At first, the mountains composing the Rubio Amphitheater appear to rise with the car, and yet the view enlarges every moment. Passing through Granite Gorge,—an immense cut in the mountain slope, where all the workmen who could possibly be crowded upon the mass were engaged for eight long months before a single tie could be laid—over the Macpherson Trestle—an immense bridge, 200 feet long and 100 feet higher at one end than the other—the San Gabriel Valley unfolds its incomparable charms, and, as the elevation increases, the view expands until, on reaching the verandas of Echo Mountain Chalét, the whole scene is presented in its full glory.
The grade of this Incline was such that burros had to carry cement and water for building the walls and buttresses, before the track could be laid, and, as there were many points where not even burros could climb in safety, men carried the required materials on their shoulders.
[Echo Mountain.]
Seen from below, Echo Mountain appears as a mere abutment from the main range, but when one stands on its summit the name "Mountain" is then seen to be singularly appropriate, for it is dissevered, except by a small "saddle," from the main range by Glen and Echo Canyons—canyons half a mile and more in width and over a thousand feet in depth. Hence the location on this mountain, midway between the San Gabriel Valley and Mount Lowe, with towering mountains and abysmal canyons, affords a variety of scenery almost inconceivable to the dweller in the valley.
Echo Mountain Chalet and White Chariot on Great Cable Incline.
This outlook, 3,500 feet above the level of the sea, with mountains, foothills, ever verdant valleys, cities, towns, villages, old missions, sea beach, shipping, islands and ocean in full view, has no equal.
Thirty miles of bridle roads radiate from Echo Mountain, on which guests may roam or ride into romantic canyons, dells and nooks innumerable with freedom and safety.
These foot paths and bridle roads and the scenery they reach are not equalled at any resort on the surface of the globe. An entire week can easily be spent in rambles without visiting the same place twice, and then only a small portion of the delightful mountain and canyon recesses will have been explored.