Oct. i8, 190Z..J 
FOREST AND STREAM 
303 
hill of The Birches. Reaching the porch he was 
smitten to the heart to perceive two figures rounding the 
crest of the hill toward the lake: the Peri and — yes, by- 
Beelzebub, chief of the devils — Grafton ! The Peri looked 
beyond commonly fetching. She had once explained con- 
fidentially to a bosom fr end, who was condoling with her 
.upon being dragged off to the end of nowhere by her 
"anglemaniac" father, that there was after all something 
in fishing, for she recognized some of the same ideas of 
color and form in tying a Jock-Scott to delude a salmon 
that where so essential in the Art of Dress; adding that 
bes-de she had some clothes to which no man yet had 
ever failed to rise. 
She was wearing them now — a scarlet jacket beyond 
words, and the s mplest perfection of an English walking 
skirt, beneath which appeared a pair of bewildering little 
high boots, the whole crowned by a white canvas hat on 
a pyramid of yellow hair. 
Piscator looked, and groaned, and looked again. And 
then he sat him down and swore softly at trout and 
swamps, and went to his dinner. 
He derived a poor consolation from the thought that 
he had really fished Bonny Brock and come off with more 
or less cred t; but the reflection did not buoy very success- 
fully. However, he mentioned his exploit casually to 
Peter the Dane. 
"What luck?" queried Peter. 
"Five or six small ones." 
"H-m-m. Did you come to some deadwater?" 
"Rather. I stopped fishing at the head of it." 
"H-m. That deadwater has the only pools worth fishing 
in the brook. The rest doesn't pay for casting over." 
Piscator smiled weakly. Then lie went privily, fed his 
two quarter-pounders to the cat, and retired to his favorite 
salmon pool down the river. 
But if the whole truth must be told, and the tale carried 
to its far from bitter end — the Peri did sup later on ofl[ 
luscious trout inveigled by the cunning of Piscator from 
the deadwater of Bonny Brook. And another engagement 
with her was kept by him punctiliously — but that, though 
the same storj^, is far too anc.ent a one to bear repetition. 
A Trip to the High Sierras. — 11. 
{Continued from- page 2S3 ) 
Early the next morning, July 30, the Sierra Club took 
its departure while D. and I stayed behind to ascend Alta 
Peak, 10,500 feet high, from which it was said we could 
see several glacial lakes. As we neared the summit we 
Crossed a large snowdrift, where we tarried for a few 
moments to indulge in a game of snowballing, just as we 
had often done fifty years before in the far New England 
village where we were born. The air was soft and balmy, 
the aroma from thousands of flowers just below us was 
Avafted to our nostrils on the gentle breeze, and over our 
heads a golden eagle was soaring and screaming his 
defiance. 
From the top we had a fine view, including two lakes, 
liut they were small, evidently destitute of fish, not very 
clear and as a whole rather disappointing. Returning 
to camp we prepared dinner and at i P. M. started for 
Bear Paw Meadow ; the distance was only eight miles, but 
a high range intervened, and the trail soon became as 
steep as our horse could climb, with a descent equally 
precipitous on the other s de. At Bear Paw it was said 
deer were usually quite numerous, and as the season 
opened Aug. i, we were anxious to get out of the park, 
the line being just beyond Alta. Up to date we had 
seen very little game, except quail, but on this trail we 
saw several flocks of blue grouse, and could have shot a 
number had it been the open season. 
Reaching Bear Paw, which was 2,000 feet lower than 
Alta, we were agreeably surprised to find that the Sierra 
Club had decided to pass the night there, and once more, 
and for the last time, we had the pleasure of listening to 
the discourses of these talented men. We spent two 
nights at Bear Paw, employing the intervening day in 
examining the vicinity for deer, but with very unsatis- 
factory results for we found so little sign that we decided 
to leave the next morning. That our decsion was a wise 
one was confirmed by a party of four who came in the 
next day and hunted the surrounding country faithfully 
for two days without seeing a deer, although in previous 
years the same men had killed many in that region. Later 
information revealed the fact that for some unknown 
cause the deer were much lower down on the range this 
year than they usually were, and most of them were far 
below us. Before dismissing the Cervida for good from 
th s article, I will venture a few remarks about the deer 
of this section, although we neither killed nor saw a 
live one during our three weeks' stay in the mountains. 
I am quite familiar with the northern counties of Cali- 
fornia, and I feel certain that most of them contain far 
more and much larger deer than can be found as far 
south as _Visaha. During the first three days of the 
open season four deer were killed near Mineral King, a 
place which will be referred to later on, but inquiry 
elicited the fact that with one exception their haunts had 
been located during the close season, and no more were 
killed during our stay. It is considered a good-sized buck 
there that will dress 100 pounds, and those that we saw 
were destitute of fat. In the northern counties tlie abun- 
dance of wild pea vine, a nutritious food of which deer 
as well as domestic stock are very fond, makes the deer 
very fat if not larger in frame, but I saw none of it in 
Tulare. 
We left Bear Paw on Aug. i for Cliff Creek, eleven 
m'les distant, with a good trail nearly all down grade, 
which brought us into the big tree belt once more, and 
also into the park. Disappointed as we were at the deer 
prospect, we were somewhat consoled by finding trout 
abundant in Cliff Creek, rather small, but of excellent 
flavor, they furnished an agreeable change to bacon 
straight. It was a beautiful stream, with pools, falls and 
rapids that made it an ideal trout stream, but it coursed 
its way through hgh ranges and heavy forests, rarely 
broken by meadows, and horse feed was therefore hard 
to find, so one night was all we decided to stay in this 
otherwise delightful place. 
Our drive the next day was only six miles, but it led us 
ough one of the most charming sections we had yet 
. . n. It began with a climb of over 4,000 feet, and ended 
With a descent of 1,500. As we left the creek the trail 
began to ascend at once through a magnificent forest of 
p;ne and fir abounding in blue grouse, but before we 
reached the summit we passed through meadows richly 
endowed with flowers, one of which contained at least 
ten acres. The summit was reached in "Timber Gap," 
and soon after we began to descend we came to the de- 
serted mine of Mineral King, after which this section is 
named. The mine seems to have been discovered by 
ranchers, who, although having considerable means, knew 
very little about gold and silver ores. They opened it up 
and budt a mill in the canon several hundred feet be- 
low, connecting the two by an aerial wire cable tramway, 
by w^hich the ore was to be transported from mine to mill. 
The plan was all right, but unfortunately the ore proved 
so refractory that they could do nothing with it, and after 
various costly experiments it was abandoned. 
Looking down into the bottom of the canon from, this 
point, we could see a wagon road, the first we had seen 
for two weeks, winding its way upward through meadows 
and alder thickets, until it terminated in a small cluster of 
rude cabins that made the Mineral King of to-day, owing 
Its perpetuity chiefly to the summer influx of visitors 
seeking to escape from the torrid heat of the valleys. 
During the Avinter it is entirely deserted, as the elevation 
is 8,000 feet, and snow falls to the depth of eight or 
ten feet. One of the largest buildings is used as a store, 
post office and boarding house, and it has a tri-weekly 
stage to Visaha, sixty miles distant, bringing the mails 
and passengers at $5 each. The variety of coloring in 
the adjacent mountains indicate large mineral deposits, 
and within a quarter of a mile of the store there are four 
springs of sulphur, soda, arsenic and iron, respectively, all 
except the arsenic being strongly impregnated. It is one 
of the coldest stations in the mountains, frosty nights be- 
ing quite common all summer, and in camping there two 
pairs of blankets are indispensable for comfort. 
It was still early in the afternoon when we arrived at 
the store, and the lank condition of our horse, the result 
of twenty-four hours' fast, induced us to stable him for 
the night, with an ample supply of hay and grain, eating 
our own supper at the boarding house, for which we paid 
fifty cents each, although we found it inferior to that at 
the Giant Forest. Close by the hotel on the side of the 
hill were pitched the tents of a small detachment of Gov- 
ernment surveyors, under Chief Barnard, and during our 
stay here we were indebted to them for many courtesies. 
One of the tents, containing cots, table, chairs, etc., was 
temporarily vacant, and Capt. Barnard placed it at our 
disposal for the first night, which we appreciated all the 
more from the fact that there was quite a heavy shower 
during the night. 
There were several families located for the summer in 
the cab.ns and tents near b)^, and two or three parties 
who were in search of deer, as well as sections of the 
Sierra Club, and other tourists temporarily stopping 
here while doing the mountains, and during the evening 
m.ost of the men came to the store, as they used to gather 
at Uncle 'Lisha's cobbler's shop, where they sat around 
on stools and boxes, smoking and discussed about game 
hunting, fishing and mountain travel, and pursuits gen- 
erally. The store d.d not contain a very extensive stock 
of anything. The road from Visalia was a long and hard 
pull, the season at the camp short, and its present in- 
cumbent evidently not very opulent. Rows of canned 
fruit and vegetables were placed where they would make 
the most imposing appearance upon the shelves, with 
tobacco, a couple of boxes of cigars and some pipes, with 
a few groceries, could be seen through the dim light fur- 
nished by a kerosene lamp and a candle ; no liquors were 
sold, and all of those present seemed to be of a highly 
respectable class. 
During the evening we learned of a sheet of water 
three or four miles away, called Eagle Lake, where trout 
of incredible size were said to be abundant, but exceed- 
ingly difficult to catch with any known bait, and we de- 
cided to visit it the next day. A fine trout stream ran 
down the canon within 100 yards of the camp, but the 
fish were small, and after hearing of the b.g fellows in 
the lake, we lost all interest in fingerlings. 
The altitude of the lake is over 10,000 feet, and the trail 
steeper than any we had yet traveled. There were three 
or four fine mouse-colored burros grazing about that be- 
longed to the proprietor of the store, so after a refreshing 
night's sleep in the tent we decided to turn our horse 
into the meadows and engage one of these for the trip to 
the lake. We had some trouble in packing the little 
fellow, who vigorously shewed his resentment by kicking 
us every time we came within reach of his heels, a thing, 
however, which we only permitted to occur at rare inter- 
vals after we discovered his weakness. 
The trail for the first half a mile led up the main 
caiion. The air was filled with the perfume of flowers 
after the rain, and the scenery would have excited the 
admirat.on even of a mountaineer. In front at the end of 
the carion, three miles away, and 2,600 feet higher, was 
"Farewell Gap," through which the trail going to Kern 
Lakes and Kings River crossed the range. The two great 
glacier-scarred peaks that on either side formed the por- 
tals of this giant gateway, and which were joined by 
an inverted arch that was almost geometrically perfect, 
stood out d.stinct and clean-cut against a sky of purest 
blue, their snow-choked gulches glistening in dazzling 
whiteness beneath the rays of the morning sun. Off to 
our left across the canon a view unfolded itself whose 
counterpart I have never seen. A ridge running from 
the bottom nearly to the top of the range was flanked by 
wide gulches, down which two streams, lashed into foam 
until they resembled broad ribbons of silver, came tum- 
bling down from their sources in the snowdrifts near the 
summit. These were rather more than a mile away at an 
altitude of over 3,000 feet, above where we stood. In 
their lower courses they ran through steep meadows, 
gorgeous in their mantle of flowers ; beyond lay thickets 
of mansinita and chemisal. Still higher were the magnifi- 
cent pines and firs of the Sierras, and above all the great 
bare cliffs that culminated in "Saw Tooth Peak," reared 
their massive fronts far into the sky. I do not think it 
was possible that every foot of the water courses from 
the time they left their snowy birthplace until they were 
lost in the larger stream at our feet was visible, but if 
such was not the case, there was no evidence that would 
lead us to that conclusion. The line was unbroken from 
top to bottom, and the effect was charming beyond de- 
scription. 
Turning abruptly to the right, the climbing now began 
m dead earnest, in places the trail was so steep that sev- 
eral times our sure-footed little beast was thrown to his 
knees, and we were obliged to stop and rest both him 
and ourselves every few yards. The trail ran through 
rocks and heavy timber, broken by two or three small 
meadows, the last one of wh ch where we were to camp 
we reached about 11 o'clock. On our way we saw some 
grouse and several woodchucks, the first we had met, and 
which are plenty in this vicinity. 
The meadow, which was knee high in grass, with an 
area of about two acres, had a fine stream running 
through it, and was surrounded by fir and tamarack trees 
It was about 400 feet below the lake, from which it was 
separated by a ridge of rocks, many of which were as 
large as a cottage. Staking out our burro, in whose fidel- 
ity we had but little confidence, we prepared our dinner, 
and after a rest and smoke started for the lake. It was of 
glacial origin, about 600 yards long by 200 wide, and 
perhaps 30 feet deep. On the opposite side, the moun- 
tain, bare and forbidding, arose abruptly for a thousand 
feet to the summit of the range, in its deeply scarred sides 
the snowdrifts came down almost to the water's edge, but 
nowhere there was a spear of vegetation visible; but on 
the near side a thrifty growth of large tamaracks were 
growing, and at intervals a few purple daisies and shoot- 
ing stars relieved its somber outlines. Many large trout 
could be distinctly seen in its clear waters swimming 
about or floating lazily in the shadow^s of the great rocks 
in the bottom. They paid no attention to the fly, cast I 
ever so deftly, and after repeated futile atternpts, in 
despair I substituted a bait of raw bacon, a move that 
was suggested by seeing one of them eagerly snap at a 
large white miller that fell in the water near me. The 
experiment proved eminently satisfactory, for within 
fifteen minutes I landed two splendid rainbow trout at^ 
least sixteen inches long, either of which would make a 
full meal for a hungry man. This was glory enough 
for one day, and after amusing ourselves by trying to 
hook a wood rat that lived in the rocks near the water, 
and who seemed determined to secure the tempting bait, 
we unjointed the rod and taking off our shoes soaked our 
swollen, feverish feet in the cool water. 
As the sun began to decline, we returned to camp, after 
gathering a quantity of tamarack gum for chewing pur- 
poses and visiting the upper end of the lake, where we 
found the wreck of an old boat made of boards that some 
enthusiastic fisherman must have brought up with in- 
credible labor on his back, as no horse or burro could get 
above the meadow. 
As we intended to pass two nights at this camp, our first 
care was to make a comfortable couch of silver fir 
boughs, after Avhich we made a delicious meal of the 
trout, which, contrary to past experience, were equally as 
good as the fellows we had caught in the streams. An- 
other distinguish.ng feature was the color of their flesh, 
which was as deeply red as a fresh-run salmon. 
After the dishes were washed and set aside, we clam- 
bered to the top of a huge boulder that commanded a 
glorious view of the surrounding ranges, and finding 
comfortable seats, we lit our cigars and enjoyed a spec- 
' tacular treat that repaid us for all the fatigues of the 
trip. The lower half of the higher peaks were in the 
shadow for at least, two hours before the sun left their 
stTmm ts. In our immediate vicinity the appalling de- 
struction wrought by the glaciers was the most noticeable 
feature. John Muir stated in our hearing that a mile or 
more in depth had been removed from the ranges and 
swept down into the valleys and caiions, and appearances 
around us seemed to fully justify the assertion, hundreds 
of acres at the base of the range, to our left were covered 
with rocks from the size of a two-story house down, 
some piled two or three deep, others standing on end 
like a tilted freight car, all bear.ng evidence of having 
been torn from the peaks above them. Away to the 
southwest lay the Mineral King district, its parti-colored 
rocks making a pleasing contrast to the dark green of 
Timber Gap. To the west and north the ranges hemmed 
us in with an amber-colored barrier that deepened as the 
sun went down, until the sunset glow that presaged the 
expiring efforts of the depart ng day threw over the 
whole scene a weird, almost minatural, rad'ance that 
seemed borrowed from the light of other worlds. 
The hummingbirds, which were plenty, even here went 
early to rest, and a single bat flitting about the treetops 
was the only sign of animal life visible as we descended 
to the camp-fire and sought our blankets. Notwithstand- 
ing the fact that the altitude was over 2.000 fee. higher, 
we found the nights much warmer here than at Mineral 
King, and no sound disturbed our slumbers until daylight 
again appeared. To the north of our camp lay a tim- 
bered ridge that looked as if it might be a favorite 
haunt of deer, so the next morning D. took the r^fle and 
went over to investigate its possibilities in that line while 
I in the early dawn clambered over the rocks again to 
the lake. As the fly seemed to be useless here, I opened 
the campaign with the same seductive lure of the prev- 
ious day, but for some time without success. Many a 
big trout made a dash for the bait, but changed his 
mind when his nose touched it, but perseverance at 
length brought its reward, and within two hours I had 
all the trout we could use, not one of which was less than 
a foot long. 
The climb and the pure mountain air had by this time 
given me a wolfish appetite, and I went back to camp 
where I found D., whose trip had been a fruitless one, 
engaged in frying onions for the morning meal. In the 
afternoon we changed and washed our underclothes in 
the stream, laying them upon the rocks to dry. The 
evening and night passed much like the preceding one, 
and the next morning we returned to Mineral King. 
A small buck had been killed by the hunters during 
our absence, and we succeeded in getting enough meat 
for one meal, which was the only venison obta ned dur- 
ing the trip. There was more rain with thunder and 
lightning during the day and evening, but ensconsed 
in Capt. Barnard's tent, we could defy the st(jrnr. 
I remember a hill just west of niy childhood home, 
whose far side I longed to explore. I ob:erved that the 
sun, as it went down, barely cleared its summit, and I 
felt sure that over beyond was a land of fairies and 
mystery, such as I had yet experienced only in my 
dreams. It was with feelings somewhat akin to this 
tempered slightly by the recollections of numerous gold 
