NEWSLETTER NO 100 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE DESERT PEAKS SECTION by John Robinson

It was largely through the inspiration, initiative, and persuasive talents of one man that the Desert Peaks Section was born. The man was Chester Versteeg; the year 1941. For some thirty years Chester, a well-known Sierra Clubber second only to Norman Clyde in number of sierra first ascents, had enjoyed his summer vacations in the Range of Light. Often he had gazed eastward from the crest, noticing range after range of desert mountains, some towering almost as high as the sierra itself. His curiosity was activated - What were those desert ranges like? How did the Sierra look from the summit of the Inyos? When snow closed the passes of the Sierra that fall, Chester decided to find out. His first desert ascent was New York Butte. It was on this tawny, rounded summit in the southern Inyos that the idea came to Chester of a climbing group specializing in ascending desert peaks. Louise Werner describes the birth pangs of the section: "If there was any one quality that especially characterized Chester, it was enthusiasm. Out of his infectious enthusiasm was born the Desert Peaks Section. It did not, however, spring full-fledged, like Minerva from the head of Zeus. Chester's flame all but died under the soggy indifference he encountered every time he brought up the subject. It took a good dual of fanning and blowing before it caught a few individuals who went along, at first, mainly because C}ester was such a persistent salesman. We can see him yet, before a crowd of Friday-nighters at Boos brothers Cafeteria, trying to warm us up to the idea." Chester proposed that membership in the newly-formed group (it was not yet an official section) be attained by climbing seven peaks in the ranges east of Owens Valley: White Mtn., Waucoba Mtn., New York Butte, Cerro Gordo, Coso Peak, Maturango Peak, and Telescope Peak. On the weekend of November 15-16, 1941, the first scheduled activity of Chester's new group was held - a climb of New York butte led by Niles Werner. The Angeles Chpater schedule proclaimed in typical Versteegian prose: "Here is your opportunity to knock down one of the seven peaks required to make you eligible for the new Desert Peaks section. New York Butte presents one of the grandest alpine views on the entire continent, the Sierra Crest from Olancha Peak clear to Mt. Tom. Ten prospective members made this initial climb successfully: Nile Werner, Braeme Gigas, Harry Paley, Pat Carmical, Katherine Smith, Freda Walbrecht, Bill Crookston, Carl Durrell, James Tow, and Harry Greenhood. (How many do you know today?) As fate would have it, momentous outside events intervened to put a temporary damper on the fledgling section. With the Pearl Harbor attack plunging the U. S. into World War II, desert climbing activities were reduced to occasional forays by a handful of enthusiasts. The 1942 Chapter schedule noted tersely; "Scheduled activities are temporarily suspended until the transportation situation is improved." Parker Severson writes; "We did manage to get to some of the desert peaks that were not too far away during the war years when gas rationing was on. Getting enough gas was a problem. We doubled up in cars, and got gas by scrounging gas coupons a in all sorts of devious ways (short of nocturnal raids on car tanks). With the end of the war, all the pent-up energies of Chester and his small band of desert enthusiasts burst out in renewed and expanded activity. The first post-war scheduled outing was a climb of Waucoba on November 10-12, 1945, led by Niles Werner and James Tow, announced in the chapter schedule with-the comment that "The Desert Peaks Section comes to life again". Niles qualified for membership on this, his seventh desert peak. He was the first climber to qualify after Chester. Chester made a formal occasion of the event, with a crown for Niles and appropriate speeches. Late in 1945 the group was organized as a formal section of the Angeles Chapter with dues, officers, and business meetings instituted. Chester declined the chairmanship, so James 0. Tow was elected the first chairman. Other first officers of the DPS were Freda Walbrecht, vice-chairman, and members-at-large Niles Werner, and Chester Versteeg. Membership zoomed to new heights (23), and the beginning of 1946 saw the section as a well-established fixture of the Ange1es Chapter. The flame was bright; no longer was it a tiny flicker kept going sole1y by the eloquence of its founder.

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