out, and after getting bogged down in thick brush and 3rd class rock, we beat a hasty retreat. When most of us had completed our retreat out of this canyon, we heart shouts of "help!" behind us. One young member of the party (he shall remain-nameless) had tried to find a way upward out of the canyon and found himself marooned and alone. Four of us went backup, located our lost, hiker on a huge boulder, and guided him down. Retreating to a vaquero cabin near the northwest edge of La Encantada, we located the right trail and once more headed northward into the rocky ramparts of La Tasajera. After crossing a rocky saddle, we joined the main La Grulla-Los Llanitos trail, but lost it again after a couple of miles. These San Pedro Martir trails are often difficult to follow - a good trail often suddenly becomes indistinct or branches into two or three pathways, and there is not a trail sign in the entire range. Continuing up a prominent canyon, we suddenly found ourselves at a dead-end. For the next two hours we scrambled upward, through brush and over boulders, trying to reach the top of this incredibly complex rock ridge. By 5:00 p.m., we reached a small clearing near the top and camped for the night. Just before sunset the leader and several others climbed a nearby high point to ascertain our position. We were rewarded by a splendid sunset view of El Picacho del Diablo, its summit crags painted a brilliant orange, four miles eastward. Early Tuesday morning we headed eastward along a faint cattle trail, and in the surprisingly short time of half an hour reached Los Llanitos, our original destination the day before. We were not so far off course as we had at first believed. Here at this small meadow, we dropped packs and, prepared for the highlight of the trip - the ascent of Blue Bottle (9500'). While 12 remained behind to loaf and recuperate, 30 started eastward for the peak. Three hours later, after much rocky up-and-down scrambling through complex, unmapped country, all 30 of us stood atop this second highest point in Baja California. The view, was superb, a vast expanse of mountain and desert wilderness. Directly eastward, across the yawning chasm of Canyon del Diablo, loomed the summit of all Baja, the magnificent Peak of the Devil. With binoculars we were able to watch two climbers scrambling up Wall Street toward the summit. (I later learned from Bill Rauschof Palo Alto that 10 climbers from the San Francisco area had made the summit that day, and about 30 others from Colorado's Outward Bound School had climbed it several days previously.) In the Blue Bottle register we noticed entries by scientists and engineers from the "Observatorio Astronomico Nacional" in Mexico City. Aida had told us that within two years Blue Bottle will be the home of a 60" telescope, largest in Mexico. She also

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