“I have looked carefully for glacial traces, and so far have found absolutely none.”
Mr. Dall adds that it is his intention to spend another year in Russian America, working at his own expense, in order to finish the explorations commenced by himself, and which the failure of the Telegraph Company rendered it impossible for him to continue officially.
Dr. Cooper and Professor Whitney discussed the question whether the volcanoes of Oregon and Washington Territory were to be classed as active. The evidence on this point seemed very conflicting, so far as showers of ashes are concerned. There is no doubt, however, of the existence of solfataric action on Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and probably on Rainier and Baker.
Professor Whitney exhibited some photographs and stereographs, taken for the Geological Survey by Mr. W. Harris, in the Upper Tuolumne Valley, near Soda Springs, Mount Dana, Mount Hoffmann, and Mount Lyell. He also presented the following account of a remarkable portion of the Tuolumne Valley, which forms almost an exact counterpart of the Yosemite. It is by Mr. Hoffmann, the head of a party of the Geological Survey, by which it was explored last summer:
Notes on Hetch-Hetchy Valley.
BY C. F. HOFFMANN.
Tuolumne Valley, or Hetch-Hetchy, as it is called by the Indians (the meaning of this word I was unable to ascertain) is situated on Tuolumne River about fifteen miles in a straight line below Tuolumne Meadows and Soda Springs, and about twelve miles north of Yosemite Valley. Its elevation above the sea is from 3,800 to 3,900 feet, a little less than that of Yosemite. The valley is three miles long running nearly east and west, with but little fall in this distance. Near its center it is cut in two by a low spur of shelving granite coming from the south. The lower part forms a large open meadow with excellent grass, one mile in length, and gradually increasing from ten chains to a little over half a mile in width, and only timbered along the edges. The lower part of this meadow terminates in a very narrow cañon, the hills sloping down to the river at an angle of from 40° to 60°, only leaving a channel from six to ten feet wide; the river in the valley having an average width of about fifty feet. This is the principal cause of the overflow in spring time of the lower part of the valley, and probably also has given rise to the report of there being a large lake in the valley. Below this cañon is another small meadow, with a pond. The upper part of Hetch-Hetchy, east of the granite spur, forms a meadow one and three-fourths miles in length, varying from ten to thirty chains in width, well timbered and affording good grazing. The scenery resembles very much that of the Yosemite, although the bluffs are not as high, nor do they extend as far. On the north side of the valley, opposite the granite spur we first have a perpendicular bluff, the top of which is 1,800 feet above the valley; the talus at the base is about five hundred feet above the valley, leaving a precipice of about 1,300 feet. In the spring when the snows are melting a large creek precipitates itself over the western part of this bluff. I was told that this fall is one of the grandest features of the valley, sending its spray all over its lower portion. It was dry, however, at the time of my visit. The fall is 1,000 feet perpendicular, after which it strikes the debris and loses itself among the rocks. About thirty chains further east we come to the Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height above the valley is 1,700 feet. This fall is not perpendicular, although it appears so from the front, as may be seen from the photograph by Mr. Harris. It falls in a series of cascades at an angle of about 70°. At the time of my visit the volume of water was much greater than that of Yosemite fall, and I was told that in the spring its roarings can be heard for miles.
Still further east we have two peaks, shaped very much like “The Three Brothers,” in the Yosemite. Their base forms a large, naked and sloping granite wall on the north side of the valley, broken by two timbered shelves, which run horizontally the whole length of the wall. Up to the lower shelf or bend, about eight hundred feet high, the wall, which slopes at an angle of from 45° to 70°, is polished by glaciers, and probably these markings extend still higher up, as on entering the valley the trail followed back of and along a moraine for several miles, the height of which was about 1,200 feet above the valley. The same polish shows itself in places all along the bluffs on both sides, and particularly fine on the granite spur crossing the valley. There is no doubt that the largest branch of the great glacier which originated near Mt. Dana and Mount Lyell, made its way by Soda Springs to this valley. A singular feature of this valley is the total absence of talus or debris at the base of the bluffs, excepting at one place in front of the falls. Another remarkable rock, corresponding with Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite, stands on the south side of the valley, directly opposite Hetch-Hetchy fall; its height is 2,270 feet above the valley. The photograph by Mr. Harris will give some idea of this rock.
At the upper end of the valley the river forks, one branch, nearly as large as the main river, coming from near Castle Peak, the main river itself from Soda Springs. About half a mile up the main cañon, the river forms some cascades, the highest being about thirty feet.