Love in the High Sierra

Just finished reading a great book, "Up and Down California" by William F. Brewer. You may recognize Mr. Brewer, because there is a mountain in Kings Canyon named for him. There's another one named for the professor who supervised his project, a Josiah Dwight Whitney. Yes, that Whitney.

And along as part of the team were such notables as William Gabb, James Gardiner, Clarence King, and Charles Hoffman, all of whom also have notable peaks named for them in the Sierra Nevada.

As you might guess from the title, the book is a collection of his letters as he undertakes the geologic and topographic survey of California in 1860-1864--and covers just about every part of the Golden State. It's a great glimpse into what this place looked like right after the Gold Rush.

And did we mention that Charles Hoffman was in his party? That's Mt. Hoffman in the photo at right, with May Lake nestled in its lap.

You might wonder where May Lake got its name...

And we know that answer. It was named by that same survey team for Lucy Mayotte Brown of Oakland. She married Charles Hoffman in 1870, and they lived happily ever after.

How sweet is that?

We climbed to the top of Mt. Hoffman in 2009, only a few days after the new trail had been built to the top of the peak. The trail was pretty sketchy in places, but the views from the top of Mt. Hoffman are simply among the best in all of Yosemite.

And May Lake is beautiful, too.