THE VALLEY INCOMPARABLE

HE first view of most spots of unusual celebrity often falls short of expectation, but this is seldom, if ever, true of the Yosemite Valley. The sheer immensity of the precipices on either side of the peaceful floor; the loftiness and the romantic suggestion of the numerous waterfalls; the majesty of the granite walls; and the unreal, almost fairy quality of the ever-varying whole can not be successfully foretold.

This valley was once a tortuous river canyon. So rapidly was it cut by the Merced that the tributary valleys soon remained hanging high on either side. Then the canyon became the bed of a great glacier. It was widened as well as deepened, and the hanging character of the side valleys was accentuated.

This explains the enormous height of the waterfalls.

The Yosemite Falls, for instance, drops 1,430 feet in one sheer fall, a height equal to nine Niagara Falls piled one on top of the other. The Lower Yosemite Fall, immediately below, has a drop of 320 feet, or two Niagaras more. Vernal Falls has the same height. The Nevada Falls drops 594 feet sheer, and the celebrated Bridalveil Falls 620 feet. Nowhere else in the world may be had a water spectacle such as this.

BEAUTIFUL VERNAL FALLS Photograph by H. T. Cowling

ITS NAME IS SELF-EVIDENT—THE BRIDALVEIL FALLS Photograph by H. C. Tibbitts

MIRROR LAKE Photograph by C. H. Hamilton

A NEARER VIEW OF NEVADA FALLS, LIBERTY CAP ON LEFT

VERNAL AND NEVADA FALLS AND HALF DOME FROM THE GLACIER POINT TRAIL Photograph by A. C. Pillsbury

A BEND IN THE BIG OAK FLAT ROAD Photograph by J. T. Boyson

THE SHEER IMMENSITY OF THE PRECIPICES ON EITHER SIDE THE VALLEY'S PEACEFUL FLOOR, THE ROMANTIC MAJESTY OF THE GRANITE WALLS, AND THE UNREAL, ALMOST FAIRYLAKE QUALITY OF THE EVER-VARYING WHOLE, ATTEST IT INCOMPARABLE Photograph by A. C. Pillsbury