Page:The Tourist's California by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/270

 226 THE TOURIST'S CALIFORNIA mous Giant Forest. (Through this Reserve an- other road passes from Lemon Cove, the trail continuing north via Horse Corral.) On the second day the stage passes through the sequoia forest called California Grove which has been open to travel only a few years and con- tains the most numerous assemblage of tree giants some 8000 in all, besides thousands of other evergreen trees. This is another camping rendez- vous for holiday-makers between spring and au- tumn. At Quail Flat (13 m. beyond Juanita Meadows) the stage, which continues to Hume, is forsaken for the wiry horses that play so vital a part in these mountain pasears. The night is spent at Big Meadows. The third day brings us to Horse Corral where the exhilarating plunge to the val- ley begins. Cedar Grove Hotel is the first stop in the canyon. By night we are at Kanawyer's beneath the Sentinel's lofty guard. The intrepid visions glimpsed during the descent to the chasm which cradles the boisterous brother of the lively Merced are equalled and surpassed as during days that follow we pursue paths which reveal the patriarchs of the Divide ; the falls and gardens of the tranquil Valley of Paradise, stern- watched by King and Gardner, and the Middle Fork of Kings River whose rustre sides surge with light, or bend into frightening gullies.