The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1877-09-08
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FROM CHURCHILL TO LAKE
HIGLER.
Notes Of q Trip 60 the Gem Of the
Sierra.

around the block" in the way of some
recreation among the mountains and
lakes of our States Western border, I
can hardly refrain from giving it
slight writing up" in the little SILVER
STATE. 1t was with the highest aspi-
rations of good time that party of
four of us
FITTED UP IN OLD EMIGRANT STYLE
For few days vacation and rest to be
spent in fishing and general sight see
ing among the majestic, soul-inspiring
Sierra. Our outfit consisted of a good
four-horse spring wagon, q tent of
ample dimensions, and o set of cooking
utensils. such as are commonly used in
camp, with good stock of grub. 1t
was dreary ride from the sink of Car
son to the foot of the Sierra where the
sightseeing commenced, and it was
with exalted pleasure that we climbed
up the old overland trail at the head of
the Carson river into the wild mountain
scenery. How ones mind wanders
back to those days of privation and toll
which witnessed
THE PILGRIMS FROM THE EAST
After their long and tlresome journey,
with happy spirits nearing the goal OF
their hearts desire, that then mys err
GUS and wonderful land California
as he stands here in this rock chasm
with its hard beaten path, trod by the
thousands of ambitious feet that, climb
ing It's swift ascent, sought the golden
West. This mountain pass. situate at
the head of the Carson Valley and
crossing the mountains through Hope
Valley about twenty miles south of
Lake Tahoe and so on to the big trees
of Calaveras, was
THE EARLIEST CROSSING PLACE OF THE
EMIGRANTs.
These great mountain rocks are liter
ally covered with names painted and
chiseled in the solid rock by those ad-
venturous hands which, moving west
ward, sought the land of gold as early
as the Fall of '49. The most of these
names appear to have been written in
the months of September and October,
showing that so much of the season had
been spent in Flooding across the
plains. In Hope Valley our party
stopped for Eve days. camping un Ter
some huge pine trees and fshed, catch
ing the beautiful
sPgCKLED MOUNTAIN TROUT
With which the stream is bountifully
stocked. / caught as many as two
hundred in single days fishing, vary
ing ia size from six inches to foot aud
a half in length. Talk about good eat
ing! Well. guess not. Trout fried
for breakfast, fried trout for dinner,
trout for supper. and fish with trout on
the side. II anyone can't grow lazy
and fat on that kind of grub, then I'm
no judge. The ladies complained some
about their hard beds. but never found
fault with the trout. This was solid
comfort. It was fish aud eat, then
sleep; then sleep and eat, then fish.
One member OF our party gained 20
pounds in Ave days of this very kind
OF work. After laying in week stock
of trout we decamped aud crossed over
low range of mountains. with twenty
miles of the worst road that ever man
walked over,
TO LAKE TAHOE, OR BIaLER,
As il should more properly be called.
Would that could describe the beau
ties of this Mountain Lake. Words
are inadequate. Such pure crystalline
water in SO large body can be found
nowhere else on earth. It's depth is
one of it's most remarkable features. 1t
was sounded to the depth of 2,700 feet
last year and no bottom found. Its
transparency is remarkable. Sitting in
boat upon its glossy surface one can
look down hundreds of feet and see its
pebbly bottom. apparently but few
feet at most, from the surface.
HERE Is THE PLACE FOR THE TOURIST.
He can go where he pleases and find
beautiful works of nature Of which he
had never dreamed. On the one hand.
Gilmore's Soda Springs. whose waters
believe will in future rival any other
natural mineral water in the world; and
close by is Mt. Tallac. one of the high
est in the Sierra, from whose summit
one can count twenty. eight lakes nestled
in among the mountains. On the other
hand he can visit Emerald Bay, said by
tourists to be the prettiest bay in the
world. Here he can visit the vacant
tomb of
OLD SAILOR DICK,
Who. living for many years the life of
hermit around the lake. carved him
self tomb from the solid rock on an
island in the west end of the bay and
erected miniature church over it's