Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 52.djvu/630

610 The mighty eastern scarp in all its distinctness might be considered as beginning on the south in the vicinity of Walker's Pass. With a gentle curve it sweeps toward the north, rising higher and



higher for a hundred miles, until culminating in the jagged peaks northwest of Owen's Lake, where Mount Whitney reaches an altitude of fifteen thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea. From this point there is only a slight descent for a hundred miles more, beyond which toward Lake Tahoe its extreme height and ruggedness are lost, the single fault line being replaced by several whose displacements are less. The scenic effect is grandest from Owen's Valley, where the mountain wall bounding it on the west, even and regular in its general outline save for the deep transverse gorges, rises eight thousand to ten thousand feet above the valley. Viewed from the Inyo Range opposite, the evenness of the crest is remarkable. The great peaks are not isolated, as is Mount Shasta, so that their individual grandeur is lost in the general effect. Owen's Valley has a length of about a hundred miles and a width of six to twelve miles, with an even sand floor much of the distance. On the edges the floor gradually slopes upward through the débris fans covered with sagebrush to the bordering mountains. The scenery of this valley is not alone due to the Sierra Nevadas, for on its eastern side, running parallel with the former mountains, is another range known at its southern end as the Inyo Range, and toward the north as the White Mountains. These, if less elevated and rugged,