[Week 1]

July

1st       Left home in the afternoon and joined the rest of the party at Morgans where the articles to be packed had been sent.  Packed hurriedly and hastened down Broadway, much stared at by the crowd, to cacth [sic] the creek boat.  Said the last good-byes on the wharf of the Stockton boat and by six o'clock was fairly started on my trip.  The ride up the bay was pleasant but uneventful.  We had the company of 3 U.C. boys, Lakenau [?], Demarest and Ashley all of whom were very agreeable.  Spent a miserable night owing to heat and noise and got up early on the morning of the

2nd       Reached Stockton about 7:30 and took our horses to a stable and ourselves to a restaurant for refreshments.  We had a good deal of bother with the pack horse and attracted much attention as we wandered through the streets but finally got off about 10.30 and struck out for Farmington.  We were soon in the wheat fields and the sun was intensely hot, the heat being rendered worse by the hot west wind which rose in the P.M.  Lunched at the ranch of a wealthy farmer and were away again by 2:00.  During the morning a roll of butter melted in the pack, and made itself generally disagreeable.  Stopped at a ranch near Farmington where we cooked our first meal and made our bed in a hay stack.  All tired and sore.  19 miles.

3rd       Got up today at 4 A.M. to cook breakfast.  Camp enlivened during the meal by Morgan's wild pursuit of a hog, which made away with the sack of bacon.  Morgan and I put the things on the pack horse and have now got the time of packing down from 1 hour to 45 minutes.  Shot some doves and a rabbit on the side of the road.  Before noon today the lard had melted and 1/3 of the can had worked out in the pack, especially improving the coffee and sugar.  The heat became fearful, and we stopped on the side of the road at a ranch the stable being fully occupied.  As it was to [sic] hot to cook, we eat some cold victuals my lunch consisting of about 10 cups of water and fruit juice.  At last we are in the foothills but the heat is not much modified.  Knight's Ferry is our destination and it is delightful to reach the Stanislaus River and see some running water again after traveling over the parched planes.  The harvest is in full swing and we have passed as many as a dozen combined harvesters, reaping the vast expanse of yellow wheat.  Most of the ranchers seem prosperous, and the houses and outbuildings are exceptionally good.  Our camp tonight was very bad, as the stable where we put up was swarming with fleas which troubled some of the party.  Morgan says Merrill expressed himself as being very homesick.  I can well believe it, for he was almost eaten up by the fleas and the heat has been fearful at least 110° in the shade.  Our hopoes for a good game dinner were dashed when we found that the game was all spoiled by the heat.  However we enjoyed some magnificant figs obtained from the largest fig trees I ever saw very much.  Made 20 Miles

4th       We were awakened early this morning by the firing of bombs and crackers to celebrate the glorious 4th.  Got started by about 7:30 and soon got into the hills in good earnest.  The road passes over several ranges, which are capped with lava and offer some striking formations.  this belt is soon passed however and we enter the auriferous slate, and see on all sides the evidences of the miners work.

     Morgan and I have reduced our packing time to 1/2 hour and have pretty well got the hang of it, pretty well now.

     Hot—Hoter!—Hotest!!   115°

     We reached our noon camp in a thoroughly exhausted condition.  The narrow valleys of the foothills concentrate the heat and stop the blowing of the breeze so that they become like ovens.  As it was too hot to think of making a fire we had a hearty lunch at a hotel.  In the afternoon we reached Chinese Camp, and from there went over a high ridge into the valley of the Tuolumne.  The road runs along the river bank for some 5 miles and makes a very pleasant ride.  After passing a beautiful camping place by mistake, we spent the night at a miserable farm house over a mile and a half from the river, and I was thus cheated out of a much desired bath.  Did not get into camp till 7:00 and as a result all the dinner I got was about half a flapjack and some tea.  As all the rest of the lard had melted we could make no bread.  The candles began to melt today and the soap got somewhat soft.  Made 20 Miles.

5th       Got an early start on a light breakfast, (equal in quantity to my dinner of the previous night) and started the ascent of Priest's Hill, a grade of 3 miles in length and 1400 feet elevation.  I walked most of the way up and arrived first in consequence.  Mr. Priest recognized Prof. Le Conte, and they had a pleasant talk over old times.  The next town was Big Oak Flat, (so called I suppose from the entire absence of that tree) and we passed through Groveland and reached 2nd Garrote by 11: A.M.  Here we cooked a good lunch and had a refreshing rest.  The weather is percptibly cooler and since we passed Big Oak Flat we have been in the pine forests, the Yellow pine predominating.  We are now really in the mts. and the trip is becoming very pleasant.  The P.M. ride was to Hamilton's ranch, and was a very pleasant one.  There we found far the best camp we have yet had, a good place to cook and pine needles to sleep on.  Bread, eggs, bacon, doves and tea make a good dinner.  Traveled 19 miles.

6th       Had my first really good sleep since the start.  Started late and rode through a beautiful pine clad region, the finest we have yet seen.  After following the cañon of the South Fork of the Tuolumne river, we crossed it and left the main road by a shorter trail for Hetch-Hetchy.  The forests were magnificent and although the road was pretty steep in places, yet for long distances it ran along the summit of the ridge and the views were very fine.  Stopped for lunch at an empty cabin in a beautiful little meadow called Drew's Bay Ranch.  On again about 3 P.M.  I killed a small rattlesnake in the P.M. as he crawled across the road.  Reached our evening camp at about 6:30 and found Hog Ranch a most beautiful spot.  A large meadow of at least 100 acres surrounded by fine trees and with delicious water.  We made camp under some pine trees on a sloping hillside and cooked a fine dinner, consisting of bread, bacon, potatoes and tea.  The meadow in front of our camp is one of the most luxuriant I ever saw.  The grass is 3 ft. high and I gathered 20 kinds of flowers without hunting closely.  This is the first pasture the horses have had and they enjoy it very much.  18 miles

7th       Although today is Sunday we are so near Hetch Hetchy that we feel we must go on to the valley.  We are under way by 7:30 and are soon upon a piece of very steep trail—a foretaste of what we shall get later.  I lead the pack today.  The ride along the ridge is very pleasant.  We pass by a lake covered with yellow water lilies and I find a snow plant.  We have been in the granite region now for a day and the country becomes more and more rugged as we advance.  At last we begin to descend into the valley.  And such a trail!  The descent must have been between 3000 & 3500 ft. and most of it was almost perpendicular, the path winding among or rather upon the slippery granite boulders and doubling and twisting most remarkably.  In some places it would have 5 or 6 sharp turns in 30 yds of length.  I walked the whole way as I disliked to give the horse the extra burden.  the Prof. alone rode the whole way down.  By degrees the view of the valley became better and at last we obtained a view that repaid all our toil.  From a high shelf of rock we beheld an immense amphitheatre carpeted with a beautiful meadow and completely surrounded by lofty granite cliffs.  Right opposite to us stood El Capitan with the Hetch-Hetchy falls dashing down its side in a beautiful stream of foam.  To the right of this lofty cliff was another equally high and on our side of the valley stood the superb mass of Sugar Loaf lifting its rounded summit almost perpendicularly above the valley for nearly (4000)? ft.  Down the midst of the meadow wound the Tuolumne, and a large band of horses grazing in the luxuriant grass gave life to the scene.  Such was the first impression of Hetch-Hetchy valley.  We soon made the remainder of the descent and pitched camp just where the river runs into the lower valley, at the foot of El Capitan.  The rest of the P.M. was spent in resting and enjoying the scene about us but this we did only after having a splendid bath in the cold water of the Tuolumne, the first good bath I have yet had.  9 miles.