One mile below the park line is ~El Portal~, the terminus of the ~Yosemite Valley Railroad~. There is here a hotel and a small store. On the opposite slope is the incline of the Yosemite Lumber Company down which flat cars loaded with logs are lowered. From El Portal a four-hour ride by railroad takes us to ~Merced~. ROAD TRIP VI-A YOSEMITE VILLAGE TO POHONO BRIDGE _via_ THE BRIDALVEIL ROAD (5 miles--20 minutes by stage) The ~Bridalveil Road~ parallels the south bank of the Merced from Yosemite to Pohono Bridge, five miles westward. This route is more attractive and more scenic than the northern, or El Capitan Road, which is often taken by the stages. From Yosemite Village we bear westward across the meadows. The ~Sentinel~ towers above at the left and in the distance are the portals of the valley. About one mile takes us past a Park Ranger's cabin near the spot where Galen Clarke's house stood until 1919. Just northward, at the edge of a big meadow, was once the Indian village of Hoo'-koo-me'-ko-tah. A little further and directly under the Sentinel stand the remaining buildings of old Camp Awahnee, occupying the site of the large and important Indian community of Loi'-ah. The name, which means "a long water basket," was also the Yosemites' appellation for the great rock tower above. The ~Short Trail to Glacier Point~ here turns to the left and begins its zigzag course up the canyon wall. The ~Ford Road~, a subsidiary route branching to the right, leads to ~The Big Pine~, which is the largest known specimen of western yellow pine in the park. During the flood waters of early spring, ~Sentinel Falls~ descend in a picturesque cascade at the western flank of the great obelisk. Again continuing westward, we are treated to charming vistas across the Merced. Especially effective from this angle is the great triple pyramid of ~Three Brothers~ buttressing the north wall. Just opposite them on the banks of the river was Kis´-se, the westernmost of the large Indian villages on the south or "coyote" side of the valley. To the west a splendid profile of ~El Capitan~ is revealed and suddenly at the left of the road the ~Cathedral Spires~, each rising 500 feet from its base, seem to tower above the south rim. The Yosemites called the latter Po-see´-na Chuck´-ah, or "mouse-proof rocks," from a fancied resemblance to their acorn caches. A village just below them in a small meadow near the river was called We´-sum-meh. We now skirt the powerfully outlined ~Cathedral Rocks~. At ~El Capitan Bridge~ one may cross to the north side of the river. Directly opposite is a ranger station at the foot of the ~Big Oak Flat Road~ (Road Trip IV). From that point the ~El Capitan Road~ (Road Trips I and VI) leads both up and down the valley.