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The Mountains of California

John Muir

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Pages and passages

1. "JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR (Juniperus occidentalis)", para. 1. JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR (Juniperus occidentalis) JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR.
2. "JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR (Juniperus occidentalis)", para. 2. JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR. The Juniper is preëminently a rock tree, occupying the baldest
3. "JUNIPER, OR RED CEDAR (Juniperus occidentalis)", para. 4. STORM-BEATEN JUNIPERS. On level rocks it dies standing, and wastes insensibly out of
4. "HEMLOCK SPRUCE (Tsuga Pattoniana)", para. 1. HEMLOCK SPRUCE (Tsuga Pattoniana) The Hemlock Spruce is the most singularly beautiful
5. "HEMLOCK SPRUCE (Tsuga Pattoniana)", para. 5. Under all conditions, sheltered or storm-beaten, well-fed or ill-fed, this tree is si
6. "HEMLOCK SPRUCE (Tsuga Pattoniana)", para. 7. Thus warmly wrapped they await the summer resurrection. The snow becomes soft in the
7. "DWARF PINE (Pinus albicaulis)", para. 1. DWARF PINE (Pinus albicaulis) This species forms the extreme edge of the timber line
8. "DWARF PINE (Pinus albicaulis)", para. 3. GROUP OF ERECT DWARF PINES. Pines are commonly regarded as sky-loving trees that must
9. "DWARF PINE (Pinus albicaulis)", para. 6. A DWARF PINE. The longevity of this lowly dwarf is far greater than would be guessed.
10. "WHITE PINE (Pinus flexilis)", para. 1. WHITE PINE (Pinus flexilis) This species is widely distributed throughout the Rocky M
11. "NEEDLE PINE (Pinus aristata)", para. 1. NEEDLE PINE (Pinus aristata) This species is restricted in the Sierra to the southern
12. "NEEDLE PINE (Pinus aristata)", para. 5. The largest specimen I measured was a little over five feet in diameter and ninety fe
13. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 1. NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla) The Nut Pine covers or rather dots the eastern flank of t
14. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 7. Of all the conifers along the eastern base of the Sierra, and on all the many mountai
15. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 8. The value of this species to Nevada is not easily overestimated. It furnishes charcoa
16. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 9. The nuts are about half an inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter, pointed at
17. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 12. In shady dells and on cool stream banks of the northern Sierra we also find the Yew (
18. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 17. PATE VALLEY, SHOWING THE OAKS. TUOLUMNE CAÑON, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. Besides the co
19. "NUT PINE (Pinus monophylla)", para. 18. nder changes of climate due to changes in elevation. At the foot of a cañon 4000 feet
20. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 1. CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii) The Douglas Squirrel is by far th
21. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 4. The Douglas is closely allied to the Red Squirrel or Chickaree of the eastern woods.
22. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 7. All the true squirrels are more or less birdlike in speech and movements; but the Dou
23. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 7. ike a plodding farmer, working continuously every day for hours; saying not a word; c
24. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 9. TRACK OF DOUGLAS SQUIRREL ONCE DOWN AND UP A PINE-TREE WHEN SHOWING OFF TO A SPECTATO
25. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 10. s resting on his breast, which pulses visibly with each word. It is remarkable, too,
26. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 14. No other of the Sierra animals of my acquaintance is better fed, not even the deer, a
27. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 15. When thus employed, his location in the tree is betrayed by a dribble of scales, shel
28. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 18. You may easily know this little workman by his chips. On sunny hillsides around the p
29. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 20. The excellence of the Sierra evergreens is well known to nurserymen throughout the wo
30. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 21. The want of appreciable life remarked by so many travelers in the Sierra forests is n
31. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 22. Our Douglas enjoys a large social circle; for, besides his numerous relatives, Sciuru
32. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 23. Though I cannot of course expect all my readers to sympathize fully in my admiration
33. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 23. s were dripping with soft balsam, and covered with prickles, and so strongly put toge
34. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 25. By this time my performance must have lasted nearly half an hour. I sang or whistled
35. "CHAPTER IX THE DOUGLAS SQUIRREL (Sciurus Douglasii)", para. 27. No one who makes the acquaintance of our forester will fail to admire him; but he is
36. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 1. CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS The mountain winds, like the dew and rain, suns
37. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 3. A WIND-STORM IN THE CALIFORNIA FORESTS. (AFTER A SKETCH BY THE AUTHOR.) After one has
38. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 5. There are two trees in the Sierra forests that are never blown down, so long as they
39. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 6. While exploring the forest zones of Mount Shasta, I discovered the path of a hurrican
40. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 8. One of the most beautiful and exhilarating storms I ever enjoyed in the Sierra occurr
41. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 9. It was still early morning when I found myself fairly adrift. Delicious sunshine came
42. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 9. ng, tremulous foliage was kindled into one continuous blaze of white sun-fire. The fo
43. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 11. Toward midday, after a long, tingling scramble through copses of hazel and ceanothus,
44. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 12. YELLOW PINE AND LIBOCEDRUS The two inside trees are Libocedrus, the two outside trees
45. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 15. The sounds of the storm corresponded gloriously with this wild exuberance of light an
46. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 17. I kept my lofty perch for hours, frequently closing my eyes to enjoy the music by its
47. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 18. Winds are advertisements of all they touch, however much or little we may be able to
48. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 19. Most people like to look at mountain rivers, and bear them in mind; but few care to l
49. "CHAPTER X A WIND-STORM IN THE FORESTS", para. 21. We all travel the milky way together, trees and men; but it never occurred to me unti
50. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 1. CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS
51. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 2. The Sierra rivers are flooded every spring by the melting of the snow as regularly as
52. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 2. em so large they give birth to rivers that set out on their journeys beneath the sun
53. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 4. I was usually driven down out of the High Sierra about the end of November, but the w
54. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 4. suddenly dissolving, slips and descends all together to the trunk channel; and since
55. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 6. It was easy to see that only a small part of the rain reached the ground in the form
56. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 7. After drifting an hour or two in the lower woods, I set out for the summit of a hill
57. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 8. The glad creek rose high above its banks and wandered from its channel out over many
58. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 11. The forms of storms are in great part measured, and controlled by the topography of t
59. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 13. I watched the gestures of the pines while the storm was at its height, and it was eas
60. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 14. Storms are fine speakers, and tell all they know, but their voices of lightning, torr
61. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 14. s, and the rosy, fragrant chamoebatia carpets the ground almost everywhere. These, wi
62. "CHAPTER XI THE RIVER FLOODS", para. 15. As for the birds and squirrels, not a wing or tail of them was to be seen while the s
63. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 1. CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS
64. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 2. The weather of spring and summer in the middle region of the Sierra is usually well f
65. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 2. uced to its lowest terms. But some of them attain much larger proportions, and assume
66. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 3. BRIDAL VEIL FALLS, YOSEMITE VALLEY. The most beautiful and imposing of the summer sto
67. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 5. It is not long, geologically speaking, since the first raindrop fell on the present l
68. "CHAPTER XII SIERRA THUNDER-STORMS", para. 5. drop, and lake basins between the hills, each replenished with equal care—every drop
69. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 1. CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL The waterfalls of the Sierra are frequented by only one
70. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 5. He is the mountain streams’ own darling, the humming-bird of blooming waters, loving
71. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 7. It is pitiful to see wee frost-pinched sparrows on cold mornings in the mountain grov
72. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 9. After spending an hour or two with my favorite, I made my way across the valley, bori
73. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 11. Some of the sparrows were busy at the feet of the larger trees gleaning seeds and ben
74. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 12. The storm was reflected in every gesture, and not one cheerful note, not to say song,
75. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 14. The more striking strains are perfect arabesques of melody, composed of a few full, r
76. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 18. But during the winter, when the stream-banks are embossed in snow, and the streams th
77. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 20. ONE OF THE LATE-SUMMER FEEDING-GROUNDS OF THE OUZEL. The Ouzel is usually found singl
78. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 23. The Ouzel seldom swims more than a few yards on the surface, for, not being web-foote
79. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 24. OUZEL ENTERING A WHITE CURRENT. The Ouzel alone of all birds dares to enter a white t
80. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 26. The vertical curves and angles of the most precipitous torrents he traces with the sa
81. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 27. Were the flights of all the ouzels in the Sierra traced on a chart, they would indica
82. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 28. The Ouzel’s nest is one of the most extraordinary pieces of bird architecture I ever
83. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 30. In choosing a building-spot, concealment does not seem to be taken into consideration
84. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 32. Ouzels seem so completely part and parcel of the streams they inhabit, they scarce su
85. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 33. On the south side of one of the falls, that portion of the precipice which is bathed
86. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 36. THE OUZEL AT HOME. On the lower reaches of the rivers where mills are built, they sin
87. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 37. n flew quietly to the outlet and began to sing. Next came a sandpiper and gazed at me
88. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 39. An acquaintance of mine, a sort of foot-hill mountaineer, had a pet cat, a great, doz
89. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 41. YOSEMITE BIRDS, SNOW-BOUND AT THE FOOT OF INDIAN CAÑON. Even so far north as icy Alas
90. "CHAPTER XIII THE WATER-OUZEL", para. 44. Such, then, is our little cinclus, beloved of every one who is so fortunate as to kno
91. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 1. CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana) The wild sheep ranks highest among the anim
92. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 4. Compared with the argali, which, considering its size and the vast extent of its rang
93. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 6. Compared with the best-known domestic breeds, we find that our wild species is much l
94. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 10. Besides these differences in size, color, hair, etc., as noted above, we may observe
95. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 13. While engaged in the work of exploring high regions where they delight to roam I have
96. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 16. SNOW-BOUND ON MOUNT SHASTA. When the winter storms set in, loading their highland pas
97. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 18. In the months of May and June, the wild sheep bring forth their young in solitary and
98. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 20. HEAD OF THE MERINO RAM (DOMESTIC). In the fall of 1873 I was tracing the South Fork o
99. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 21. llow-mortals? It was afternoon when I joined them, and the glorious landscape began t
100. "CHAPTER XIV THE WILD SHEEP (Ovis montana)", para. 22. HEAD OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD SHEEP. The gray, boulder-chafed river was singing loudly