Letter from John Muir to Louie, [Wanda & Helen], 1899 Jun 24.

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1899
• Subjects: Environmentalist; naturalist; travel; conservation; national parks; John Muir; history; correspondence; letters; Fairweather; Orca
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/2415; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/muir-correspondence/article/3414/viewcontent/muir10_0851_let.pdf

To Mrs. MuirOff Prince William-Sound,June 24, 1899Dear Louie and darlings:We are just approaching Prince William Sound - the place above all others I have long wished to see. The snow and ice-laden mountains loom grandly in crowded ranks above the dark, heaving sea, and I can already trace the courses of some of the largest of the glaciers. It is two P.M., and in 3or 4 hours we shall be at Orca, near the mouth of the bay, where I will mail this note. We had a glorious view of the mountains and glaciers in sailing up the coast along the Fairweather Range from Sitka to Yakutat Bay. In Yakutat and Disenchantment Bays we spent 4 days, and I saw their 3 great glaciers discharging bergs and hundreds of others to best advantage. Also the loveliest flower gardens. Here are a few of the most beautiful of the rubuses. This charming plant covers acres like a carpet. One of the islands we landed on, in front of the largest thundering glacier, was so flower-covered that I could smell the fragrance from the boat among the bergs half a mile away.I'm getting strong fast, and can walk and climb about as well as ever, and eat everything with prodigious appetite.I hope to have a good view of the grand glaciers here, though some of the party are eager to push on to Cook Inlet. I think I'll have a chance to mail another letter are we leave the Sound.Love to all,J.M.73702597