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A Trip to Bodie Bluff and Mono Lake in 1865
A Trip to Bodie Bluff and Mono Lake in 1865
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Nook version of two vintage magazine articles originally published in 1865. Contains 55 Nook pages with 15 illustrations.
Lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 150 years.
Read excerpt -
The shores of Lake Mono, in the vicinity of the water, have a whitish color, arising from the prevalence of calcareous deposits. It well deserves the name suggested by an early visitor - the "Dead Sea of the West." Not even that wondrous sea, whose bit¬ter waters wash the ruin¬ed sites of Sodom and Go¬morrah, presents a scene of greater desolation. Fourteen years had pass¬ed - how short a time it seemed! - since my trusty guide, Yusef Badra, pointed out to me from the St. Saba road the shores of the Dead Sea. I could almost imagine myself there again. Yet for grandeur of scenery, and for interesting geological phenomena, this lake of the Western Sierras is far superior to the Oriental Sea. Here the traveler, whether artist, geologist, botanist, or poet might spend many months, and find ample occupation for every hour of his time.
Lake Mono was visit¬ed in 18l2 by Lieutenant Moore, whose adventures in that wild region, during the Indian war, gave him a high reputation on the Pacific coast. I am not aware whether any official report of his visit to Mono has been published. It would doubtless be most interesting; for few men have seen it under such novel and interesting circumstances.
The lake is eighteen miles in length by about ten or twelve in width. On the western side are distinct water-marks, showing that in former years it attained an elevation of 800 to 1000 feet above its present level.
This would indicate a superficial area of such vast magnitude that it must have resembled a great inland sea. On the eastern side is a gap or depression in the hills, through which it must have flowed, covering an immense area of the great Walker River basin. It is not improba¬ble that it was once a continuous sea to Walk¬er's Lake. But I will not hazard any conjectures on this point; for when one goes beyond the bare facts, as he sees them, in such a coun¬try as this, the imagination is bewildered. A vague idea possesses the mind that all the great interior basins, including that of Salt Lake might have formed a grand intermediate ocean, stretching from the far north to the Gulf of California, between the great parallel ranges of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east.
On the Sierra side of the lake there are points of woodland which extend some distance into the water. Back from the shore deep canons, rocky and precipitous, with ridges of pine on each side, cut their way into the heart of the mountains; and huge boulders, hurled down from the dizzy heights, stand like castles on the beach. From innumerable ravines freshwater springs and streams pour their tribute into the lake. There is no visible outlet; yet the bitterness of the water is retained, and there is seldom a perceptible rise. Even in the great flood of '62, when every ravine poured down a roaring torrent, the rise did not exceed a few inches; and during the continuance of the flood, after the reception of the first volume of water, the level of the hike remained unchanged. It would seem that there must be a subterranean outlet; yet there is no evidence that the surplus water again reaches the surface. The probability is it becomes absorbed in the dry sands of the desert.
On the eastern shore low plains or alluvial bottoms, incrusted with alkali, show in distinct curvicular rims, composed of calcareous de¬posits, the gradual retrocession of the lake to its present level. The beach is strewn with beautiful specimens of boracic or alkaline incrustations. Weeds, twigs, stones, and even dead birds and animals, are covered by this peculiar coating, and present the appearance of coral formations. Some specimens that I picked up are photographic in the minuteness and delicacy of their details. When broken open the fibers of leaves, the feathers of birds, the grain of wood are found impressed in the calcareous molding with exquisite perfection. Almost every conceivable variety of form may be found among these incrustations. White columns and elaborate facades, like those of the ruined temples of Greece, stand on the desert shore to the north, Arch¬ways and domes and embattlements are represented with astonishing fidelity. It is com¬monly supposed that these are formations of white coral; but there can be no doubt that they are produced by the chemical action of the water, which at frequent intervals is forced up through the fissures of the earth by subterranean heat. These springs are numerous, and probably form around them a base of calcareous matter...
Lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 150 years.
Read excerpt -
The shores of Lake Mono, in the vicinity of the water, have a whitish color, arising from the prevalence of calcareous deposits. It well deserves the name suggested by an early visitor - the "Dead Sea of the West." Not even that wondrous sea, whose bit¬ter waters wash the ruin¬ed sites of Sodom and Go¬morrah, presents a scene of greater desolation. Fourteen years had pass¬ed - how short a time it seemed! - since my trusty guide, Yusef Badra, pointed out to me from the St. Saba road the shores of the Dead Sea. I could almost imagine myself there again. Yet for grandeur of scenery, and for interesting geological phenomena, this lake of the Western Sierras is far superior to the Oriental Sea. Here the traveler, whether artist, geologist, botanist, or poet might spend many months, and find ample occupation for every hour of his time.
Lake Mono was visit¬ed in 18l2 by Lieutenant Moore, whose adventures in that wild region, during the Indian war, gave him a high reputation on the Pacific coast. I am not aware whether any official report of his visit to Mono has been published. It would doubtless be most interesting; for few men have seen it under such novel and interesting circumstances.
The lake is eighteen miles in length by about ten or twelve in width. On the western side are distinct water-marks, showing that in former years it attained an elevation of 800 to 1000 feet above its present level.
This would indicate a superficial area of such vast magnitude that it must have resembled a great inland sea. On the eastern side is a gap or depression in the hills, through which it must have flowed, covering an immense area of the great Walker River basin. It is not improba¬ble that it was once a continuous sea to Walk¬er's Lake. But I will not hazard any conjectures on this point; for when one goes beyond the bare facts, as he sees them, in such a coun¬try as this, the imagination is bewildered. A vague idea possesses the mind that all the great interior basins, including that of Salt Lake might have formed a grand intermediate ocean, stretching from the far north to the Gulf of California, between the great parallel ranges of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east.
On the Sierra side of the lake there are points of woodland which extend some distance into the water. Back from the shore deep canons, rocky and precipitous, with ridges of pine on each side, cut their way into the heart of the mountains; and huge boulders, hurled down from the dizzy heights, stand like castles on the beach. From innumerable ravines freshwater springs and streams pour their tribute into the lake. There is no visible outlet; yet the bitterness of the water is retained, and there is seldom a perceptible rise. Even in the great flood of '62, when every ravine poured down a roaring torrent, the rise did not exceed a few inches; and during the continuance of the flood, after the reception of the first volume of water, the level of the hike remained unchanged. It would seem that there must be a subterranean outlet; yet there is no evidence that the surplus water again reaches the surface. The probability is it becomes absorbed in the dry sands of the desert.
On the eastern shore low plains or alluvial bottoms, incrusted with alkali, show in distinct curvicular rims, composed of calcareous de¬posits, the gradual retrocession of the lake to its present level. The beach is strewn with beautiful specimens of boracic or alkaline incrustations. Weeds, twigs, stones, and even dead birds and animals, are covered by this peculiar coating, and present the appearance of coral formations. Some specimens that I picked up are photographic in the minuteness and delicacy of their details. When broken open the fibers of leaves, the feathers of birds, the grain of wood are found impressed in the calcareous molding with exquisite perfection. Almost every conceivable variety of form may be found among these incrustations. White columns and elaborate facades, like those of the ruined temples of Greece, stand on the desert shore to the north, Arch¬ways and domes and embattlements are represented with astonishing fidelity. It is com¬monly supposed that these are formations of white coral; but there can be no doubt that they are produced by the chemical action of the water, which at frequent intervals is forced up through the fissures of the earth by subterranean heat. These springs are numerous, and probably form around them a base of calcareous matter...
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