At 7:20 Sunday morning the shout of "ten minutes" roared through the camp. The group had now dwindled to 29 gung-ho hikers off to climb their third unlisted peak of the weekend, East Ord Mountain (6120). The route that led up a canyon southwest of the summit involved some rock scrambling. The leaders stopped the group short of a section that involved about 60 vertical feet of difficult third class rock and then suggested an alternate route. Those DPSers, to a man, rejected any thought of such a thing and in a short time they were sitting on the summit pleased with their success in overcoming the difficulty.

Only 8 people tried to climb (or even find) the Sidewinder BM (5272). This lack of faith in the mapless leaders was well founded as the peak was never reached. However, the disappointment of missing the peak and the unpleasantness of getting stuck in the sandy road were washed away by a few cold ones and a good dinner at Little Italy, Apple Valley's friendly local pub.

ARIZONA EXPLORATORY   -   Jon Inskeep and Bill Clifton

The real objective of this trip was to climb majestic Baboquivari, but it was billed as an exploratory because 1) neither of the leaders had even been in the area let alone climbed the peak, 2) the possibility of ice or snow on the upper parts of the route could make the summit unattainable, and 3) no definite activities were scheduled for Saturday or Sunday. Despite all these trepidation's, the trip was a success. Friday afternoon saw 33 climbers on the summit of Baboquivari.

More than 40 people in 22 vehicles, including several from Arizona, met on the edge of the Indian settlement of Sells at noon on Thursday. After greetings and lunch, we caravaned south on paved road to Topawa which had so few buildings that the leader buzzed right past it before realizing that he should have turned off somewhere. The group managed a mass U-turn and drove back to a large mobile home, the residence of a young couple who were probably missionaries, to ask directions. He was incredulous at the line of cars in his driveway, saying that we were "more white faces than he had seen in one place in years". He was even more amazed at our purpose. "People around here go to Baboquivari all the time, but no one ever climbs clear to the top!" His directions were good. The turnoff to Baboquivari Camp is a wide, graded road south of town, about a quarter mile past a windmill on the east side of the road. The road is excellent and easy to follow. There is a fork at about 7 miles; bear right about 3 more miles to the camp. There is no water in the fall and little firewood, but the area is adequate for a large group, having trees, several fireplaces, and tables.

There is a large water tank near camp next to a jeep road. This road leads east about a half mile to the prominent, well-traveled trail heading south. 36 climbers left camp Friday morning at 6:45. By 9:30 half the group had gained the 3700 feet to the bottom of the major class 3-4 pitch. Two belays were set up by Paul Nelson and Jay Wiley, and although some climbed without a rope, it took a total of two hours to get everyone up this steep 80 foot slope. For Jay and Paul, and others who helped, it was mighty cold work as there was no sun on this side of the peak. By noon 31 had signed in on the summit, a short 500 foot additional gain, and the first arrivals were ready to start down. They arrived at the pitch in time to assist Bill Clifton who had stayed back on the trail with a woman and her two young children. The two adults made the top for a total of 33. It was sad to see the children come so far and not make the summit and to see the more than one person hobbling back in tennis shoes, but the schedule stated that the trip was not suitable for beginners and the leader specifically told everyone that tennis shoes were not acceptable footwear. Getting everyone down the pitch required an additional two hours. It would have been much longer except that after several had muffed the down-climbing and rappelling, a new technique called the "duffers drop" was devised (the leader will be happy to describe it to anyone' interested).
 
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