Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-11-17
BEYOND YOSEMITE.
A Trip to Cathedral Vailey-The
Grandsst scenery I'm the Sierras-A
Locality Well Worth the Waits of
TO1rists.


Correspondence Of the San Francisco Morning
THE LITTLE YOSEMITE.
The scenery of the Little Yosemite is not
comparable to that Of the Great Yosemite
Cor grandeur, bat the ere are many charm
lag views and the ar is SO invigorsting
that Il will doubtless become fsvorite re-
sort. There is beautiful fall near tie
head OF the valley, which we took the lib
erty of naming. 1.-The Silver Chain, and
hope others will perpetuate the name
which itself best describes the Fall.
Leaving the Little Yosemite, we fol-
lowed, as best We might, the old Mono
trail which has grown so dim with disuse
/ that it requires keen eyes and good wood
craft TO follow il. Fortunately Duncan
had pointed out to Us the prof. linent
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 I doubt
very much if we saw anything to surpsss
it. Behind Us, and always in sight, lay
the Merced group of mountains, with Mt
Clark looming up black against the sky,
its summit resembling somepiece 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 ike half of a gigantic cheese as
much ss anything, and the Clouds Rest
which is. on this side, very broken and
rugged in appearance.
FELDsPAR VALLEY.
About the middle of the afternoon we
made halt in Feldspar Valley, as charming
a spot as can bs 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
deep green, mottled, as it was with a pro-
fusion OF caises, butter-cups painted
Gathers, and many other wild flowers
Game was very plenty; deer and grouse
abounded, and We often saw the tracks of
bear. From one of the hills near by We
found splendid view of the Yosemite,
Il
verso OF the celebrated view from Glacier
Point, looking mp the canon between the
domes. Tne Half Dome forms the chief
feature of this view. and looks almost like
the head of q tortoise, stretched up into
the dir few thousand feet. So wonderful
is this view that it alone would repay
pilgrimage to this spot The Lake Of the
Domes also lies near Feldspar Valley, and
is lovely little sheet of water, and takes
it's name from the fact that around it stand
six domes similar TO those Of Yosemite
four of which stand on the very shore of
tho lake.
THE CATHEDRAL PEAK.
From Feldspar valley to Cathedral peak
is only four or five miles. but the trail is
very rough and hard to find, and the
ths s5se 9fssress 9s JsinedR ARProaSh iSSas
somewhat ike the facade of Gothic
chapel, newly built, clean, and in perfect
repair; but when one nears il. and views it
from its western side, it suddenly seems to
loom up to a far greater size, and takes
the form OF q very old cathedral, more
nearly of the Roman than the Gothic style,
and reminded me strongly of the AbbaSe
sux Danes at Caen. The resemblance to
q church is wonds rful. There is the tower
ornamented with little spires; the
roof, which one fancies to be of tiles, and
somewhat out Of repair, and few strag-
Cling clamps of bushes grown in the cre-
vices Of the rock suggests ivy. Windows
alone are wanted to make the resemblance
perfect. This peak is 11,000 feet above
the level Of the sea, and about 5, coo feet,
should thil)-, above the valley at its base.
Two lovely lakes lie at the foot of Cathed-
al ,x>.x Ia
Just across sither of these lakes rises
mountain not less remarkable than the
Cathedral This is called Court House rock
"a sad misnomer. for it does not resem-
BILE courthouse at all-but it does look
surprisingly like an old half ruined
abbey, ard from whatever side it is
seen, this appearance is the same.
So strong is this resemblance that one
can hardly conceive that il is simply an odd
freak of Dame Nature, and not bona fde
abbey. at the foot of the larger of the
two lakes, befofe mentioned, Is q pretty |
little fall, and from the rocks above it one |
gets fine view of Lake Penaya and Mount |
Hoffman, within an hours wa!k-or climb |
of Cathedral, is the Unicorn peak, which, |
seen from the north or south. looks like |
the horn of that fabled animal, but, vieweS |
from other points of the compass, suggests |
the facade of some old feudal castle. Near |
{ is q medley of nameless peaks whose |
o I'D shapes suggest a view of the monu- |
ments and grayestones Of Lone Noun |
tain, as seen through q very powerful |
magnifyirg glass, and one immense noun
tain, whose shape reminds me of a gigan-
tic fine comb, with most Of the teeth bro
ken, and the rest filled in with dirt II ma
ture has done anything to surpass this re- |
gion in point of grotesque forms Of rock |
and mountain, have never heard Of it.
These mountains are all too steep for snow |
to lie on them, but wherever there is a ra-
vine or cliff to hold it, it lies ali the year |
round, especially on the north side. Little |
lakes abound Net mountain is there but \
has mirror at itH feet to refectits beauty, |
and | half imagined that they wonld feel
vain if they could only see their images, |
glowing in the rosy light of mountain
sunset, shadowed in the crystal waters.
The granite which composes these peaks
is of light yellowish gray, q color pecul-
iarly susceptible to those changes of hue
mi It, or the glow of morning and evening.
Sunset, above all, is incomparably beau.i-'l
full at the lower Cathedral lake. The |
storm king must have favorite haunt
here, for nearly halt the trees show the |
MARKS of lightning. and If the storm we |
experienced in the locality was fair spec
imen should say that it rains, halls. |
SHOWS. and thunders listle harder here |
thananywhere else on the globe, and does |
then all at the same time. Storms are |
quite frequent, but fortunately they always |
come in the afternoon and clear away be-
fore sunset. Why this is SO, I leave to the |
avafs to explain.
HOFLASD's GERMAN BITTERs.--We clip the |
following from the editorial columns OF the
Leader, Cleveland Ohio, one CT the most in |
fiue1.ial papers Oh the West: SIN calling |
the sttenEon OF our readers to this valuable |
preparation, we do 60 with Q full conviction |
thatit is . highly scientific remedy for Dye |
pepda, and all diseaees arising from disor- |
derd state of the Liver or stomach. In |
making this assertion, we are sustained By |
the testimony Of many of the eminent pro- |
fessonal men of the county. Lawyers,
pbydcians and olergymen all bear witness to |
Its great usefulness. It contains no alcohol |
ic stInuiant, but is purely medicinal. being |
compounded from the prescription OF one OF |
the npst celebrated physicians Of his day, and |
is xe1 known and used by the faculty Of the |
present time. 1t has been before the pub |
lie inits present sb ape for over twenty years, |