The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-11-01
N THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE THE CLOUDS
Continued from First Page


times Jack Frost steals down from his
cold home and attacks the young lemon
crop.
Ii was high noon when we reached
the summit and stood beside the flag
that waved triumphantly from pile
OF rock marking the highest point, from
which panorama of unutterable mag
nihcence unfolded before our astOnish-
ed gaze. Human language is an evOlu-
ton OF human experience, and words
are lifted TO express thoughts which
are the natural outgrowth of these eX-
periences. 1t is reasonably plain that
words will not adequately describe
scenes so unusual as these.
We best appreciate music when the
soul of the singer or player, through
the music, harmoniZes with the soul of
the listeners. so when the Influence of
the Great Creator touches and blends
with the soul of man, he appreciates i'm
its highest, fullest sense, the wonders
of nature-the beautiful thoughts of
God. Art is more beautiful than nat.
ure when the scenes are common place,
but art can never paint the tragedy of
nature and do it justice.
To the south, our beautiful valley,
from which the clouds had now disap-
|
checker board of green with alterna-
tiOns of dry waste land, and further to
the south the blue ocean with its long
line of white capped breakers, and the
| Catalina Islands.
At our very feet, on the north, Law
the far-reaching desolatiOn of the great
Mojave Desert, melancholy waste,
whose silence is unbroken, except by
passing train, or where some whirlwind
| lifts the yellow sand in air. "The sea
is lonely, but it has color, sound and
motion" The silence of the desert is
deeper, and more benumbing to the
senses. Far to the north could be dis
cerned the dim outlines of Mt Whitney
the highest mountain i'm the United
States. At the base of "Old Baldy"
rises the Mojave river, and with scant
fringe of green winds its weary way
across the desert and empties into the
Colorado. Looking TO the east we saw
Lyle creek canyon, the water of which
rose from the snOw-fields, at our feet,
Telegraph and Lone Pine peaks, Ice
house canyon, Ontario mountains and
Cajon Pass, through which winds the
Santa Fe railroad, connecting the desert
with the fruitful valley, and on the
eastern horizon the snow crowned peaks
OF the San BernardinO and San Jacinto
mountains. On the west, about half a
mile from the summit, rose the head
waters of the san Gabriel river, which
go dashing and foaming to the sea
seventy miles away. Standing against
the western horizon was the long line
of mountains with their prominent
peaks, Mt Lowe, Mt Wilson, and far to |
the northwest, Mt Hamilton on which |
is located Lick Observatory
Dinner was soon ready and we sat
down beneath the flag and enjoyed a
good lunch, with ice-cold lemonade. |
Just think of eating dinner on the roof |
of the world, with the cool, refreshing |
sea on one side, and the scorched, thirsty |
desert on the other.
At the base of the flag staff two tin |
boxes of autographs were found. These |
autographs covered period of twenty |
years, and in general, were quite inter |
esting. In most instances the party |
stated his first impression on reaching |
the summit. Some showed high order |
of appreciation, while others an utter |
lack of susceptibility. The following
autographs will give the reader a fair |
idea of the collection. One writer said !
his first impression, on reaching the
summit was, Nearer my God to Thee"
Another wrote: "It's devilish cold up
here, wish | was back home" The next |
writer says; "Take one view of the
wide eXpanse, then think how small
you are. The next writer must have
lost the trail for he says: "Had a h
of time getting up here, and if the
Lord will forgive me this time, | will
never do so again
How varied, how beautiful, how awe
inspiring are the scenes around us, the
ever restless ocean, cool and refreshing,
the unbroken solitude of the desert,
parched and thirsty, the stupendous
mass of mountain, the dizzy height of
crags, peaks and domes, all rising in
majestic, titanic grandeur. In the
midst of all what sense of littleness,
OF insignificant nothingness presses up
on the soul and forces one to quote the
royal poet of Israel and say: "What is
man, that Thou art so mindful of him 2"
The pine-clad mountain tops where so
much strength is symboliZed, the can
yOns where so much power is seen in
the rushing streams and plunging falls,
and the green woods, and the flowers,
are all like friends whose converse has
been uplifting, whose companionship
has been delightful, and whose influence
has all been for lasting good.
These grand, these beautiful, these
awe-inspiring, these peaceful, these
quiet scenes, will meyer fade from the
pages of memory, until all fade. And
rs we turned to retrace our steps to
AXE up again our daily toll, it was with
his confession: truly God is in this
place, truly this is the temple of the
Almighty. SAMUEL RICHARD.
Just received a fine lot of new belts
short black gloves and fancy combs at