John Muir and Joseph LeConte

 

On August 8th the students rounded up and saddled their horses, now fattened from grazing in the Valley meadows, and began the steep trail up out of the Valley. As arranged, Muir overtook them on the trail and they went on together.

On the first day Muir shared his observations and theory that glacial action had formed the valley.While LeConte expressed his agreement to a point, he attributed far more credence to pre-glacial action. Fortunately, their lack of agreement did not affect the good fellowship of their journey.

At the end of their first day together, the group camped near the top of Three Brothers in a beautiful fir grove. As they lay upon their fragrant beds of spruce branches they gazed up into the sky and watched the gathering masses of white clouds.

As the days followed the party continued to explore the high Sierras. Muir described LeConte as riding with loose, dangling rein, allowing his horse to go as it liked ....keeping up running all-day lectures, as if trying to be the tongue of every object in sight.

 

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