John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 10 (of 10) - Southern California; Grand Canon of the Colorado River; Yellowstone National Park by John L. (John Lawson) Stoddard
page 21 of 145 (14%)
page 21 of 145 (14%)
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Valley was a paradise lost. For seventy miles contrasts of hot sand
and verdant orchards, arid wastes and smiling valley, followed one another in quick succession,--and down upon it all frowned the long wall of the Sierra Madre. [Illustration: SAN GABRIEL VALLEY.] [Illustration: GATHERING POPPIES AT THE BASE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.] It is a wonderful experience to ride for such a distance in a perfectly level valley, and see an uninterrupted range of mountains, eight thousand feet in height, rising abruptly from the plain like the long battle-line of an invading army. What adds to its impressiveness is the fact that these peaks are, for the entire country which they dominate, the arbiters of life and death. Beyond them, on one side, the desert stretches eastward for a thousand miles; upon the other, toward the ocean, whose moisture they receive and faithfully distribute, extends this valley of delight. The height of the huge granite wall is generally uniform, save where, like towers on the mighty rampart, old San Antonio and the San Bernardino Brothers lift their hoary heads two miles above the sea,--their silvery crowns and dazzling features standing out in the crystalline clearness of the atmosphere as if they had been carved in high relief. [Illustration: AN ADOBE HOUSE.] [Illustration: A PASADENA LEMON TREE.] We sped along, with feelings alternating between elation and |
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