Another two miles takes us to Avalanche Creek. There are here no camping places and the stream contains no trout. Caution: The worst turn on the road is about 200 yards beyond the crossing. One mile beyond Avalanche Creek the Sunset Trail (Trail Trip 24) leaves the road at the right, descending to the Mid-winter Ranger Station near Arch Rock on the El Portal Road.
One mile further is Chinquapin, an old stage relay station at the junction of the Glacier Point and Wawona Roads. There is here a ranger station and during the summer gas and oil can be obtained. In the vicinity are many good camp sites. An excellent spring will be found 200 yards north of the ranger cabin. Fishing is fair in Indian Creek about a quarter of a mile southward; best fishing is downstream. Many deer are generally to be seen in the region. Chinquapin is especially noted for its wonderful sunsets. Before leaving, all machines should take water.
The main road continues southward to Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and thence to Merced, Madera and Fresno. Our route turns eastward and climbs abruptly 1300 feet in the next three miles to the head of the canyon of Indian Creek. This long, hard grade takes us to the 7500-foot level, where we are at last on the gently sloping plateau above the valley walls. The following eleven miles is a delightful succession of mountain meadows and forests of red fir, lodgepole pine and other sub-alpine species. Numbers of deer can almost always be seen from the road, especially early in the morning.
Peregoy Meadow, about five miles from Chinquapin, was famous in the early days for its wayside inn on the "Yosemite Trail" from Clarke's (now Wawona). The old buildings have long since disappeared, but the trail, now called the Alder Creek Trail (Trail Trip 19), is still used. From Peregoy Meadow to Glacier Point are many fine camp sites. About one mile eastward is Bridalveil Creek Crossing. Fishing is good upstream, and fair about one mile downstream, but generally poor near the road.
At a trail junction about one and a half miles further, the Ostrander Lake and Buck Camp Trail (Trail Trips 20 and 21) turns southward (right). Here one may park his machine and walk to Ostrander Lake via Trail Trip 20 and return, a fifteen mile one-day round trip. The lake offers some of the best fishing in this section of the park.
Swinging gradually to the northeast the road passes to the east of Ostrander Rocks. A trail to the right leads to Mono Meadow and the basin of the Illilouette. Three miles further at Pothole Meadows the Peregoy Meadow Trail (Trail Trip 19) leaves the road at the left. A short distance beyond and at the same side of the road is the Pohono Trail turn-off (Trail Trip 17). A half mile further, just as the road starts its final descent to Glacier Point, is a trail to the left leading to Sentinel Dome. The summit is but a few minutes distant and from it is revealed a vast panorama of the High Sierra.
A gradual descent in the final one and a half miles takes us past several lookout points to the road termination at Glacier Point Hotel. Excellent accommodations are here obtainable. The overhanging rock and Glacier Point are 200 yards northward. (For trips from Glacier Point see Trail Trips 1, 2, and 16 to 23.)
ROAD TRIP IV
YOSEMITE TO TENAYA LAKE, TUOLUMNE MEADOWS AND MONO LAKE via BIG OAK FLAT AND TIOGA ROADS