The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-11-18
BEYOND YOSEMITE,

n7- BEYOND YOSEMITE. @
A Trip to Cathedral vauey-Th.
Locality Wen Worth the Waits o.
| Tourists.
Correspondence Of the San Francisco Mornin,
las a Call. s.-
-5s-- THE LITTLE YOSEMITE. -
The scenery Of the Little Yosemite is moi
comparable to, that of the Great Yosemite
/ for grandeur, but there are many charm.
Jog views ana The air is so inYigors ting
that it will doubtless become fsyorite re-
sort. There is beautiful fall near the
head Of the valley, which we took the lib
erty Of naming. ''The Silver Chain,P and
hope others viii perpetuzte the name
which itself best describes the Fall
Leaving the Little Yosemite, we FOL
loved, as best We might, the old Mono
trail, which has grown SO din with disuse
that it requires keen eyes and good wood
craft to follow it. Fortunately Duncan
had pointed out to Us the prominent
peaks near which we should pass, and
described our route SO infinitely
that We found our way with ease where
we should otherwise have surely been
lost. The scenery along this days
march was truly wonderful, and ! doubt
il. Bahind us, and always in sight, lay
the Merced group of mountains, with Mt
Clark looming up black against the sky,
its summit resembling some piece of Moor
ish architecture. On our right was the
great black mass of peaks which surround
Mt. Syell, and among them lay vast snow
fields. covering thousands of acres, while
still beyond could be seen the ranges about
the head of the San joaquin, SO wild and
broken in their shapes that could com.
pare them to nothing but waves of chop
ping sea. On our left we passed near to
the Half Dome, which from that point of
view looks like half of gigantic cheese as
much as anything, and the Clouds Rest
which is, on this side, very broken and
rugged in appearance.
..-. FELDsPAB VALLEY.
About the middle of tie afternoon we
made a halt in Feldspar Valley, as charming
a spot as can be found in these mountains
The valley is about three miles long, and
Is level and smooth like a meadow; the |
grass is excellent. and while our horses ap-
proved of it on the score of usefulness, we
could never tire of admiring its beautiful |
leep green, mottled, Us it was with a pro-
'usion of daises, butter.cups, painted /
Gathers, and many other wild flowers. |
Game was very plenty; deer and grouse
and we often saw the tracks of
bear. From one of the hills near by we |
ound a splendid view of the Yosemite, |
which l can best describe as being the re-
Terse of the celebrated view from Glacier
Point, looking up the canon between the
lomes. The Half Dome forms the chief
eature of this view, and looks almost Like
he head of q tortoise, stretched up into
he air few thousand feet. So wonderful
S this view that it alone would repay o
'ilgrimage to this spot The Lake of the
)omes also lies near Feldspsr Valley, and
5 a lovely little sheet of water, and takes
ts name from the fact that GROUND it stand
X domes similar to those of Yosemite
our of which stand on the very shore of
be lake.
THE CATHEDRAL PEAK.
From Fsldspar valley to Cathedral peak
, only four or five miles, but the trail is
ery rough and hard to find, and the
cenery is of intense interest Approach ,
ag from this side, the Cathedral looks
omewhat like the facade of a Gothic
hapel, newly built, clean. and in perfect
spair; bnt when one nearsit. ana views it ,
'om its western side, it suddenly seems to
,om up to a far greater size, and takes
le form of very old cathedral, more
early of the Roman than the Gothic style,
nd reminded me strongly Of the Abbaye
lx Danes at Caen. The resemblance to
church is wonderful, There is the tower I
with little spires; the
,of, which one fancies to be Of tiles, and !
out of repair, and few strsg-
ling clumps of bushes grown in the Gre
ICES OF the rock suggests ivy. Windows +,
one are wanted to make the resemblance
srfect. This peak is II, 900 feet above
le level of the sea, and about 5, 900 feet,
should think, above the valley st its base.
wo lovely lakes lie at the foot of Cathed- I
] peak, and reflects ithke mirrors; while
st across either of these lakes rises a
ountain not less remarkable than the
This is called Court House rock
g sad misnomer, for it does not resem-
e courthouse at all-but it does look 0
Irprisingly like an old half ruined l
hey, ard from whatever side it is y
en-, this appearance is the same.
, strong is this resemblance that one y
n hardly conceive that it Is simply an odd Il
sak of Dame Nature, and not bona fide
hey. At the foot of the larger of the I.
% lakes, before mentioned, is O pretty
is fine view of Lake Penaya and Mount
offman, within an hours wa,k-or climb
of Cathedral, is the Unicorn peak, which, VI
an from the north or south. looks like 50
4 born of that tabled animal bnt yieveS hi
H focada ~ - sorna ola fendeI castia Near of
is q medley of nameless peaks whose
d shapes suggest view of the monu-
Of
n, as seen through a very powerful an
Ignifying glass, and one immense noun m
n, whose shape reminds me of gigan- ma
fine comb, with most of the teeth bro bv
q, and the rest filed in with dirt. If ma an
q has done anything to surpass this re- "a
N in point of grotesque forms of rock fai
] mountain, L have never heard of it he
ese mountains are all too steep for snow ev
lie on them, but wherever there is ra- ar
e or cliff to hold il, it lies all the year an
md, especially on the north side. Little m
es abound. Not mountain is there but IN
q mirror at its feet to reflect its beauty, an
half imagined that they would 1eel N,
n if they could only see their images, nh
wing in the rosy light of q mountain FRA
lset, shadowed in the crystal waters. fo,
he granite which composes these peaks nm
Il light yellowish gray, o color pecul- is
y susceptible to those changes of hue hi
ich are caused by passing clouds or 6fl
It, or the glow of morning and evening. bn
iset, above all, is incompsrably beauti- n,
at the lower Cathedral lake. The Go
m king must have favorite haunt Ian
e, for nearly half the trees show the of
ks Of lightning, and if the storm we res
in the locality was fair spec mo
n, l should say that it rains, halls. nel
VS., and thunders little harder here rev
q anywhere else on the globe, and does of
N all at the same time. Storms are TO
.e frequent, but fortunately they always he
Ie in the afternoon and clear away be- -ec
sunset. Why this is SO, I leave to the his
ms to explain. .--.. ....-t- for
ooFLAsD's GERMAN BITTERs.-We clip the tan
wing from the editorial columns of the -
der, Cleveland, Ohio, one OF the most in "a
llial papers of the West: 'sIn calling par
sttention OF our readers to this.valuable the
,srsiion, we do 80 with full conviction not
it is highly scientific remedy for Dys- mes
ia, and all diseases arising from disor. pro