Letter from John Muir to Louie [Wanda & Helen Muir], 1900 Aug 23.

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1900
• Subjects: John Muir; correspondence; letters; author; writing; naturalist; California; correspondent; mail; message; post; exchange of letters; missive; notes; epistle; North Fork; Pacific; Beaver Creek
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmcl/14962; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/jmcl/article/39897/type/native/viewcontent/fullsize.jpg

DESCRIPTION OF THE MAMMOTH AND SOUTH PARK GROVES.[From Nelson's Atlantic and Pacific Tourists' Guide.]THE SOUTH GROVE.On a very pleasant morning we left the Mammoth Grove Hotel at 8 o'clock, for a day amidst the largest grove of the largest trees in the world. Once in the Mexican saddle---the most comfortable made---we followed the well-known mountain guide--- Abe Ritchie. Six miles had to be passed over ere reaching the goal of our ambition. A short distance from the hotel, we ascended and stood on the dividing ridge between the Big Tree Creek and the Stanislaus River. Here a remarkably fine view was obtained of the near and distant mountains. Far away the Dardanelles or summit of the Sierras towered aloft twelve thousand five hundred feet. Many of the distant peaks were snow-capped. Descending into the valley we reached Squaw Hollow, two miles from the hotel. A mile beyond we crossed the north fork of the Stanislaus River, on whose classic shores the Society of Truthful James came to grief. Here a bridge spans the pretty mountain stream; above the bridge are a series of rapids caused by the immense boulders that have rolled into the bed of the river. In places its banks were vine-clad- they are also wooded to the edge. It is a gem of mountain scenery. Ascending the Stanislaus Hill, a fine view was obtained of the valley, as well as of the basaltic cliffs opposite. Further on, the trail passed ever several small natural bridges, under which a swift brook runs. We stopped to examine a veritable freak of nature. At a distance of fully fifteen feet above the ground, a well developed gooseberry bush grows out of the side of a dead tree. A berry, no doubt, was carried there by some squirrel or bird, and from it, this phenomenon of mountain botany sprouted. Yet onward and we reachedTHE DIVIDEBetween Beaver Creek and the Stanislaus River. The Creek is a far-famed locality for trout-fishing. Still we wended our way through vast pine trees, of various kinds, many of them ten feet and upward in diameter, and from two ...