But in addition to the peaks there are Sierran lakes galore, rich in unusual beauty and picturesqueness, and most of them stocked with trout that compel the exertion of the angler’s skill, as much as tickle the palate of the uncorrupted epicure.  Close by are Cascade, Cathedral, Floating Island, Echo, Heather, Lucile, Margery, Gilmore, Le Conte, Lily, Susie, Tamarack, Grouse, Lake of the Woods, Avalanche, Pit, Crystal, Pyramid, Half Moon, with the marvelous and alluring maze of lakes, bays, straits, channels, inlets and “blind alleys” of the Lake Olney of the ever-fascinating Desolation Valley.  And those I have named are all within comparatively easy walking distance to the ordinarily healthful and vigorous man or woman.  For those who seek more strenuous exercise, or desire horse-back or camping-out trips another twenty, aye fifty lakes, within a radius of fifty miles may be found, with their connecting creeks, streams and rivers where gamey trout abound, and where flowers, shrubs and trees in never-ceasing variety and charm tempt the botanist and nature-lover.

While to some it may not be an attraction, to others there may be both pleasure and interest in witnessing the operations of the Fallen Leaf sawmill.  This is situated on the western side of the lake, and is a scene of activity and bustle when logging and lumbering are in progress.  On the hills about the lake the “fellers” may be found, chopping their way into the hearts of the forest monarchs of pine, fir and cedar, and then inserting the saw, whose biting teeth soon cut from rim to rim and cause the crashing downfall of trees that have stood for centuries.  Denuded of their limbs these are then sawn into appropriate lengths, “snaked” by chains pulled by powerful horses to the “chute”, down which they are shot into the lake, from whence they are easily towed to the mill.  The chute consists of felled logs, laid side by side, evenly and regularly, so as to form a continuous trough.  This is greased, so that when the heavy logs are placed therein they slide of their own weight, where there is a declivity, and are easily dragged or propelled on the level ground.

[Illustration:  Boating on Fallen Leaf Lake]

[Illustration:  Fallen Leaf Lodge Among the Pines, on Fallen Leaf Lake]

[Illustration:  Camp Agassiz Boys setting out for a Trip, Lake Tahoe, Cal.  Copyright 1910, by Harold A. Parker.]

[Illustration:  Tahoe Meadows, With Mt.  Tallac in the Distance]

I use the word propelled to suggest the interesting method used in these chutes.  Sometimes ten or a dozen logs will be placed, following each other, a few feet apart, on the trough (the chute).  A chain is fastened to the rear end of the hindermost log.  This chain is attached to a single-tree fastened to a horse’s harness.  The horse is started.  This makes the hinder log strike the next one, this bumps into the third and gives it a start, in its turn it bumps the fourth, the fourth the fifth, and so on, until the whole dozen are in motion.  Had the string of logs been fastened together, the horse would have found it impossible to move them, but “propelling” them in this fashion they are all set in motion, and their inertia once overcome there is no difficulty experienced in keeping them going.