The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-08-24
IN YOSEMITE VALLEY.
Our Correspondent Views
Natures Wonders.
HE TELLS OF THE BIG TREES.
fhe Beautiful Falls, Lakes, Hills,
Mountains and Valleys of
That District.

We had crossed great stretch OF
sandy knobs and deep dust prosaic,
ordinary, disagreeable region, inter
spersed with ugly rocks, low shrubs
and shaggy trees-aud had arrived in
dense forest-the Tuolmne grove of big
trees, when our wonderment began.
The trees became higher and higher as
we proceeded, finally reaching the be-
wildering heights OF $50 feet, with diam
eters ranging from ten to thirty-tGo
feet. At6rst we could not fairly com
prehend the vast size of these monarchs
of the forest; but the longer we Looked
at them, the larger they appeared, until
after spending half an hour under the
shades of one of The giants, We were
able, in some degree. 10 appreciate its
greatness. The writer stepped into a
hollow-at first sight mere crevice-in
one side of this tree, and found it a
cavern capable of sheltering half q
dozen persons. Then the teamster
drove the stage and four horses right
into huge erect trunk, which, COM
pleuely obstructing the wide road, has
been hewed out in a vast archwav, and
the stage and four stood concealed
within this interesting passage. In at
tempting to climb over the trunk of one
of the fallen trees, the writer discoyert d
its size to be so prodigious that be
could scarcely get upon it; and one OF
the party walked seventy steps on an
other before arriving at the branches.
Then we began to speculate: some of
the trees, when cut down. have been
found to contain several thousand
rings. We conclude that when Kine
Solomon lived, they were tiny shoots
or just vigorous youths; when the
Roman Empire was falling to pieces,
they were about half their presen.
size; now they are
THE LARGEST LIVING THINGS
the earth has yet produced; and in 8
thousand years from now-but lost
readers dislike the p,ation OF So
distant a future.
We had now sroTn to like oar great
friends; huge. silent, immovable, they
seemed kind and inoulgent also, and
we were loath to depart from them.
With a weakness that deserves soIue
praise we gathered pieces of bark, bits
of wood, fruit-cones and mossy
branches from the trees; and We look
at these mentoes now with peldon-
able satisfaction. The "big trees are
called redwoo6s; they belong to the fir
and pine order, the botanical name be
ing SequoiG giganteG. They are found
IN company with the sugar pine, the
Douglas fir. and the pitch pine, all of
which attain great size. The red
wood lumber is not obtained from the
dig tree. but from near reiatiYe, s.
semptrUiretlS.
1hls was the first genuine forest any
Of US had been in, and it was a most de-
licious novelty to be among the large
trees, SO close together that the eye
could penetrate only few rods, so high
that standing at the foot of any tree we
could not see its summit, the limbs of
many SO covered with long, bright
yellowish moss that we felt impeIled TO
quote poetry, and SO cool that ne
fingered long within the deep shadows
of the peaceful grove.
Descending from the high road into
THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
we were first impressed by the IN
mensity of this wonderful gorge. Our
first sight of this vast, picturesque
chasm, so splendidly chiseled and
moulded. as if fresh from the hands CT
master workman, caused some one to
repeat, In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth" Here we
saw the first waterfall, white, waving
pencil of silvery spray, the lovely
Bridal Veil. And indeed it is veil, for
1t literally floats back and forth, as if
it were fastened to the high rock from
which it descends for distance of 800
feet. The wind, acting on the long fall
ing column, causes it to bend, sway and
dutier, its folds changing with exquisite
grace and delicacy. AS we slowly
passed it, a rainbow, beginning at the
Top of the veil, lowered its giisteniny
sheen of colors to the very foot of the
descending haze. This rainbow was
mainly of gold and purple, and where
ever it came in contact with the green
foliage, the effect of tue rich green com
bined with the blazing irrideseence of
the varying colors, dehes not Only de-
scription. but Imagination also.
Directly in front OF US rose the great
columnar granite block called FL
Captain; on one side of it the Three
Brothers; on the opposite side of the
valley, the Three Graces; higher up,
lowered Sentinel Rock, the Dome, the
Halt Dome and Glacier Point, rising
from 3 600 to 5000 feet above the valley
aud from 1000 to 5000 feet apoye the
sea. OF all these gigantic cliffs
NOT ONE HAS RIVAL
anywhere in the world. Looking down
from Glacier Point, the tourist recoils
with apparent dread, and often with
feeling of sickness, as he first views the
bewildering perpendicular descent be
meath his very feet, and imagines the
effect Of falling over. From any of the
heights the immense trees dwarfed into
tiny shrubs, the distant waterfall be-
comes q slender thu cad. and the snow
capped SierIas appear IN the distance
to be no higher than the observer.
Standing on one height overlooking the
Casa Nevada Falls, fancy almost
poetioal seized the writer, and he could