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MORNING LIGHT, 2001 |
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Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, of the Mariposa Battalion, reported his
first view of the None
but those who have visited this most wonderful valley can even imagine
the feelings with which I looked upon the view that was there presented.
The grandeur of the scene was but softened by the haze that hung
over the valley – light as gossamer – and by the clouds which
partially dimmed the higher cliffs and mountains.
This obscurity of vision but increased the awe with which I
beheld it, and as I looked, a peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill
my whole being, and I found my eyes in tears with emotion. During
many subsequent visits to this locality, this sensation was never again
so fully aroused. It is
probable that the shadows fast clothing all before me, and the vapory
clouds at the head of the valley,
leaving the view beyond still undefined, gave a weirdness to the scene,
that made it so impressive; and the conviction that it was utterly
indescribable added strength to the emotion.
It is not possible for the same intensity of feeling to be
aroused more than once by the same object, although I never looked upon
these scenes except with wonder and admiration.
(Discovery of the Steve Roper prefaced the 1971 “Green
Guidebook” with a Mike Borghoff pronouncement that speaks to the soul
of all those who are drawn to Yosemite’s walls:
“Look well about you, wanderer!
There is but one
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