Toward sundown we reached Hazel Green, a charming spot on the summit of the dividing ridge between the basins of the Merced and Tuolumne, where there is a small brook flowing through hazel and dogwood thickets beneath magnificent silver firs and pines. Here, we are camped for the night, our big fire, heaped high with rosiny logs and branches, is blazing like a sunrise, gladly giving back the light slowly sifted from the sunbeams of centuries of summers; and in the glow of that old sunlight how impressively surrounding objects are brought forward in relief against the outer darkness! Grasses, larkspurs, columbines, lilies, hazel bushes, and the great trees form a circle around the fire like thoughtful spectators, gazing and listening with human-like enthusiasm. The night breeze is cool, for all day we have been climbing into the upper sky, the home of the cloud mountains we so long have admired. How sweet and keen the air! Every breath a blessing. Here the sugar pine reaches its fullest development in size and beauty and number of individuals, filling every swell and hollow and down-plunging ravine almost to the exclusion of other species. A few yellow pines are still to be found as companions, and in the coolest places silver firs; but noble as these are, the sugar pine is king, and spreads long protecting arms above them while they rock and wave in sign of recognition.
Sundown torrent
Crisscrossed by bridges, the steep wooded valley funnels the river over sparkling cascades and into enticing rocky pools. At the cave-like ravine of Cerrada de Elias we squeeze along boardwalks over the torrent. Limestone pinnacles like castles soar to frame the sky and as the crowd starts to thin, miles melt away.
For serious idling we are seduced by the cosy Plaza Santa Maria. Snuggled against the ruins of the former cathedral, its silence is broken by children play games and ancient fountains gurgling. After sundown across the Río Cazorla, a floodlit Moorish castle - a rare touristy touch - levitates in the darkness. 2ff7e9595c
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