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202 Motoring in the High Sierras
Yosemite Valley. The route that crosses
the mountains at this point is known as
the Mono State Highway and attains an
altitude of 9,625 feet above sea-level (U.
S. G. S.). In point of grandeur and superb
Sonora Pass is approached from San
Francisco, on the west, over wide,
smoothly oiled boulevards to Stockton,
the metropolis of the San Joaquin delta.
From here the road leads to the sleepy
Route over Sonora Pass.
scenery, this region is equal to that of the
Stelvio or any other of the more travelled
Alpine routes of Europe, and in addition
possesses a variety of features which are
to be found in no other part of the world.
A writer, in describing various localities of
the world, most suited for motion-picture
production, recently said: " California is,
indeed, an adaptable place, scenically
speaking. On a moment's notice it can be
made to resemble any one of the known
countries of the civilized globe and some
that aren't known or civilized."
The Sierras combine at once, on the
western slope, a vegetation of the mightiest
trees of the earth; on the east, a massive
wall of granite that rises from a shimmering
desert below the level of the sea;
and between the two, a magnificent line of
snow-capped peaks thrusting their jagged
summits far into the eternal blue of the
sky. These mountains are distinctively
hospitable. In the summer there are no
storms to drive the traveller from the summits,
no avalanches to be feared, and, except
for an occasional afternoon thundershower,
the sun shines every day through
a crystal atmosphere.
town of Sonora through the region once
inhabited by Bret Harte's picturesque
characters. Many of the relics of the gold
days are still in evidence, but the booted
miner and the sallow-faced gambler have
disappeared, and the old-timers who can
recall the author of "The Luck of Roaring
Camp," "Tennessee's Partner," and other
stories of '49 are hard to find. After leaving
Sonora the road passes up through the
brown foot-hills scantily clothed with oaks,
maples, California laurel, and with occasional
digger and pinon pines to remind
one of the cool forests of magnificent conifers
beyond. A short distance to the
north of this route lies the Calaveras
Grove of Big Trees, one of the noblest of
all the groups of Sequoia gigantea. Forty
miles to the southeast as the crow flies is
the wonderful Yosemite Valley; which, to
the good fortune of the motorist, is open
to automobile travel during the summer
months.
Perhaps the most inspiring feature of
the beauty of these mountains is to be
found in the granite gorges and canyons
that cleave the western slopes to depths of
three and four thousand feet. These can-