Highways and byways of the Pacific coast . senger wishedshe could get out and hunt for a nudget. We passedthrough Grub Gulch which contains a mine still inoperation, and in the rough mountain hollow was arude little hamlet. The mine is not of much account;but in the booming days that followed its discoverythere was a wild and lawless community here. Theyused to have a man for breakfast every little while,declared the driver. Now and then we met a team, and among the restwere several wagons loaded with apples that left atrail of delicious fragrance behind them. Later wesaw the orchards in the s
Highways and byways of the Pacific coast . senger wishedshe could get out and hunt for a nudget. We passedthrough Grub Gulch which contains a mine still inoperation, and in the rough mountain hollow was arude little hamlet. The mine is not of much account;but in the booming days that followed its discoverythere was a wild and lawless community here. Theyused to have a man for breakfast every little while,declared the driver. Now and then we met a team, and among the restwere several wagons loaded with apples that left atrail of delicious fragrance behind them. Later wesaw the orchards in the secluded mountain glens, andI asked the driver if the fruit was profitable. He said,That depends on the man who raises it and on cir-cumstances. The fellow that handles this orchard weare passing has hard scratching to make ends meet, andhes close as a mosquito, too; but some do very well. Much of the way the road clung to a steep was narrow and crooked, and on the outer side lookeddangerously precipitous. When teams approached. ;n ^ V. April in the Yosemite 147 each other the drivers shouted a warning and wereapt to stop to consider just how to pass. Thebroadest place possible was selected and one teamcrowded up to the bank while the other drove gingerlyalong on the verge. Our own experience was mildcompared with what it would have been later in theseason when the five-span freighting wagons wererunning. We were constantly encountering streams. Theywere seldom bridged and we splashed straight was a pleasure to see them, for they were not like themuddy streams of the lowlands, but were clear andsweet, with stone-strewn courses down which theyleaped and foamed with unceasing melody. The roadwas more or less muddy, but the driver assured us thatthe first thirty miles of our journey were decidedlypleasanter than they would be in summer. Then therewould be dust and torrid heat. Why, said he, itgets so hot that the wagon tongues hang out. Ive seenthe thermometer
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnsonclifton1865194, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
