Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1872-08-05
TOW ARD SUNSET
summerinS on the Pacific Coasts.

OF all the wonder places in California, no one,
ii is safe to say, is so generally visited by tour
lists from the east, or even by Californians
themselves, the Geysers. This is o
course due IN a large degree TO the
intrinsic merits of the place itself, but
the varied attractions on the routes hither
and its proximity to and accessibility from San
! Francisco have doubtless quite as much TO DO
with turning the tide of pleasure seekers in tha
| direction. Leaving the city in the afternoon of
one day, the tourist mOy, il he is "Tusher," DO
the place and be back by So'clock Of the second
evening, at an expense of about S25; and in
| California, where life is short and money feet
| ing, so comparatively small an outlay of tim
| and cash is sure to have its influence. But very
much less of both essentials really ought to suf
| flee for the actual going and coming, as will be
| shown farther along. As TO the time which
| may be pleasantly and proftably spent at the
| Geysers, and at the several inviting stopping
| places on the way, that is another thing alto
gether. week could be put in advantageous
ly and ten days would be still better, if one had
| them to spare. But this each one is likely to
| arrange according to his own situation.
| The route usually chosen to reach the Geysers
| from San Francisco is by way of Vallejo and
| Calistoga through Napa valley, of which fur
| nished some account in nv last. This, however
| is just the one that should not be taken. The
better way, as will appear by and by, is to go up
| through the SOnoma valley, ria boat to Dona-
| hue, thence by cars to Healdsburg, thence by
| wagon to the springs, and back by the Napa
| route. Either way requires more time and
| money than ought to be exacted for so short a
trip; but the arrangements for travel here are a
| fair specimen OF the facilities to be met with
| nearly every where in California, and which
| seem TO be devised rather to repel and Cypress
| travel than to invite and encourage it. For in
| stance: the Calstoga or Napa valley route is the
shorter of the two in time, if not in the distance
Yet, to 60 that wayit takes about twenty-five
| hours to reach the Geysers, a distance OF 30
miles. Here is the time table Leave San Fran
cisco by boat at O'Clock =. m. for Vallejo, dis
| lance a miles, time two hours and half; Val
lejo TO Calistoga by rail, 40 miles, two hours and
twenty minutes. At Calistoga the traveller is
compelled to stay all night, and take or at least
| pay for supper and breakfast. Leaving there
| by wagon at a. n. he reaches the Geysers about
| 26 miles distant, somewhere from l TO y. IN.
| Ninety miles in twenty-five hours, How is that
| for fast 60 ahead people, as the Americans are
reruted TO be? 1t lessons ones opinion of Cali
fOrnia character to think OF it.
| With the Geysers themselves think the yisi-
tor is apt to be disappointed, in the beginning,
at least. Curious and interesting as the phe-
| scientific point of view, the scene yet fails to
| impress the eye at first as one is led to expect
from what has been said and written about the
| place. 1t appeals rather to the student of the
| mysteries of nature than to the worshipper of
| her grand and beautiful external forms. In the
first place, the scenery Immediately surround
| ing the locality is not particularly sterile and
| forbidding on the one hand, nor very beautiful
| or imposing on the other. 1t is a fair sample of
the hills and canons of the coast range, upon
| which the eye has dwelt for nearly twenty miles
| OF the road hither nothing more, nothing less
In the second place, the extent of ground covered
by the springs is less than most visitors antici-
| pate. They lie in a deep and narrow gorge
running north at right angles from the deep
| Pluton canon, through which Sulphur creek
| finds its way to Russian river, and on the south
side of which the hotel stands. This gorge is
not much more than three hundred yards in
ength, all told; and, save one or two steam
| escapes and a single clear water spring. nearly
the whole special attraction of the place NAV be
said to lie In the rough bottom or along the
steep sides OF a space no larger in extent than
+ street. In the third place, the geysers SO
called, are not geysers at all, in the sense that
that term is understood, when applied to the
| geysers OF Iceland, or those Of the Yellowstone
region. The true geysers are periodical in their
| action and. when in q state of eruption, throw
hot water, mrd, and stones in great quantities,
sometimes as high as one hundred and fifty to
two hundred feet. The California geysers on
| the contrary, are incessant in action, and do
| and do not throw water or any other substance
| except yapor, above or outside of their natural
| limits Indeed, in most respects the most
striking spr'ug of the group is fully matched
both in volume and eb1llition, by the hot sui,
| phur spring at Salt Lake City. and by many
other springs throughout the country.
L e
scenic effect at first sight, that feeling is pretty
certain to disappear after he has fairly entered
the gorge and is able to inspect at close quarters
the many weird and astonishing freaks of ma
| ture thrown together pell nell within SO small
space. The ground upon which you stand il
| in many places too hot for comfort, or even to
impregnated with acids and alkalies that are
terribly destructive OF shoes and clothing. Ii
SEE ms to be mainly dissolved or decomposed
rock, and is SO soft and spongy that you can
| force a staff down its full length almost anv
| place in the canon, and wherever you do So a
Jet OF steam is sure to follow its withdrawal.
Red, yellow, green and gray cOlors predominant
| on the bed and sides of the curious laboratory
and the substances held in solution by the
various springs coat the rocks and banks
| every side with crystaliZed sulphur, borax con-
Teras, alum. salts, etc. The gorge is rule bare
| or vegetation, yet the mountain oak, the frag-
| rant bay and the wild sweet-scented shrub, with
| here and there bright-colCred and highly dor
| Gus flowers Of various kiuds, are found occa-
| sionaliy growing in rank profusOn close along
| side the hot and foul waters which seem TO be
| bubbiing up from the very depths of hell. Sueli
| Is the general aspect OF the place, the mystic
| effect being heightened by continual clouds of
steam and vapor rising on every hand, coupled
| with tremors and unnatural sounds which
| come from beneath, like the shrieks aud groans
and convulsive throbs of some huge monster
| contired in the center of the earth.
| Commencing at the foot of the Geyser gorge
or Devils canon, as 1t is called. the visitor first
meets spring of cold alum water strongly i'm
| pIegnated with iron. Next above is the " Med
| icated Bath" pool in which the various waters
above are gathered, and where the visitor may
enjoy at one plunge bath in water containing
nearly equal parts of iron, magnesia, sulphur,
| soda, alum. salts, and l don't know how many
| other desirable and undesirable mineral SUBJ
stances, all toned down to pleasant tempera-
ture: Cloee at hand is a spring of alum, and
another OF black sulphur water, both at q tenn
| perature of 1909. Near these is the "Boiling
Black Sulphur" the water OF which is con.
stantly roaring and kept in q state Of violent
| agitation. Beyond is the Devils Inkstand,"
the water Of which is sometimes used for keep
ing the register at the hotel, and which looks
| and smells much like the ordinary article of
indelible ink. Not tar of Ia . spring Of pure,
sweet, ice cold water. A little further up e the
famous &c Steamboat Geyser." From this no
water escapes. On the other hand there is q
Constant and violent rush of super heated steam,
me noise Of which Is exactly like that Of q
steamboat blowing of steam after her voyage lie
zone: Only 2 few steps from this fs the
OF the group. being rome six feet in dia moter.
snd SAID to be unfathomable in depth. Ib bIaek
; Huu solgad waters, 400 in temperature, are
angry, diabolical noise, sometimes nearly to the
M. nj A--