N orthward Over the John Muir Trail 



43 



or so for side-trips to the Lake Italy and Mount Abbott region 

 it is well to keep on a few miles farther. The canon presently 

 incUnes to the west, and soon afterwards the trail leaves the 

 creek and ascends the northern wall leading to Bear Ridge. 

 This is all forested country, lighted by many a garden of bril- 

 liant flowers. About six or seven hundred feet of steep climb- 

 ing will bring you to a particularly luxuriant garden, v\^ith ex- 

 cellent feed and a small stream of water. Level beds are 

 scarce, but they can be found, and at any rate the charm of the 

 spot is such as to make comfort a secondary consideration. 



The next day presents a choice of objectives. You can camp 

 in Vermilion Valley if you want to and if you can find feed 

 well enough concentrated to hold your stock together. But I 

 think you will prefer to continue up the North Fork of Mono 

 Creek to a higher and wilder country. An alternative is to go 

 to Graveyard Meadows on Cold Creek. This route leads to 

 Silver Pass and the Lake of the Lone Indian, but parts of it are 

 in bad condition, and on the whole it is not nearly so interest- 

 ing as the Mono Creek route. The latter, moreover, is the offi- 

 cial line of the John Muir Trail. From the camp on Bear 

 Ridge the trail ascends a few hundred feet to the crest and 

 then winds down a gradual slope through a fine forest west- 

 ward and presently southwestward to Vermilion Valley. It is 

 a discouraging trail, for it travels for several miles in precisely 

 the opposite direction from that of your destination. It brings 

 you into the lower end of Vermilion Valley, where there is a 

 general rendezvous of trails from all directions. When you 

 reach the floor of the valley, turn sharply to your right and 

 follow up Mono Creek. Do not stop at any point belovv^ the 

 North Fork. Start from Bear Ridge camp early enough so 

 that you will have plenty of time to chmb up into the North 

 Fork country. Two or three miles stiff climb above the junc- 

 tion of the North Fork with the main stream of Mono Creek 

 there is a wonderful box canon, with fine feed and all the ele- 

 ments of a happy camp. As you look back across the canon of 

 Mono Creek you will be impressed by the fact that after a 

 long day's journey you are not many miles from where you 

 camped the night before. You will scan the southern wall of 

 the canon with the hope of finding a route for a trail. If you 



