In the San Gabriel. An Excursion by John Muir-Hot Weather and Plenty of Chaparral-A Glorious View-Rattlesnakes and Bear Tracks. (Special Correspondence of the Bulletin.)

vrAe&&i~-\u27us: fc-sycsmores.spread-a: ! j3 :liHrestirKen-er&bai*llinil4! \ lis mossy-hut- ap\u27i\u27ai.3gg-.:.m:. ehQrna-.Svith the?- ; - \u27.white faging,water. 7Bears-alao, and-panthers, A wSpwirderii\u27 \u27 Tgaaxteni .; jV; ;:m:.THE SAH-Cft-SSISU: la EscsrsioE -? jobs liir-Ht Weather - .- ; oimJ leteniy\u27- -of Cijapc.rrxl—A - tiloriotw - ; 3Kew—Ratt!e*Dttkts and Bear-Tracks. [SP1MIAL.-CCBRESP0NI)EIJCE OP THE BUIXETE*J .. After-saying, so much for humari- culture in my lasi perfcaps 1 may-owbe allowed a word for wilduess—the wildhess of this south land, .pirreanduntameableas\u27thesea. - .\u27 \u27-. .-— ; : _ia the mountains of Sin Gabriel, OTertodkin? -the. lowland. Tines andT fruit groves, mother- ySararp g wrt HgrT.tTlftrT\u27r °TT~-- f \u27 /.everilri the Sierra have, i ever made the ac- rguamlce-rmoumariis. more rigidly inacces- aible-.-r Thei\u27ahpes- are\u27-esoeptiotialty\u27 steepramt. f*iiieeu-e to - the - toot, of the,,, &grf Fjtforer, - .-boweveiv,. greatr-- ~ his ~- -8fijeBgltr| I or-ekilp- c\u27sHJiftray f -constitutes. -:\u27.their; :3$hXet-. . defeBse/ —With..- | tfe exeeptib&ot-Hle-jiark: and garden spot\u27s7; :BOt visible n comprehensive views,\u27he entire .surface is covered with-it,- f: ore :the|hi.4hest .tseakato the piainv-. It.s.woopsiato-e\u27verj-iiolpl ;low---.and. swJpfr over- eveiy. ridge .sracelu.0 ;crrmpfyiiig- ijillj.;ihe varied tcrcofffaphyi;,- -A sh,aggy,--. -.ussvcxiiible.:.. exuberance, ~2&& *Jt?bftefforts..oi;;liaraaii=:j harces.herejradkigj-wildness-- to - wildries* _ ;.gloriouprofusion arici\u27variety... .: \u27 j2& -1 ; :Where.theicoaBt:ra,ijfesiaacL the.Sierr:~;.\Ne--: \u27 v.ada eome;tqgeiher-we find avery comrdii;atei|r: sytsni.pj,-9librtheigbt-o about; 6-,000-feet,forming, a: sure- \u27 \u27landmarks,rthroughout tbe vaUey i.aridt :jafl- -the -way dowhiT-\u27 te the... coast;-without, however, possessing much striking -individual- \u27ity-. The whole range seen, from- the plain; :Tvitn the hot sua Dealing: uporr its southern, slopes; wears a\u27 terribly ~-forrr*ddihg aspect. Tnereispthiog-or; the grandeur of snow, or- . glaciers, or deep forests, to excite curiosity or adventurer; no trace ot, gardens or waterfalls. From base to summit all setms gray, barren, silent—dead bleached bones of mountains, over- Igrown with scrubby bushes, like, gray moss., But; all mountains/are fun of hidden beauty.! andVnext day; aftermy-arrival at Passadena ;I J supplied-myself-with hreadi and eagerly set.out to gjwe myself tw.their- Keeping..- : _-.-. ,;.;.\u27 HOT. WBATeSsA., MptTNTAXir CHAKACTEE. \u27: \u27 Out. thfc first;\u27-dasfVof .my -exctrrsiorr I went-; only\u27as. far-as the mouth .ot-Eaton Canon. {because the heat;was oppressive; and. a pairof- nevr shoes:were chafing my feet to such an extent.thatrwalkins; began to-be painful. While\u27 looking for a camping ground among the bowl-.5 der\u27-beds of the -cafion,T came upon a strange, darkrmanrof doubtful parentage. He kindly invited me to camp with, him, and led me to his little hut. All my conjectures as tohis.nation- aiity .failed, and no wonder, since his- father -wai Irish, and\u27mother Spanish, a mixture-not; often met even: in-Califorma. He happened: tci- be out of candles, so we sat in the aa\u27rb while \u27 he gave me a sketch of his life, whicrrwas- ex-\u27 ceedingly picturesque. Then he showed -ate hia plaDafor the future. He was going; to.settle- amona. these-eafiou -Doulders, arid, make money, and. marry a- Spanish -womsfn. People mine \u27for irrigating water along\u27 tbe. foothills as - for gold. He is. now drivins- a prospecting tunnel into. spur of tbe mountains back of his cabirt. My prospect is sruod be said; i! and if I strike a strong Sow, 1-shall soon beworth five or ten thousand dollars. ThatHat out there he continued, re- -, ferriDs: toamall, irregular .patch of- eravelly \u27 detritus that had.been.sorted.oat and deoosited .by Eaton creek durina-some flooc season-,: is. large: eaougn ior-a nice orange grove, arid after .wateriogmy own trees, 1 can sell water down, the valley;..and then the hillside back of the cabin will do for vines, andT can keep bees, fcr the white-sage and blatk sage up the mountains is full of hopey.. You seerI\u27ve got a good thiDg. \u27 -All this-.prospective- affluerice in- the sunken, boulder-choked flood-bed of Eaton creek\u27!. .Most home-seekers would as soon thick of settling on the summit or San Antonio.. . \u27 :\u27.- - \u27 ;-v .39AS\u27rJF-trL watebjaix.-. \u27 - .\u27 . .Haft an bocrgs-easy rambling up the canyon liimrhtmA fr* the -ffirrfc of ti:rrhp. Pallr fwrnTis- K \: -bionsht me to.the fbo*of\u27 The Fall;\u27- famous- - throughout the -Valley .settlements as- t(ie finest gwaafl yet- discovered -in;..the- -range;.. It js a charmirig littleTtbing, witt- a .voice sweet asa gong-biraiSj: leaping some thirty-five, or forty reefr into a round, mirror pool. Tbe .cliff .back of. .it .and.- orirbcthj sides ifeaome\itoteeovercd- wittjVtfeiekv iurr-mossesv\u27-\u27-\u27.\u27tne\u27iWliite.\u27 fall isliines- agjst-ihe jgreeit-\u27like-stveatver iustEU- -uieDt.in.a.yeirEt- cesser\u27 Her? come- tbs.Gabriel lads and iassjes\u27lromrhe .commoBplaee\u27-\u27orange- .groves,\u27 -tq. make. -love -and. gather ferns \u27and:. daHSe.\u27.&way.theifc\u27-\u27b.ot; ..hoHuays.: in\u27 the cool podKcTflfeyare: fbrtroate in finewigai: iceslta fetreai so nearbeir: h6rneSi-r It -is-.tns-. yoreroiteJcfrSa-:GaBi 33!ei waJis. tubu SKpSapiSp waaheaKtheSeartv ofe-b* sirj; at &e bead afagrahd system of\u27 cascadesjf &ora.tntotwahrmcixed feet high, one .foUaw-\u27-f ing tfeotuerinclosesuccession and making-a-- total descent of neaTly -li70O feetr The rocks above me leaned over in. a- jfPT threatening- way arwereJnll of seamsV\u27mairig the-camp a-very unsafe one\u27during an earthquake. / ;. Nextday the chaparral, in ascendiiur the eastern rim of\u27 the basin, .-was, if possible, denser andVmoreiStubbornly.bayoneted than ever. I followed bear trails; where in: some places I found-tufts of their hair thathad been pulled out in Etjueeginga way through ; but there was much o-a i5cery interesting character that far overpaici all-niy pains. Mosfof the. plants are -iaentieal-wiJn\u27those-of- the Sierra, but there is c-uiteahohifJer ofMexiean species. One coniferous tr-ee-:-waS all I found: ~ This .is a spruce, of ;: a speeiesaew to me. -ts /JI&SA-&: $# My Iflst\u27camp was down at the- . - - -Eromlbe summit.of. the eastern: rim I had a glorious virw /of the,, yalley, out to the ocean, which would require a whole book for its description..,.- Mybread -gave7 out.a day before reaching -the .settlements, but I felt: all the fresher- and clearer for the fast,. ..Johs Muir.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/1062/thumbnail.jp