| Peakers came naturally to the conclusion that gathering, recording
and organizing data about the desert range was their job. And that was the
beginning of the GUIDE to the DESERT PEAKS of the SOUTHWEST. Today you can become a member of the DPS by climbing any six peaks from an approved list of 25 qualifying peaks. The lowest peak on the list, 1947-foot Picacho Alta, in southeastern California, is in one respect the most difficult. It requires a rope. Desert Peakers go in for rock climbing only when there's no other way to get up. Almost always, so far, there's been an easier way. At the other extreme of the elevation range stands 14,242-foot White Mountain in the White Mountain range, on the central eastern border of California, north of the Inyo Range. White Mountain, the highest desert peak in the United States, was appropriated during the war by the United States Naval Ordinance for the purpose of studying the effects of high altitude on man and animals. A road, of sorts, has been bulldozed up and a laboratory built at 12,500 feet. Last June a group of Desert Peakers drove to 11,500 feet and made the 15-mile round trip to the summit in one day. Much depends on the condition of the road, which varies from time to time. But most Desert Peakers prefer, because of the high elevation, to take an extra half-day and knapsack up a few miles. The laboratory at 12,500 feet has a permanent water supply from a spring. Between these two extremes (Picacho Alta and White Mountain) the 'qualifying list' includes peaks from 3600 to 13,545 feet high. You'll find most of these are trails: some requiring a three day weekend from Los Angeles; some up to five miles of knapsacking. Most of them however, are possible in an ordinary |
weekend without knapsacking. You may encounter snow on some of the
higher peaks, particularly the more northerly ones, but you can usually avoid
it by scheduling these during early fall or late spring and moving south into
the warmer ranges during the winter. The Desert Peakers have thus extended the
climbing season in southern California around the calendar. One of the more strenuous climbs is to the top of 6,666-foot Rabbit Peak, about 50 miles southeast of Palm Springs (Santa Rosa Range). You begin knapsacking at 1500 feet and should carry a gallon (8 pounds) of water, in addition to sleeping bag, food, cup and spoon, cooking utensil, sweater, parka, First Aid, flashlight and matches. The food you take for a climb like Rabbit Peak should consist of moist things like raw celery, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes and fruit and soup and fruit juices in cans. Dehydrated foods, so popular in the Sierra Nevada where one usually camps near water, don't lighten the load on Rabbit Peak since you would have to carry the water to cook them. You need carry no shelter, except perhaps a large sheet of plastic, since you'll rarely encounter rain. Desert Peakers come dressed in tough army twill pants with baggy pockets (or in jeans), gaudy shirts, and 8-12 inch boots with lug soles and with a couple pairs of absorbent socks inside. A wool sweater and a windbreaker with hood usually suffice on windy summits and around the campfire. The First Aid usually includes a pair of tweezers for pulling out cactus spines (from human hides). Although the DPS is considered one of the more strenuously inclined groups in the Sierra Club, its active members range in age from 12 to 68. Roughly one climb a month is scheduled from September through July. |
Newcomers are welcome on climbs. The schedule this season includes two peaks from the 'qualifying list'. On November 3-4, there will be a climb to the top of the Eagle Mountains (5,347 feet), some 50 miles east of Palm Springs. The camp will be at road's end at 3000 feet. The 2300-foot left in elevation may sound like a small day's work, but actually it is a real workout; you lose elevation now and again by crossing intervening canyons, mostly over huge boulders where hands as well as feet take part in the climbing. One canyon has palm trees and a waterhole where a rare desert orchid grows, and many signs of bighorn sheep especially around water-sculptured granite basins which catch water when it rains. Contact leader John Delmonte, 1637 Don Carlos St., Glendale 8, California or phone CI 2-4618 for further information. On January 19-20, there will be a trip to the top of the Sheephole Mountains, in the same general neighborhood as the Eagle Mountains. It is mostly an up-canyon scramble from 2000 to 4400 feet. Both of these summits afford excellent views of a dozen desert ranges and the dry lakes and salt flats that separate them, the Colorado River to the east and the Salton Sea to the southwest. Leader of the Sheephole trip is Willard Dean, 537 W. "F" St., Ontario, California. Phone YU 635-225. An exploratory trip is planned for October 20-21 to Peak 11,107 (as yet unnamed) in the Inyo Range. Leader: Bud Bingham, 1837 Maple St., Pasadena 8, California. Phone SY 6-4276. Officers of the Desert Peaks Section are: Chairman, Bill Henderson of La Habra; Vice-Chairman and Scheduler, Bob Bear; Secretary-Treasurer, Dorothy Cutler; Member-at-large, Parker Severson. |
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SUMMIT |
OCTOBER 1956 |