A Day in the Redwoods of Lagoon Creek [pp. 257-260]

A Day in the Redwoods of Lagoon Creek.
A DAY IN THE REDWOODS OF LAGOON CREEK.
IT came to our ears that in Marin constantly expanding view that greets
County, within three hours' travel from the eye. With each foot of elevation
San Francisco, far removed from roads, the prospect widens. Alcatraz, the
and all unknown save to a limited num- Contra Costa shores, Red Rock, and
ber of fortunate persons, there existed a scattered sections of the bay, are in
redwood forest, somber and awesome in sight. In the joy of beholding the everits primeval solitude. Taleswere told changingscene, fatigue is forgotten; the
of numberless giant trees there, thickly summit is reached, and what an outlook
grouped in a romantic gorge, traversed is here! To the right, looking down
by a wayward stream whose surface is upon us, is Mount Tamalpais, so near,
untouched by the sun, and on whose apparently, that we could almost greet
banks grow dense tangles of unclassified him with a touch. As a single object in
ferns, and other strange and beautiful the landscape, Mount Tamalpais is implants in myriad forms,- that deer un- posing, but not beautiful. The great
molested stalk leisurely through the black patches left by the recent fires, exwooded aisles, and bears await the hunt- tending in places from base to summit,
er's pleasure. with the baked and arid soil exposed at
The story needed confirmation, so other points on his huge flanks, give him
several people, on an appointed day, set an air of bleak inhospitality; also the
out in quest of this virgin forest. The deep red ruts cut by water, and the
party was composed of six persons, four many trails, lend a conventional, umwhose sex permitted them the comfort brella-ribbed look to his naked but
of appropriate apparel for such an ex- mighty sides. Many people, single file,
cursion, and two whose skirts, trailing were already toiling their way towards
down the steep declivities and catching his summit. The panorama seen by the
to every snag and bush all day, employed spectator perched on his topmost pinthe time and tried the temper of those nacle has given Tamalpais his glory:
following. not for himself, but what he reveals of
The waters of Mill Creek flow to the the world beneath, is he sought and celbay, those of Lagoon Creek to the ocean. ebrated. To the east and south we got
The divide separating the two, at the a better view of man's works. Cities,
point called the Saddle, must be reached fortifications, railroads, wagonroads and
before descending to the redwood canion. trails were to be seen everywhere. Here
This divide is narrow, and its slopes are also we caught five different glimpses of
sharp on the north, nearest Mount Tam- the bay, appearing like small gleaming
alpais, but it widens and flattens toward mirrors in half settings of green hills
the south. A zigzag trail is carved, with and islands. The day was slightly overa grade something less than forty-five cast, so the larger surface of the bay redegrees. The ascent is slow and toil- vealed objects of beauty which possessed
some. Every step is a rise equaling al- the ideality, the supernatural perfection
most that of an ordinary stair; the dis of things seen in dreams. Already the
integrating rock yields under the feet, avenues to.common sense were beginand half the distance that should be ning to close, and the imagination kingained is lost by the slide backward. dledtoweirdconjecture, and ships whose
This discouragement is offset by the sharpoutlines were lost through distance
VOL. xviii. —x7.
257
1891. ]