The melting snow and ice formed a network of rills that ran gracefully down the surface of the glacier, merrily singing in their shining channels.

After this discovery I made excursions over all the High Sierra and discovered that what at first sight looked like snowfields were in great part glaciers which were completing the sculpture of the summit peaks.
Rising early,--which will be easy, as your bed will be rather cold and you will not be able to sleep much anyhow,--after visiting the glacier, climb the Red Mountain and enjoy the magnificent views from the summit.
I counted forty lakes from one standpoint an this mountain, and the views to the westward over the Illilouette Basin, the most superbly forested of all the basins whose waters rain into Yosemite, and those of the Yosemite rocks, especially the Half Dome and the upper part of the north wall, are very fine.

But, of course, far the most imposing view is the vast array of snowy peaks along the axis of the Range.

Then from the top of this peak, light and free and exhilarated with mountain air and mountain beauty, you should run lightly down the northern slope of the mountain, descend the canyon between Red and Gray Mountains, thence northward along the bases of Gray Mountain and Mount Clark and go down into the head of Little Yosemite, and thence down past the Nevada and Vernal Falls to the Valley, a truly glorious two-day trip! A Three-Day Excursion The best three-day excursion, as far as I can see, is the same as the first of the two-day trips until you reach Lake Tenaya.

There instead of returning to the Valley, follow the Tioga road around the northwest side of the lake, over to the Tuolumne Meadows and up to the west base of Mount Dana.