Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 208, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1920 — LOG OF TRIP TO YOSEMITE [ARTICLE]

LOG OF TRIP TO YOSEMITE

WRITTEN BY JOHN WALKER, FORMER REPORTER OF THIS CIRCUIT. The following article from the pen of our former court reporter and very popular former fellow townsman is taken from the Tucson Citizen, published at Tucson, Ariz. The article will appear in installment of which the following is the third: x Must Climb Glacier Point. “The persbq going to the Yosemite and not climbing to Glacier Point is considered- not to have been there. This point is reached by three different trails. The first is the 'Ledge Trail, two miles in lenth, but this two miles consist of straight climbing, most of the sway being over the rude steps one above the other for hundreds of feet. These steps have been hewn out of the solid rock in many places, other places rocks have been thrown in and a crude step formed on the side of a mountain. that would have otherwise been impassible. Think of mounting-steps about feet apart until some hundred and fifty of them have been, mounted. It is a'heart breaking climb, but when once up, all your efforts have been fully repaid by the first glimpse of the valley. There is a large hotel oh the top, surrounded by giant redwoods and pine. From this point, the entire valley is at your feet. ‘lt seems that one almost throw a stone across the Vernal - Falls, and with a little more effort throw one into the Nevada Falls, but these falls are some seven miles away. From this point theYosemite Falls seem only a short distance, and the stream carrying the water away from the first drop and to the second can be seen, which is impossible from the valley proper. Half Dome and North Dome seem only a stone’s throw away, and, in fact all the points of interest in the valley are here clearly shown at one time, A walk of a few hundred feet brings one to Balanced Rock on ' the point, and. to get out on this rock and look down is breath-taking in its immensity. The tip of the rock projects some fifty feet from the mother rook, and below it is 3254 feet of atmosphere. Standing on the point of Balanced Rock and dropping a stone before it has fallen but a few hundred feet, it is out of sight seemingly going underneath the point where you are standing, and only the sounds of it hitting rocks and bouncing from one to the other as it nears the bottom can be heard. The horse trail to the point is a much easier road and is 9 miles in length. Many places along this trail are exceedingly steep, but nothing to compare with the climb up the Ledge Trad. The longest trail is around by the Vernal ana Nevada Falls, which is some 15 nfiles in length. Automobiles can

go to Glacier Point, by going out of the valley and getting on the Wawona road, and thence to the point. This is a trip of some fifty miles, but can easily be made in a day. This trip also takes the traveler through the Mariposa Big Trees, which is also a sight worth seeing. „ ( Two Beautiful Falls. “Another pretty trip, and well worth the effort, is the tnp up the Merced river to Vernal _and Nevada Falls. Vernal Falls is about three miles up the canyon, and Nevada about that distance further. The Vernal Falls is a beautiful falls, but not so high as the Yosemite. In going up to the Nevada Falls, one must pass very close to the Vernal, in fact, for some half a mile, the trip is in the spray of the falls, and then the path leads upward until it comes out on top of the falls, and it is possible to go down to the edge and watch .the water plunge over, and the «ght from above is well worth going to see. From there to the Nevada Falls, the trail is steep but good. At these falls it is possible to go around and climb to the top of toem, and see its waters plunge off down upon the rocks hundreds feet below. A nature loving person could stay in the Yosemite for weeks, and find some new wonder each day, and at the same time, see some new grandeur in the old W °“Coming out of the valley, the same road must be used as going m. An hour is given to go from JM Capitan control to the control at the top, and if your machine gets too hot, or for some other reason you can’t make it, in the hour given, you must get off of the road on one of the passing pointe and wait until the next control starts up. lo meet a machine on this road would be disaster. After leaving the last control, we proceeded over the same road used coming in until we reached Carl Inn, where we took the Tioga Pass road. This road was not officially open to the public. However, we fotnd it an exceptionally good mountain road. After leaving Carl Inn it was a steady climb up through the big timber all day? but the scenery was beautfut Much of the time we would go through snow. Late in the afternoon we reached a h<h point on the mountain and looked down on a

mountains, with high snow-covered 'peaks on all sides. The road descended more than a thousand feet from the point where we first viewed the lake until we arrived at its shores. On the far side of the lake is a little tent city. Dur hostess here was one of the moat motherly ladies I have had the pleasure of meeting lately. TJie office of the hotel and dining room was a large tent in the middle of the office part of which was a large box stove. During the evening pine logs as large as a person’s body were thrown into this stove, and the heat was very acceptable. On each side of the office-djnirig room were a number of little tent houses for the guests. Each one was supplied with twin beds, a stove, and the usual fixtures of a hotel room. Most any place one looked ardund the houses, snow would be seen. We had a fire made in the stove before going to bed, and it ’ was comfortable. Regardless of the fact that it was the 14th of July, we had to drain the water from our cars, for water froze each night. On leaving the next morning, we again ascended. the mountain until we reached the pass, which is 9940 feet above sea level and the monument was in a bank of snow. From that point on it was a descent the rest of the distance. Part of the way was over one of the most wonderful pieces of mountain road I have ever had the pleasure of observing. Mile after mile - was just on the sheer edge of the mountain, hundreds of feet above the base of the canyon, and while the road was a one vehicle road, it was firm and safe. A glance down the canyon would show a car coming up, and while it seemed to be miles and miles away and on an entirely different road, after a lapse of some time, it would come out on the piece of road we were travelling, and then one must find a passing point, and wait until the other car passed. While this road is narrow and very steep in places, there is no necessity for an accident to happen if the driver usefe the care that should be used. Upon reaching the bottom of this grade, the road is generally good, passing Mono Lake, and following many little mountain streams until the Carson River Valley is reached. This is a very pretty agricultural valley, very rich in production. The City of Minden, noted for its beautiful and well equipped hotel, and the fact that

Mary Pickford secured her divorce there. From Minden to Carson City the road is about half and half good and bad. It is not bad in any place, but is in need of being worked. Carson City, while the capital of the statt ,is not a particularly large city. Here many of the old time landmarks can yet be seen of the early days in the west. A side trip of some 16 miles over the mountains takes one to old Virginia City, regarding which Mark Twain so entertainingly during his experience there in the early ’7o’s. The town is very much as it was art that time. It covers a great deal of country, but only about one out of every four or five houses are occupied. The town has changed but little since her bpom days, except that the life ana business is not there now. , The old Comstock saloon and gambling hall is now standing deserted. The Washoe gambling club is just as it was, rdady for the shift to go on. The Crystal saloon is now a soft drink parlor, with all the trappings that made it the show place of the world in the early days still in place, but unused. The mahogany bar, gambling tables, chairs and other furniture that came around the Horn in the early days are there yet. The Washoe club is upstairs over- the Crystal, and to glance down the pages of its visitor’s registers in the ’7o’s brings back to mind men that made history. One sees such names there registered as U. S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hays, president, Roscoe B. Conklyn, Thos. A. Edison, “Lucky” Baldwin, Wells and Fargo, owners of the express company by that ename, and page after page of names of the prominence of those mentioned. Also many foreigners with many letters after their names, showing them to be members of the nobility of the countries from which they came. On the bar instead of the present day cash register, rests the gold scales of the earlier day. A glance into the second hand store of Virginia City takes one back to the pictures of furnishings seen in Civil War days, with pictures and other jimcracks” and whatnots of the same period./The “Territorial Enterprise, which Mark Twain edited, is standing silent, with its Washington hand press still, and all office furniture as it was when the boom days ended for Virginia City. Leaving Virginia City proper, the road down through Silver City was taken. This is the old stage freight road of. the early days of the camp, and is a very steep road for several miles, lined on each side with dwellings, with a goodly number of saloons sprinkled along. On the road down, we found one of the old VirginiaWashoe stage coaches alongside tne road, and upon examination found that it was one of the Pullmans of the palmy days. The door had an arrangement by which when it was closed, the step would be covered, and the inside was lined with mirrors, and a row of paintings of subject popular at that time also adorned the walls at convenient places. (To Be Continued.)