The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-10-10
CAMPING IN THE slERRAs.9

'WUrbu ID SitudtSu vi tho AlpChoc 4hN1L3 ~
Che eastern base Of The sieTras. Although
surrounded ON allasidss byfa sandy or
alkaline desert; and over 1900 feet above
the sea, its inhabitants occasionally suf-
fer from malaria, The present dry sum-
mer has been worse thaniusdal and 10 the
early part Of july when the mercury was
caperips at 1869 r. the sde,, the writer
found himself in possession 0fan overdose
of the chf9gsia hHt daie edt g9f a.-,''i, ,.
=, The old timers said ,igoip up into she
mountains and youlwilllget, well. mdiIteis
we'll known that a mas with The ague viii
do anything reasonable for relief, SO that
in the present sefit srsapired veryclittle
argument to accept the above :advicei.l" f'8
The good book sayssa a'I II not good,lfofl
man to be- alone. ''iaandI,N hisi Is speciality
trueou ~ trip of e'canping out, Z iISS p
first thing necessary Was i suitable acom
pani9n.nna 10 was soon found in thesptf,,
son of Prof B. of the, wadsm6fth 'scla0588
Who had done the ffiUpttsfns'' the teaF'
previous. on a hpntipg ,tTipai q sGigh j
/ Having provided ouvsslyesswith breech,
loading ehHs, ham d5zep; ItsfA6kets, cook :
ing utensils and thfssss iwesks' fasiens.i on
the 18th of July weI mounted my back
bosrds drawn by9my' two good ponies,
Bess and JET, and werelssof for the neun..
tains." Our course was due swestcup the
north bank of the Truckea, along The n
track Of tho Central Pacihc ~ hs!solns
either side Of the river rQse the loftyispuFs
and peaks, looking grand,a even IN th .si.r
barrehness for 'exceptashpe l, Few stnppieda
cedars elipging 70 tnneif rocky summfs.'
they are as barsepas sifa theslarm or the
Creator restedlheress' h4a s.iy enuls I
A drive Of thirty miles bfoughtdus to-
the. Trnckee meadows, "a beautiful tpacs
of aevel country, watered BY CURTAIN at I'm
streams and covered with rich grass.
There are about %, 300 acres 81 thisiand'
dotted here,ahd .thereIwith farp houses,
while herds Of fins oattle and horses iced
on its luxuriant,, pastures iss las . back ,
groundareloftylhills and mountains. COM
pletely shutting out all sieht3of he RESI- s!s
of the world. Here We INTENDED nd 10 camp
the first night, but found the mosquitoes
In number, size and s'sharpness, nivai-'
ing, even the famous Jersey breed infestz
ing Cape. May and Atlantic. Citya A view
of the situation, soonalediatoithe conclur'
sion that our first night, seatnping out,N
could be. most pleasantly done ~ a good
hotel so we drove on fives miles further
to the City OF Renol situated near the
west side Of the meadows. 4 ~. ,b,,s.
II This is a pretty place OF several thou
sand inhabitants, good hotels, fine stores
and pleasant people. Here we laid In safa
fcient ammunition and completed our
outfit, and at an early honrelthe next
morning, we were on the road Our
course was, still west, up the tllrnckee
river, along the c. r. r. iRsi To- our;
right, barren hills, to our left beautiful
farms with heavy crops Of growing grass,
grain and vegetables. while just ahead,
the first uubrokeh chain of the sierras
stretched right across our course as if to-
say 'sthus far and no further Ten
miles of travel broughtus to the base of
this range Of mountains Here we reachsI
ed the timber line, and it was very pleas
ant to one seeing only sand and sage
brushif for more than a year, again to be-,
hold a forest. Here is the, beginning of,
the, great hume system, so prominent in
the Sierras. These are immense Y shaped
troaghs many miles in length, nearly full
of water, with sufhoient fall to dow very
rapidly. Into these are placed wood or,
sawed lumber, which is rapidly carried
many miles down, to the railroad, Of to
some, poipteas;y Of access. i II the wood
or logs come from "a steep hill side, they
are run down .in cBates,a These aSso much
like fumes, only not SO, deep, and made
Of logs instead Of sawed humber. No
water is needed as everything 49, carried
down by It's own weisht.,ii.ii5 81 . ,isa
1t is terrifying to see huge loK far up
asteep mountain, let ioose' inioneof those
chutes. So great is the force That TIE
smaller logs are often ruined by. the large,
ones cutting them .alnost into pieees.aoisi.
Here We left the railroad apd river, and
began, in good earnest, to- ascend The
mouatain. Five miles Of upward tell
landed us painting oh the summit Of the
first bench or range. A liberal feed Of
barley for the team and good dinner for
the Professor and myself, soon brought
the yholesSpasty aroyhd all right. Our
surroundings Md tentkelF changed since
mbrdinG. \ Then .ouEsway. was oyeriga
ddsek xh9raithe shy shoneNon the sand
wltflk glArsflainfhl totthe eyes! and
ca4lsibG hfbe$t laimbst infplerable. Now
it E* e96l5 1ftba pleasant breeze sigh
pgamid tie ltpps Of lofty pines. Here
and Sthsfef alHPriSg lspshfd out Of the
mouttaih IsideItp CHEER tlI9 traveller, with