as the old incentive just wasn't there. I gathered up the slowest ones and headed down the mountain, while the rest of the group went on to Keynot. Alex picked up an iron souvenir that weighed 75# and brought it all the way back to our car. This makes me wonder if his pack is too light. Seventeen of us made it to the Sportsman Cafe in Lone Pine, where we moved a few tables together and drank gallons of water before ordering. Fourteen of us went to Dirty Sox Spring to camp and found a few campers, vans, Winibagos, already in possession, so we joined them. After some soul warming liquid and the help of the sun going down so the other bathers couldn't see the state of our not so clean clothes, we waded in. The only problem with swimming around in warm water after dark is how do you get out into the cold, brrrrrrr, air. Being proper Sierra Clubbers with mountains to climb, we were all in the sack by 10:00 PM. Not so our neighbors as the night wore on the party got louder and louder with motor cycles circling the pool, skinny dippers cavorting and splashing. The climax came about 3:00 AM when someone shot off a gun. Seven shots someone said, after which it got a little quieter. We got even at daylight the next morning, just about the time it really became quiet. We got up with much shouted conversation and banging of stoves and pans and warming motors. New York Butte is easy, all you have to do is find the proper road. What you don't do is follow the road that leads toward the peak. It ends with a ridge and a canyon between you and the peak after getting narrower and narrower. At one time our right front wheel and our left rear were off the ground at the same time. With the whole group crowded into three 4WD's, those jammed in the center unable to see out must have interesting sensations every time we tilted sideways. After finally getting back to the proper road, it's the main one, the widest, and with the most tire prints, it goes the wrong way for awhile. It circles around and comes back to the peak. Thirteen climbed New York Butte, one stayed in the car. Luella Martin celebrated her emblem with cantaloupe slices. Since we spent half a day on our little exploratory, we decided not to climb Pleasant and went home from there.
OLD DAD, AVAWATZ	Nov. 24-25	by BILL RUSSELL
Eleven good people met at Baker on Saturday at 10:45 am. Howard Stephens, the scheduled assistant, was unable to come and How Bailey agreed to help out. This he did in a fine fashion for the two days and we all appreciated it. We consolidated into three cars and drove out the Kelbaker Road, then to the power line road to a spot just east of the south end of Old Dad. We hiked up the wash to the north and then up a prominent steep ledge which ends as a 90° skyline notch a few hundred meters north of the summit. The climb is second class with a few easy third class spots and very enjoyable. Our total trip time from the cars was about three hours. We camped in the grove of trees about a mile north of the site of Silver Lake, which is about 8 miles north of Baker. Rain threatened, but instead we got very high winds during the last half of the night. On Sunday we gained two climbers and lost one. We drove up the mining road, which goes into the canyon south of Old Mormon Spring. This road is not shown on either the topo or the auto club map. It starts from Highway 127 at the south end of Silurian Dry Lake (about 19.6 miles from Baker.) We drove about one mile into the canyon and started hiking about 0745. We proceeded up the road, taking the right hand branch at a point with a prominent painted rock, until the road climbs a ridge to the right. At this spot we climbed to the south and gained the main ridge system leading southeast from the summit. This location is southwest of Old Mormon Spring and about 1/4 mile off the edge of the Avawatz Pass topo. We then went up the ridge about 3 miles to the summit which we reached at noon. We had a quick lunch and returned to the cars by 3:00 pm. The day was cold with high thin clouds arid a fair breeze. The view from Avawatz is spectacular and everyone seemed to enjoy the day.

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