The monster mountain mass, of which Mount Lyell, 13,090 feet high, is
the chief, lies on the eastern boundary of the park. It may be reached
by trail from Tuolumne Meadows and is well worth the journey. It is the
climax of the Sierra in this neighborhood.
The traveler swings from the Tuolumne Meadows around Johnson Peak to
Lyell Fork and turns southward up its valley. Huge Kuna Crest borders
the trail’s left side for miles. At the head of the Valley, beyond
several immense granite shelves, rears the mighty group, Mount Lyell in
the center, supported on the north by Mount Maclure and on the south by
Rodgers Peak.
The way up is through a vast basin of tumbled granite, encircled at its
climax by a titanic rampart of nine sharp, glistening peaks and hundreds
of spear-like points, the whole usually cloaked in enormous sweeping
shrouds of snow. Presently the granite spurs inclose one. And directly,
beyond these, looms a mighty wall of glistening granite which apparently
forbids further approach to the mountain’s shrine. But another half hour
brings one face to face with Lyell’s rugged top and shining glacier, one
of the noblest high places in America. Mount Dana, with its glacier and
great variety of alpine flowers, can be climbed in one day from Tuolumne
Meadows and now offers a very popular hiking trip.