The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-09-30
OUR WESTERN TOUR
No. 6-Yosemite Park and Lake
Tahoe.

The above named places OF popu-
lar interest may not be more than
hundred miles apart, but they are
reached by two separate side trips
from San Francisco, each one of
more than two hundred miles. To
reach Yosemite Park we travelled 230
miles by rail and fifteen miles of
mountain stage road attaining
height of four thousand feet. The
National Park originally was forty
miles square. Something like one
third of it has been given up to
form California townships. But an
addition of about two miles by three
has been made on the south, to take
In the Mariposa grove of big trees.
Extensive as the park Is the objects
of most special interest center around
a section of the valley of the Mer-
ced River of comparatively small area.
This is a canyon some eight miles
long averaging about three-fourths
of a mile in width. The floor of this
canyon is level and partly covered
with trees. The walls rise from
$500 to 1000 feet curve somewhat
and present phases of striking inter-
est, with names such as the follow
ing: Sentinel Rock, The Captain,
The Three Brothers, The Three Graces.
Cathedral Spires, Leaning Tower,
Glacier Point, Royal Arches, North
Dome, Half Domestic. From some
points nearly all of these are in sight
at once, and not seeming half so dis
tant as is the fact. Some are ascend
ed by roundabout trails many times
as long as the direct distance. Yose-
mite, Vernal. Nevada and Bridal
Veil Falls are beautiful objects in
the same area, but TO us far less
striking than IL our visit had been
in May, when the melting SHOWS Of
the Sierra Nevada swelled'the volume
of water. Mrs. Dodge did the more
in seeing the sights Of that neigh
borhood, and is enthusiastic over
its beauties. But she was led into ex-
ertions beyond her powers of endur-
ance; and besides that her future
life is likely to be embittered by the
thought that she has no picture Of
the dear striped mule Dan" whose
intelligent faithfulness brought her
safe, though almost helpless, to camp.
after the all day climb and descent
: covering fifteen miles OF ground much
of it along steep and narrow paths.
Meanwhile l was making the trip
: to see the famous trees, the Sequoya
of Mariposa Grove. To 90 this
made a mountain stage drive of 26
miles in the afternoon, stayed at the
, Wawona hotel, had $3.50 break
fast and covered 43 miles that day,
/, rounding up at Yosemite proper, the
starting point of the previous day.
! All along the way we saw numerous
, specimens Of yellow pine, sugar pine,
3 cedar, and Douglas fir which would
DO called big trees in the east. A
height of two hundred feet and a
[ diameter of four or five feet we're
e common, where, too, 1t was SO
g rocky as to seem to give no room
d for root-hold. Indeed, the largest
tree on the floor of the Yosemite
canyon IL fully ten feet through.
Arriving at our destination l found
the Sequoya themselves scattered over
n perhaps a hundred acres of land
, among trees of other kinds. Cutting
r down largely the estimate OF the
: guide, should say that we saw three
/. hundred or more of the trees and tina
r fifty specimens are from twenty to
d thirty feet in diameter. 1 took down
h the individual names of seventy-five
Il These were named from Presidents
d and other distinguished men, from
states and cities, or from some
special regularity. The Grizzly Giant
is claimed to be the largest tree
in the world, and the oldest a'
s well say 5000 years Of age. 1t shows
9 marks of senility, and is not SO tai
Il as some of the vigorous youths moi
a more than two OF three thousand year
q old. The Columbia is popularity &C
q counted the tallest tree in the grove
8 its height being carefully computed a
+ 1923 feet. 1t should be remarked thai
a some OF the Redwood trees on tho
u coast, which 1 shall not see, while
= less in girth are still taller than the
l. Soquoya. / will not dwell upon sucf
:, interesting incidents as our driving
= through two of the trees, a troop o.
!, cavalry being photographed upon thu
= Fallen Monarch" etc.
t Turning to the famed Lake Tahoe
n I will be briefer because of its lesi
striking character. / reach this b!
TX railroad ride of 20s miles from SaI
It Francisco, on one of the leading line
n, | foiIourad ~, O narr0W-QQuQa ride q