Red Mountain, 5270', is a delightful surprise. It is just north and east of the Nojave Desert mining towns of Randsburg, Johannesburg, and Red Mountain. For maximum enjoyment it should be climbed from east at Squaw Spring Well at about 3500'. This is an isolated and pleasant, though waterless, area. The climb is interesting and the route traverses colorful country. The summit has a Sam Fink DPS register on it along with an Air Force beacon which is reachable only by helicopter. Next we head north into the Lava Mountains where Klinker Mountain (4570') and Dome Mountain (4985') are the objectives. The traverse of eight miles roundtrip is reminiscent of the white Mountain flats. The elevation gain is deceptive as there are a number of losses on the traverse. Scodie Mountain, Pinyon Peak, Onyx Peak #2, and Nichols Peak are all HPS peaks and both Scodie and Nichols are worthy of DPS status. They are all in the area south of Walker Pass and west of Highway 174. Scodie is reached by following the aqueduct road south for four miles and then heading west for six more miles up Cow Heaven Canyon. The peak, unmarked on the topo, lies due north of the end of the road. Pinyon is a pleasant ten mile roundtrip through country much like that found in the Los Padres National Forest but there is not as expansive a view. However the pinyon nuts are tasty and the semi-desert vegetation interesting. The roadhead is reached from Highway 178 just east of Canebrake. Onyx is a nice Nelson type peak with a surprisingly precipitous west face. Nichols has some interesting rock scrambling to reach the register at the western high point. This peak is just outside of the national forest and offers a fine view of the Sierra and Lake Isabella to the north. The grand-daddy of them all is the higher point to the south of Nichols. It is at least a two hour traverse from Nichols along a broken and precipitous ridge. The intersection with the main summit ridge looks almost impossible from afar but can be negotiated with a little low third class if you thread the right course. The drop-off's are impressive and the brush unyielding. There was not a summit register or even an apparent high point but I built a cairn and left a register. This is a worthy challenge and confirms what I've always believed, that is that there is no reason to go 500 miles when there is plenty of uncharted challenges within 200 miles of LA. (Editor's note: The above opinions are entirely those of the author and in no way to be taken as the opinions of the editors. We take no blame for Bill' s phobia against a little driving.) CERRO PESCADORES - John Vitz The high point of the Sierra de los Cocopahs is one of the recent additions to the qualifying list. It is a beautifully rugged range containing thick Sonoran Desert vegetation and impressive granite cliffs and washes. A long low ridge parallels the main crest east of the range. As seen from the paved road there is a summit which has a large block standing upon it. The high point is the next summit to the north. A sandy road leads southwest to the south end of the low ridge from where we walked west and north into the wide wash between the main range and the low ridge. After about a mile the wash turns west and enters the range. Continuing up the wash for a ways led us through rugged desert country and lush growth. We turned up a side canyon and then climbed a steep wail attaining the top of the ridge still miles from the peak. Once again we had excellent leadership to thank for this. We continued along the top of the ridge into a saddle from where the route goes up quickly. This ridge can be followed to the summit with the large block from where there is an easy traverse to the true summit. There is one spot on this ridge where some huge granite blocks have to be passed on one side or the other. On the ascent we stayed to the north of them and so on the return we decided to see if a southern route might be more feasible. It isn't. At a point almost at the spot where the top of the ridge may be gained again we came upon a rather disturbing scene.

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