On returning, we pause a moment by the roadside on the meadow at the concrete bench placed there in memory of Galen Clark, a lover and student of the Yosemite, and discoverer of the giant trees of the Mariposa Grove. Galen Clark apparently drew vitality from his aged tree friends, for he lived to be 96 years old. He is buried in the Valley, and the concrete bench is placed on the spot where he frequently sat to gaze on the falls. Though it is now evening and the sun has disappeared, the Valley is suffused with soft reflected light from the huge flat, mirror-like face of Half Dome. In the course of an hour the golden glow on that great oval surface of rock far above us turns to shimmering silver, and then to a ghostly gray that finally gives way to night. [Illustration: Photograph by A. C. Pillsbury GLACIER POINT HOTEL AND CAMP 3,254 feet above the Valley and 7,250 feet above sea level] _Mirror Lake and Happy Isles_ In the early morning let us go to Mirror Lake. This beautiful little sheet of water lies not far from the village and in a natural bowl at the foot of Half Dome and Mount Watkins. The mirror effects are best seen in the early hours shortly after sunrise. [Illustration: Photograph by J. T. Boysen A FOREST FRIEND He prefers sweets, but he will accept eagerly any form of nourishment--and he does not scorn tobacco] On the way back stop for a half hour at Happy Isles. That brief visit will not suffice you, for you will find time, even in a short stay in the Yosemite, to slip away for several half hours to the quiet shades and laughing waters of Happy Isles. The Merced has woven a necklace of sparkling waves about these little wooded islands, and made of them an ideal retreat for a sunny afternoon. If you rest there late in the day look for the dainty little water bird that John Muir calls the “water-ouzel.” I watched one for an hour on the lower island. He has his nest close to the surface of the stream, and he plays joyously, half in and half out of the water, part time flitting over the spray, and part time dipping under, until his sleek gray-black coat shines like satin. There are trails and roads in all directions. What will you choose? Since you have now seen Happy Isles, go on to the foot of Vernal Falls. You have simply to follow the path past Happy Isles, and go on up the Merced River. It will repay you, for Vernal Falls is a beautiful down-pour of water, 317 feet in height. And, while you are following this trail, go on still further till you reach Nevada Falls, the most impressive of all the cataracts in the Park. Its height is 594 feet, and the volume of water that it pours exceeds that of any of the others. If you would get an adequate impression of its power, climb to the top of Nevada Falls and look down. You will not forget the sight.