Preview
Transcription
34 of the water arch is seen to be finely [grooved] & striated. The (blue) sky is seen through the arch, the whole effect being very beautiful. The fall strikes flat topped rocks about 2/3rds of the way down. These seem like [ruined] pillars leaning against the wall. As the fall sways varyingly among these tablets & pillars kissing & [plashing] [notes] as well as thunder-like explosions are produced like those of Yo Sem [Yosemite] only on a smaller scale. The rainbows are superb, the dashing at bottom among so many angular blocks & crevices producing abundance of spray of the best texture for iris effects, & for a luxuriant growth of grass on the talus on the west wh [which] lower is planted with oak & laurel & [willow] There is a lovely fringe of adiantum on a seam near the edge of the fall whose fronds ever wave & respond to its
35 moist breath. Saxifrages & ferns are ab [abundant] From Cath [Cathedral] Rocks across to El Cap [El Capitan] there extends a large mass of moraine matter forming the end of [ancient] Yo Sem [Yosemite] Lake, below this river is very rapid & while [forming] magnificent reaches between richly wooded banks perhaps this mass of morainic material formed terminal moraine & lake dam, or it is a mass of terminal moraines from small side gls [glaciers]?
June (towards end) Virgins Tears nearly dry.
There is a very luxuriant [grovy] meadowy forest growing upon [alluvium] in the basin of the ancient Mirror Lake. At the head is a small opening meadow like, splendidly flowered with hieracium & [lilacs]. Large alders & azaleas libocedrus [splendid] trunks. The tallest [pine] of the valley
Date Original
1873
Source
Original journal dimensions: 10 x 16.5 cm.
Resource Identifier
MuirReel23Journal12P34-35.tif
Publisher
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
To view additional information on copyright and related rights of this item, such as to purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish them, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
Keywords
John Muir, journals, drawings, writings, travel, journaling, naturalist
