San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-03-15
The Passes Of the Sierra.


The sustainc grandeur Of the Cali
fornia Alps is fc. chilly illustrated by the
fact that, throughout their whole extent,
there is not single pass lower than
5000 feet above the level of the sea.
In distance OF 140 miles, between lati-
tude SO degrees 20 minutes and 3S de-
gress, the lowest I have yet found ex-
ceeds 5000 feet, and the average height
of all that are in use is, perhaps, not far
from 1000. ....t .
A carriage road has been constructed
through what is known as the Sonora
Pass, on the Stanislaus and Walkers
rivers, the summit of which is 5000
feet above the sea. Substantial wagon
roads have also been built through the
Carson and Johnson passes, near the
head of Lake Tahoe, over which i'm
mense quantities of freight were hauled
from California to the mining regions
of Nevada, prior to the construction OF
the Central Pacific Railroad.
A considerable number of compare
lively low passes, accessible to wheeled
vehicles, occur in the northern half OF
the range, through whose rugged detiles
long emigrant trains toiled YEARLY dur
ing the exciting years of the gold peri
I'd. But, however interesting, these
northern passes cannot properly be
brought within the scope of this work
Between the Sonora Pass and the
southern extremity of the Alps, dis
lance of nearly 100 miles, there are only
five passes through which trails conduct
from one side of the range to the other.
These are barely practicable for animals;
pass in these regions meaning simply
any notch Or canon through which one
may, by the exercise of unlimited pa
thence, make out to lead a mule, or sure
footed mustang. Only three of the five
passes may be said to be in use, viz.
the Kearsarge, Mono and Virginia
Creek, the tracks leading through the
others being only obscure Indian trails,
not graded in the least, and scarce at all
traceable by white men; for much of the
way is over solid rock pavements and
bosses, where the unshod ponies of the
Indians leave no appreciable sign, while
only skilled mountaineers are able to
detect the marks that serve to guide
the Indians, such as slight abrasions OF
the looser rocks, tho displacement OF
stones here and there, and bent bushes
and weeds. A general knowledge of
the topography, however, is the main
guide, enabling one to determine where
the trail ought to go--nlust go. One
of these Indian trails crosses the range
by namcless pass between the head
waters of the south and middle forks
of the San joaquin, the other between
the north and middle forks of the same
river, just to the south Of the Minarets;
this last being about 5000 feet high,
the lowest of the five. The Kearsarge
is the highest, crossing the summit of
the range near the head of the south
fork of Kings River, about eight miles
to the north of Mount Tyndall, through
the midst of the most stupendous rock
scenery to be found anywhere in the
Alps. The summit Of the pass is over
10000 feet above sea level nevertheless,
it is one of the safest of the five, and is
used every summer, from July to Octo-
Der or November, by hunters, prospec-
tors and stock owners. and to some ex-
tent by enterprising pleasure seekers,
also. For, besides the surprising gran
deur Of the scenery about the summit,
the trail, i'll ascending the western flank,
conducts through a grove of tho giant
sequoias, and through the magnificent
Yosemite Valley of the south fork of
Kings River This tx, perhaps, the
highest Travelled pass on the continent.
-JohH Muir, an March ScriLner.
4 NV HAVEN policeman has been
fined two days pay for taking of his
boots aud going to sleep. If it was on
his beat, it served him right. ! police
man ought always to keep his boots on