John Muir is forever associated with the Sierra Nevada. But his travels to the mountains also meant he spent considerable time in the San Joaquin Valley. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots, John Muir’s reflections on the Valley.
John Muir arrived in San Francisco in late March of 1868 and promptly set out for the Sierra. His destination was Yosemite Valley. Muir hiked across the Pacheco Pass, and wrote the following in a letter describing the view:
"There in clear view over the heaps and rows of foothills is laid a grand level plain watered by a river, and another range of snow- capped mountains a hundred miles in the distance-- that plain is the valley of the San Joaquin and these mountains are the magnificent Sierra Nevadas.”
Muir was especially taken with the valley’s wildflowers. His letter continued:
“The valley of San Joaquin is the floweriest piece of world I ever walked-one vast level flower - bed - a sheet of flowers - a smooth sea ruffled a little in the middle by the tree fringing of the river, and here and there of smaller cross streams from the mountains.”
Muir would cross the San Joaquin Valley, and follow the path of the Merced River, reaching Yosemite Valley on May 22nd. It was the first of his many trips to Yosemite. His journey is documented in the book Anywhere That is Wild.
