Arizona republican., 1902-08-24

comes, follow the crowd to the coast re- sort, swell the throngs on the inevita- ble long board walk and return tired of sun and sand and sea, to dream Of Tae woods.
 And all the time the coveted retreats are so near; they are known to the an- gler, the sportsman and the unconven- tional, who are ever on the alert for the new and the untried, and of III these many delightfully."- picturesque re- gions none is more accessible, more var jed in scenery, more full of impressive beauty; none so full of the old-time charm as fair Matilija.
 Matilija canyon is a wildly pictur- esque gorge in the San Rafael noun tains. While it's bed is narrow and its sides often precipitous, there is some thing about the soft, cushiony charac- ter of the lofty hills rolling up, one behind the other, which gives the effect of expanse, even in its most circum- scribed limits.
 Nordhoff, Ventura county, is the railway station nearest Matilija, and a four or five mile drive over a winding, narrow road cut along the mountain side-where teams may pass only at 
 the real woods of live oak, sycamore, laurel, alder, willow and cottonwood, which have replaced the primeval for ests of pine long since destroyed by fire.
 In June the mountain sides are al- most hidden under towering grease wood, and the sage, shumac and elder berry make exquisite tints of cream white, red and olive green. Higher up. the yucca grows to stately heights, showing pale against the green moun- tain wall or the blue of the sky; here also the manzanita f1ourishes.
 Below, in the densely wooded chasm, runs another wagon road, following the windings of the canyon bed, which is interlaced with running streams, the musical ripple of whose eddies and falls may be heard on the trail above.
 The upper road, which may be trav- eled some twelve or fifteen miles along the mountain, and finally dwindles into a hunters trail, gives wonderful and expansive views of rocky emi- nences, crags and peaks, glimpses- looking backward-of the beautiful Ojai valley, purpling hills and scenery. both rugged and daintily picturesque, but to the lover of the woods, the lower road, which may be travelled only through such portions of the canyon as have been improved by resort own CTS, will afford the greatest delight. Here, through tangles of underbrush, the road runs beneath oVer-arching trees whose dense shade is increased by masses of wild grape vine, clematis and many a brilliant parasite clinging to their branches. It crosses and re- crosses, at deep or shallow fording places, sparkling streams, which spread out into wide basins; stone and boulders, worn smooth; make useful foot bridges from one fern-hidden bank to the other.
 Here and there, in some partial clear ing, where great live oaks spread darkly above a russet carpet of leaves. or under some silver trunked sycamore, one comes unexpectedly upon a camp. The camp wagon, canvas topped and never quite unpacked, tells the story of the journey.
 By the sprino, horses are nibbling coarse grasses, and in front of the cosy tent a jolly party, mountain clad, loll in hammocks, listening to the song of lIlc DIOOh anu COHlcllltu Sttlll- ingly to do nothing but breathe in the wild beauty of the canyon.
 All the time the journey is leading upward from the valley, although the altitude reached in the canyon is never more than 1500 feet. The spicy odors of bay and sage mingle with the fra grance of the wild rose, which grows here in profusion.
 Now and then, away from the thick of the chaparral, spring up great gray green patches of ragged foliage, decked with large, airy, white blossoms,