Ever thought of the desert as a vast horizonless waste of sand dunes dotted sporadically with a few wild tufts of grass? Perhaps you remember the old geography books that spoke of cactus, rattlesnakes and the dearth of water. Many of us grew up with the idea that it "was a good place to stay away from." But at my elbow is a GUIDE to the DESERT PEAKS of the SOUTHWEST. mimeographed pamphlet that upsets the impression that these deserts are flat and hostile. It star ts in by listing some 500 mountain ranges that erupt out of	them -- 180 in Arizona, 120 in Nevada, 95 in California, 75 in New Mexico and 40 in Utah. Next it makes a beginning of exploring these ranges, one at a time. You read of lava flows, fossils, juniper trees, bristle-cone pines, aspen, palms, yucca, gooseberry bushes, mariposa lilies, polymonium, quail, sagehens, golden eagles, wild pigs, burros, wild horses, bighorn sheep and spectacular views from peaks that rise as high as 14,242 feet. So far the GUIDE covers 16 ranges, 11 in California, three in Arizona, one in Nevada and one in Baja Cali-	fornia. It tells you where to drive, describes the climbing route (usually the easiest way to get to the highest point in the range), presence or absence of trails, water and fuel, where to camp, sometimes a bit of history, botany or geology, views and a bibliography, including available maps. The GUIDE to the DESERT PEAKS of the SOUTHWEST is in process of being compiled by the Desert Peaks Section of the Sierra Club, whose 75 members are scattered throughout southern California, with headquarters in Los Angeles. As it states in the introduction, "it represents the collective efforts of many people" and "is not intended to be exhaustive or technical". Loose leaves are added as ranges are explored. The Desert Peaks Section was sparked into being in 1941 by Chester Versteeg, a Los Angeles Insurance broker. Versteeg had climbed widely in the Sierra Nevada for thirty years, making first ascents and naming peaks, lakes and other features. (Later he took the lead in organizing the Trojan Peak Club at the University of Southern California, his Alma Mater.) It was while climbing in the Sierra Nevada that Versteeg became aware of the desert ranges. Looking east from the tops of Sierra Nevada peaks he could see half a dozen of these ranges poking out of the desert valleys that separated them. The nearest one, the Inyo Range, rising on the opposite side of the Owens Valley, seemed to have a couple of rather lofty peaks. One day as he was looking at them, Versteeg said to himself, "Why don't I climb up there some day and look across at the Sierra Nevada." That fall, after snow had closed the passes into the Sierra Nevada, Versteeg set out to find a way to the top of l0,600 foot New York Butte in the Inyo Range. From Lone Pine he followed an old mining road until his car refused to pull the grade and the

SUMMIT           OCTOBER, 1956