Creator

John Muir

Preview

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Circa Date

circa 1887

Transcription

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A storm cloud dark and opaque, through rents of which dense white cumuli appeared, like snow covered mountains. Some patches, islets of mountains, appeared likewise. Clouds on clouds.

Lassen’s Peak, snow covered. A mountain cloud took its place. So also with other mountains to the west. Grandest cloud display ever witnessed.

Soon flakes began to fall, mingling flakes with drift. Gathered wood. Snugged away all that might be buried. Soon fell faster. Fell for three days.

Nov. 4th. Snowy, drifty, one or two lulls in the storm. Hushed calm, lakes of air. Squirrels. 2 Tamias and a pine squirrel.

Nov. 5th. Wind wild. Snowy and drifting. Drift changing the outlines of the mountains. Pulsing outlines. 3 inches of snow on blankets – sifted into hair. Glorious storm. Caught crystals on sleeve. Some perfect, most broken. Very fine. Clark crow visit – sits on cones of flexilis and pecks them open. This easier done, than any

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other pine. No prickles. Seeds good. The cone sometimes breaks off – he follows, diving like a hawk – picks it up and carries it to a limb. Ride home, snow in timber fir. Yellow lichen. Bears. Deer (5) from thicket to thicket.

6th. Stormy. Rain and snow.

7th. Glorious view of Shasta veiled in clouds.

Nov. 11th. Ride from Sheep Rock to Van Bremer’s. 1000 feet up a remarkably sandy hill. Sand upon hard lava. Whence derived? Then over a sage table land, then in a forest of yellow pine to Grass Lake (5000 ft elevation) and down over rough lava to a splendid outopening at Milk Ranch. Lake partly filled. Wild geese. Butte Creek forks into the lake and returns.

Nov. 12. Over rough lava through yellow pine and cedar and a few libocedrus. Huge plateau, with washed pebbles, terminating in sharp escarpments. A remarkable fissure 70 ft deep. 2 ft. wide.

Date Occurred

1874

Resource Identifier

MuirReel32 Notebook04 Img016.Jpeg

Contributing Institution

Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

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