You must visit the Mariposa Grove at least, and I urge you to give it a special day. You can ride over and return to Yosemite in one day, but I would advise you, in case your visit is a brief one, to save the grove for the last day. Ride to Wawona the afternoon before and stay at that restful little spot overnight. Then visit the grove in the morning, and after that go on to Miami Lodge, and down through the mountains, and across the rich San Joaquin Valley to Fresno, where you can end your trip and reach the main railroad lines.

But let me not usher you out of the Valley in this manner. Let me rather urge you to remain. A taste of camp life will surely convince you if my words do not. Camp life is one of the most delightful features of the Yosemite. Camp facilities and conveniences have been arranged to suit every person and every purse. You may enter one of the regularly organized camps, or you may obtain a permit and pitch your own tent in a specially selected spot.

To those who plan to settle for a time in the Park the camps make a strong appeal. Camp life is a refreshing change from conventional things, and the heart grows younger under it.

The peculiar charm of the Yosemite is the “nearness and dearness” of its features, and it is through camp life that we come to feel this charm. It is not long before El Capitan, the Bridal Veil, the Three Brothers, the Three Graces and Half Dome become objects of fond affection, and the whole Valley appears to be a vast playground especially prepared by Nature to delight the hearts of her children.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING YOSEMITE PARKIssued by the U. S. Government
SKETCH OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARKBy F. E. Matthes
DISCOVERY OF THE YOSEMITEBy H. L. Bunnell
YOSEMITE TRAILSBy J. S. Chase
THE YOSEMITE VALLEYBy Galen Clark
YOSEMITE SOUVENIR AND GUIDEBy D. J. Foley
OUR NATIONAL PARKSBy John Muir
THE YOSEMITEBy John Muir

⁂ Information concerning the above books may be had on application to the Editor of The Mentor.