17 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Surveyors in the News traverses the entire length of the area mapped, which includes also portions of the plateaus and mountains on both sides of the valley. Clouds Rest, dear to the memory of many a mountain climber, lies near the eastern border of the area; Mount Starr King stands near its southeast corner; the Cascades, the Gateway of the Valley, and a portion of the Merced canyon lie near the western border. Owing to the large scale of the map it depicts the valley with a degree of minuteness that was not possible in any of the earlier and smaller maps. Not only is every wagon road, trail, and house shown, as on the regular geological survey maps, but every angle and bend in the roads, however slight, every turn or zigzag in the tourist trails, and every structure, down to the smallest cabin or Indian rancheria, is faithfully recorded in its exact location. All the bridges even the larger culverts are indicated, and the streams themselves are carefully traced. Those that contain running water all the year round are shown by a continuous blue line: those flowing only intermittently are represented by the conventional dashes and dots. Especial care has been taken to distinguish those streams and springs that contain water perennially from those that dry up In late summer, so that campers and mountain climbers many have absolute faith in the reliability of the map in this respect. But one exception has been made to this rule: Yosemite creek, which Is shown with a full line, is in reality intermittent. Strange as it may sound to many, this charming stream, with its glorious falls, for which the valley has become famous, frequently dries up entirely toward the end of a long, dry summer. During the autumn of 1905 the Yosemite falls were altogether extinct for fully two months. Advantage was taken of this condition by the surveying parties, which ran a line to the very foot of the Upper Yosemite fall where mapping operations are ordinarily precluded by vast clouds of fine, windblown spray and thus were able to determine for the first time, the exact location and altitude of this interesting point. It was found that the total height of the Upper fall is 1,430 feet considerably less, unfortunately, than the popular estimates. The relief of the region is Indicated on the map in brown by contours, or lines of equal elevation, representing intervals of 50 feet vertically. These are not mere article shading designed to bring out distinctly the cliffs and other topographic features, but are mathematically placed lines, each of them continuous throughout and controlled by numerous points whose location and altitude have been determined instrumentally. The extreme precipitousness of many of the cliffs bring these lines very close together and makes these feature stand out conspicuously. Those acquainted with the Yosemite region will have no difficulty in identifying each one of Its scenic marvels Half Dome and the lesser domes; Clouds Rest and Mount Starr King; El Capitan the Cathedral Rocks and Spires. The true declivity of each of these is shown, the base and upper rim of each cliff having been mapped with equal care. Among the most noteworthy cliffs are, perhaps, the great precipice under Glacier Point, 1000 feet high and absolutely vertical, appearing In plan like a single straight line; the northwest face of Half Dome, fully 2000 feet high, slightly concave In plan as well as In profile, and overhung by the ragged upper edge near the summit; the cliffs over which the great waterfalls leap, none of them quite vertical except those of the Bridal Veil and Vernal Falls; and finally, El Capitan, with its 3,000-ft facade of solid granite. Other prominent features are Sentinel Rock, the Three Brothers, the Royal Arches, Profile Cliff and the remarkable “Fissures,” and the Leaning Tower and other cliffs under Dewey Point. A novel feature of this map Is the legend in its upper left-hand corner, which gives the heights of the principal waterfalls and the altitudes of the chief eminences and their elevations above the floor of the valley. These have been variously estimated heretofore, and although the geological survey carefully determined them some years ago, they are still frequently exaggerated for the sake of impressing the tourist, who, it is hoped, will now turn to the map for data of this kind and learn to appreciate its trustworthiness as a source of information. Like the other maps published by the survey, the Yosemite special sheet is for sale. As It is double the size of the regular sheets its price has been fixed at 10 cents, and remittance (in cash or money order) should be addressed to the Director of the United States Geological Survey at Washington, D.C. Owing to the large scale of the map it depicts the valley with a degree of minuteness that was not possible in any of the earlier and smaller maps. Not only is every wagon road, trail, and house shown, as on the regular geological survey maps, but every angle and bend in the roads, however slight, every turn or zigzag in the tourist trails, and every structure, down to the smallest cabin or Indian rancheria, is faithfully recorded in its exact location.
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