September-October 1878, Notes of Travel on the East Side of the Sierra Image 14

Creator

John Muir

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Transcription

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Carson Range Holbrook Camp, Alt. 6525 Passing E from Lake Tahoe where the range becomes double [there] seems but little difference between the E & W summits both [granite] [with] here & there a [capping] of lava, but on the very next range across the val of the [Carson] there is a very marked change in the character of the rocks & of course in the vegetation & scenery. The rocks observed by me are mostly lavas & stratified deposits [ ] [therefrom] with a superficial covering along the slopes of flood material Some summits are exposed of [quartzite] remarkably lava like in structure. Vigorous prospecting has been done for gold & silver with slight success. “Winters [mine]” said to [be]

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rich in silver. The true vegetation of the Carson range is almost exclusively composed of Fremont Pine [Pinus monophylla] wh[ich] by no means covers all the mountain surfaces seldom ascends the flanks of the main mtns but confines itself to a rather scanty distribution along the foothills. It is actually broader than long & [branched] to the ground often forming very beautiful [outlines] vase like when young much like the carefully shapen & trimmed specimens of the nurserymen without any of their formal stiffness. The old trees somewhat picturesque but the trunks are too small to afford scope for this kind of [beauty] so that the tree becomes less interesting after the prime of full leafy vigor is past. The foliage is remarkable as being [undivided] [into] [twos], [threes] [&] [fives] as in other [kinds]

Date Original

1878

Source

Original journal dimensions: 10 x 17 cm.

Resource Identifier

MuirReel25Journal06P024-025.tif

Publisher

Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

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