Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Mrs. [Jeanne C.] Carr
Transcription
Yosemite Aug 20th [1870]
Dear friend Mrs Carr, I have just returned from a ten days ramble with Prof Le Conte & his students in the beyond & Oh we have had a most glorious season of terrestrial grace I do wish I could ramble ten days of equal size in very heaven that I could compare its scenery with that of Bloody Canon & the Tuolumne Meadows & Lake T[illegible] & that Dana Our first camp after leaving the valley was at Eagle Point overlooking the valley on the north side from which a much better general view of the valley & the high crest of the Sierra beyond is obtained than from Inspiration Point There we watched the long shadows of sunset upon the living map at our feet & in the later darkness half silvered by the moon went far out of human cares & human civilization, Our next camp was at Lake T[illegible] one of the countless multitudes of starry gems that make this topmost mountain land to sparkle like a sky, After moonrise Le Conte & I walked to the lakeshore & climbed upon a big sofa shaped rock that stood [illegible]let like a little way out in the shallow water & here we found another bounteous throne of
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Aug 20. 1870.
earthly grace & I doubt if John in Patmos saw greater seasons than we & you were remembered there & we cordially wished you with us , Our next sweet home was upon the velvet gentian meadows of the South Tuolumne Here we feasted upon soda & burnt ashy cakes & stood an hour in a frigid rain with our limbs bent forward like Lombardy [illegible] in a gale, but ere sunset the black clouds departed, our spines were straightened at a glowing fire - we forgot the cold & all about half raw mutton & alkaline cakes - the grossest of our earthly coils was shaken off & ere the last slant sunbeams left the dripping meadow & the spiry mountain peaks [we was?] again in the [illegible] alpine heaven & saw & heard things equal in glory to the purest & best of Yosemite valley our next camp was beneath a big gray [illegible] at the foot of Mt Dana Here we had another rain storm which drove us beneath our [illegible] Where we lay in complicated confusion our forty limbs woven into a knotty piece of tissue compact as felt Next day we worshiped upon high places on the brown cone of Dana, & returned to our rock, next day walked among the flowers & cascades of Bloody Canon & camped at the lake. rode next day to the volcanic [cove nearest?] to the lake & bade farewell to the party, & climbed to the highest crater in the whole range south of the [illegible] lake, Well I shall not try to tell you anything as it is unnecessary Prof Le Conte whose company I enjoyed exceedingly
[in margin: will tell you all. Ask him in particular to tell you about our camp meeting on the Janaya rock. I will send you a few [illegible] mountain plant children by Mrs Yelverton. If there is anything in particular that you want let me know. Mrs Yelverton will not leave the valley for some weeks & you have time to write. I am ever your friend JM]
Location
Yosemite
Date Original
1870 Aug 20
Source
Original letter dimensions: 24.5 x 19.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Mrs. [Jeanne C.] Carr, 1870 Aug 20." (1870). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1351.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1351
Resource Identifier
muir02_0319-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0319
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
Owning Institution
University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Pages
2 pages