney-climbing, ascending human ladders, and 

 dropping from ''bough to bough" through scrub growth, with 

 many a dusty slide and scramble and occasional falls. Often 

 deer or bear trails helped us. We came on an aspen grove 

 well scarred by claws of bears and mountain lions, but ex- 

 cept for a nightmare rattler and a very realistic dream bear, 

 we met no wild game. 



It was restful to come on the quieter stretches of the river 

 and the open spaces of Little Hetch Hetchy, and to see the 

 wider valley beyond after our days by the rushing water and 

 sheer cliffs and almost overhanging domes. And it was im- 

 possible to reconcile ourselves to the thought of drowning that 

 beautiful meadow land under many fathoms of water, forced 

 back by the proposed dam. The charm of the valley should 

 not be lost. Fortunately for us the memory of our night 

 there can never be submerged. 



Early on the morning of the 26th we found ourselves on 

 the good trail leading to the Hetch Hetchy itself and we all 

 enjoyed the ability to lift our eyes from our feet and see the 

 view with no fear of stumbling. We followed the trail to 

 the base of Kolana Rock, where we carried the defenses of the 

 club cache by assault (and battery), looting it most thoroughly 

 and successfully. 



And then we sat down and reflected, and suddenly a shocking 

 realization came upon us. We had crossed the barrier, the 

 stern realities of life were ours by right of conquest, also the 

 lap of luxury (see cache), but we and our clothes were prac- 

 tically whole, hunger was gone, and we had not suffered any- 

 thing worse than six extraordinarily varied and delightful 

 days. "What an anticlimax!" you say. 



But not one of us will agree with you. 



