August-September 1896, Forest Field Studies Image 22

& monosperma. On San Francisco mtns [mountains] [pashacflora] the latter a queer looking species from oaklike bark on trunk, small limbs, as usual. In [nutpine] forest berberis is a tall bush with minute lvs [leaves] v [very] prickly & shaped like common also a charming spiraea with [bipinnate] lvs [leaves] & Cowania Mexicana with white fragrant flr [flower]. The common oak gambelii perhaps most widely distributed oak in America with greatest number of individuals occurs along route & in canon mostly as a brush of sprouts takes [lovely] Marble yellow & brown colors adorns the mantles of a few [of] [ ] [trees] the canon 25 ft h [high] one foot dia [diameter] with white bark. [Pinnate] lvd [leaved] spiraea & dwarf species common along most of route & on canon. [Curious] [ashes] 2 mesquite one large with large lvs [leaves] & jointed pods all of wh [which] is pounded into meal by Inds [Indians] seeds small hard & [comparted] [insignificant] . Lovely forest glades of yel [yellow] p [pine] few reach 100 ft, many lightning struck, many branches broken off a yr [year] or two ago by heavy wet snow, landscapes of exceeding fine lines of rough material [limestone] & lava. Interesting contacts val [valley] between. At 6.15 ran up to verge of canon & had first memorable & overwhelming view in light & shade of setting sun the most tremendous expression of erosion & the most ornate & complicated [ever] saw. Man seeks finest marble for sculptures, Nature takes cinders ashes sediments & makes all divine [on] fineness of beauty turrets towers pyramids battle[ments] castles - - every style of building rises in glowing beauty from the depths of this canon or canons [ ] hewn from the smooth mass of the plateau. 29th. All set out for views along the brink of the canon through the queer extensive forest of nut pine & cedar. Pinchot & I afoot traced the rim & enjoyed endless changing views. [head] [dawn] brought out colors reds grays ashy greens of [ ] limestones & sandstones lavender & [tones] nameless & numberless Light & shade of clouds on the wondrous city of structures & side streets. Storms of rain clds [clouds] softly sweeping out over the rim gently dimming here & there the [separate] buildings with silky brush of rain. Got lunch remnants from returnhttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/3519/thumbnail.jp