The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-04-04
TRIP THROUGH CALIFORNIA
A Description Of Lake Tahoe, Which is
Said TO be One of the Most Beautiful
Mountain Lakes in the World.
GRAND SCENERY OF SIERRA NEVADA

VI blit ApdlhV,S llOul NhlSii VIC VII
tinue our journey toward the City
f the Angels. (As to the sanity
or angelic qualities, Salt Lake
City compares favorably with Los
Angeles).
Leaving SaltLake City we skirt
ed the lake to Ogden, and thence
via Southern Pacific Railway, We
crossed 1t by the new road, con-
structed right through the lake.
These waters are the concentrat-
ed residue of the vast prehistoric
sea once occupying the basin be-
tween the Wasatch and the Sler-
ra Nevada Mountains. The wa
ter lines are plainly seen along
the foot hills, and the deposits IN
the lowlands are filled with fresh
water and land shells, indicating
comparatively modern origii..
The blue rolling surface of the
lake looks refreshing, sweet and
pure, until the eye catches the in
crusted shore-line and stumps of
piling, which suggest the briny
waters they are. After a couple
Of hours ride over the desolate
salt plans to the west darkness
graciously drew curtain on this
dreary scene, and we wake up
five hundred miles westward
from Ogden, IN the land of the
Mirage; when we could see beau
tiful lakes and groves of green
trees in the distance. Here many
2 poor emigrants, in the Overland
9 days, were lured from the well
beaten path by these phantom re-
freshments OF the desert to find
only disappointment and death.
4 Perhaps in the mineral kingdom
Nevada has treasures to offer the
human race; but with it's desert
soil, brackish lakes and few sink
ing streams, 1T is an unlnviting
habltation for man or beast.
On reaching the borders Of Cal
: ifornia remarkable cuange is OBJ
served. Here are lakes Taho e,
Donper, Webber and lndepen-
dence. waters Of crystal purity
and whlteness, dashing streams
and waterfalls and virgin forests
of red, yellow and sugar pine, fir
: and cedar.
Tahoe is said TO be one of the
| most beautiful mountain lakes in
the world. 1t lies in the heart of
. the Sierra of an attitude of $3.50
feet, surrounded by mountain
peaks two to four thousand feet
: higher. Its pure crystal waters
. are so perfectly transparent that
the fish, which abound in great
. numbers, can be seen swlmmin &
! so feet beneath the surface. 1t
: contains about three hundred
l square miles; is twice as long as
3 it is wide, and is eighteen hun
: dred feet deep. In this, the
Truckae Basin, umberlng is ex-
+ tensively carried on; millions of
feet cut every year. 1t is esti-
( mated that there is enough tim
4 Der to Ike p the mills running, at
t present rate, for one hundred
years.
The climb of fifty miles up the
Sierra Nevada Range affords
: scenery strlklngly grand, but
, the fol ty miles Of snow sheds,
t which cover the road like great
: barn, permit only tantalizng
i glimnses of it. AS we wind up
4 ward and around great shoulders
of the mountains, we could see
below us Donner Lake cleaning
+. in It's granite setting and reflect
I ing back the rugged peaks and
/ giant pines around it. 1t was on
its shores IN 1916, that thirty -four
Q of the Donner party died of star
Z vation and gave to it Its name
!, From the summit, at 1000 fee
J. elevation, mountains tower above
0 us, aud lakes and waterfalls glis
+ ten below us; while a panorama o
= pine clad mills and ragged noun
J. tain peaks spread out in the dis
tance. The weather was a de
hghtful Indian summer kind, an,
the sun almost down, as we coast
ed down the western slope int
"a the once famous. gold fields O
10 CallOrnia--nOW devoted tD frul