lonely. Tall pines stood close to the roadside, the
lamps of the motor throwing a light here and there upon their massive
trunks. Clusters of manzanita branches brushed against our machine, the
light flashing upon them, showing their lovely green leaves arranged
like shining rosettes around their wine-colored stems. Everything was
wet with recent rain and wonderfully beautiful as the light of the lamps
flashed here and there. At last we passed a little cottage by the
roadside. There was a dim light in the house. The door opened and the
figure of a man appeared dark against the background of the lighted
room. We called out to him and asked how much farther Miami Lodge was.
"Just a few miles," he said, and very kindly offered to telephone to the
Lodge that we were coming, so they would have some supper for us. It
seemed a long distance to us as we crept cautiously around the shoulder
of the mountain, down steep pitches and up long slopes. But at last we
saw the welcome lights of the Lodge. How pleasant it was to see an open
fire in the sitting room, to eat a hot supper in the delightful dining
room, and to find a dainty sleeping room furnished with a woman's taste.
Miami Lodge is a half-way house between Raymond and Wawona. It is an
ideal resting spot for people who love the pine woods and the quiet and
solitude of the forest.

[Illustration: 1. Summit of Pass between Raymond and Wawona, entering
Yosemite Valley. 2. Miami Lodge, on way to Yosemite.]

In the morning we were on our way to the Big Trees. We decided to leave
our car at a humble but very pleasant little forest inn called Fish Camp
Hotel, presided over by some Maine people who long ago left the pines of
Maine for the pines of California. They have a mountain ranch which they
leave in the summer to come up into the higher forests and to keep a
little hostel and grocery store. It is a long walk from Fish Camp Hotel
to the boundary fence of the National Park where the famous Big Trees
are. If one prefers to drive one's car over a somewhat rocky but
perfectly passable mountain road and to leave it just outside the
fence, one can do so. In this way, one's walking powers are kept fresh
for the memorable expedition among the Big Trees. One needs a long day
in which to see the Trees. We felt sorry for the tourists who were being
driven about and who had only an allotted time in which to see the
Trees. We had our luncheon with us and were independent. We walked miles