38 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



for an afternoon's golden-trout fishing. The falls of Cartridge 

 Creek may be visited on the way. It is not a trail along which 

 to hurry. 



Grouse Valley is perhaps the most ideal camping-spot along 

 the whole route. It is hard to keep from rhapsodizing upon 

 it ; but as the purpose of this article is primarily utilitarian, I 

 will merely remark that water, fuel, shelter, feed, and fish do 

 all abound. There are superb side-trips in every direction. An 

 impressive view of the North Palisade can be obtained by tak- 

 ing the Bishop Pass trail up Dusy Creek. The ascent can be 

 made by making a base camp at the head of this creek. 



There were several large bands of sheep in the Middle Fork 

 region last summer. The abomination was everywhere. At 

 the close of the season these "hoofed locusts" were turned into 

 Grouse Meadow itself, which was contrary to the regulations 

 of the Forest Service. This action, however, was only one of 

 a long list that go to prove the impossibility of regulating sheep- 

 herders. There is only one way to protect the Sierra for recre- 

 ational and educational purposes, and that is to exclude sheep 

 entirely. When this region becomes a part of the national 

 park system, as it inevitably must, the grazing of sheep will be 

 prohibited in accordance with the established policy of the 

 Park Service. The same prohibition should be extended all 

 along the line of the John Muir Trail, even in those sections 

 that may remain under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service. 

 The Sierra Club, led by John Muir himself, worked for many 

 years to bring about the exclusion of sheep from the west side 

 of the Sierra, and at length prevailed, only to have the work un- 

 done in the past few years under the guise of a war measure. If 

 there were not good assurance that sheep would in the future be 

 excluded from this region, I would not trouble to v/rite this arti- 

 cle, for but few people would care to follow the John Muir Trail. 



The next stage in the journey northward is the most splen- 

 did of all — over Muir Pass and through Evolution Basin. Un- 

 til the building of the new trail, Muir Pass had rarely been 

 crossed with animals. George R. Davis, of the United States 

 Geological Survey, was probably the first to succeed when he 

 led his pack-train across in 1907. Le Conte, Hutchinson, and 

 McDuffie, of the Sierra Club, followed in 1908. But it was not 



