line that can not by any stretch of the imagination injure the scenic beauty of Happy Isles and Vernal and Nevada Falls. WINTER SPORTS IN YOSEMITE. I was most favorably impressed with the availability of Yosemite Valley and its adjacent regions for almost every kind of winter sport-skating, skiing, snowshoeing, sleighing, and related diversions. Unquestionably the park can be made the scene of remarkably successful winter carnivals immediately when the new all-year road is completed, and I believe we should leave no effort unexpended that would bring this fascinating prospect into complete fulfillment. The new hotel will undoubtedly be completed by the time the first large carnival can be held, and should these winter sports in Yosemite Valley prove as popular as we expect them to be, no difficulty will be experienced in financing the construction of some adequate means of reaching Glacier Point. I have already mentioned the possibility of building a shaft in the granite wall below Glacier Point. The managers of the great winter-resort hotels in southern Cali-. fornia and along the coast are watching the Yosemite hotel developments with much interest, realizing that the opportunity to send their patrons there conveniently and comfortably for short trips during the winter would add considerably to their enjoyment of the State. THE SIERRA CLUB OUTING. The Sierra Club had a very interesting outing in the park during the summer. It was attended by over 150 of its members. The main camp was in the Tuolumne Meadows, from which trips were made to different parts of the park, the most extensive trips being to Mount Lyell and Mount Ritter and the Devil Postpile, lying to the south of the park in a section which formely was a part of the reservation. It is a remarkably scenic area which in my belief should be added to the park again in the near future. HALF DOME SCALABLE NOW. A very useful contribution to the park was made this year by the donation, through the Sierra Club, of a protection for the trail to the top of Half Dome. A double row of iron posts about waist high were set in holes drilled in the rock. Through "eyes" in the top of these posts, formed by turning the metal back in the form of a loop, a steel cable was stretched and securely anchored at the ends. The cable formed a hand rail on either side of the trail, by which a person could pull himself up the steep rock slope. This double cable took the place of a single rope which was attached to small bolts in the rock face and afforded only one aid by which the climber pulled himself up hand over hand. The old arrangement was dangerous and unsafe. It was placed by an old sailor in the late eighties. The new cable was installed early in July, and it was used by climbers who appreciated keenly the opportunity of seeing the wonderful view from the top of Half Dome, with its sheer drop of practically 5,000 feet to the valley below. 140922°- -INT 1919-VOL 1- -64 |