- - -Freda Walbrecht
Shortly before World War II Chester Versteeg, his wife Lillian, and his daughters Janice and Betty, climbed Cerro Gordo, Maturango and Coso. The magnificent views of the Sierra from these high desert peaks amazed them. They realized that Sierra Club members neglected the desert peaks. Chester conceived the idea of a Club section for the purpose of climbing and exploring the desert peaks and at the same time fostering an interest in the Sierra.
With his usual enthusiasm, Chester presented the idea to the Executive Committee in 1941. They authorized the Section. In a contest for a name, Parker Severson won with "DESERT PEAKS SECTION." Parker also designed an emblem.
Membership was limited to Club members who climbed the then qualifying peaks--New York Butte, Coso, Cerro Gordo, Maturango, Waucoba, Telescope, and White Mt. In 1941 and 1942 trips were scheduled to all of these except White Mt. The first scheduled Club trip to this formerly remote mountain was in 1947.
Chester Versteeg was the first member of the Section, Nile Werner qualified second and Harry Paley and Freda Walbrecht third and fourth.
Since the war, activities have expanded to cover exploration and climbing of the desert ranges of the entire Southwest. The Section is developing a "Guide To The Desert Peaks Of The Southwest." During the summer, when desert areas are uncomfortably warm, the Section sponsors trips to the Sierra, thus continuing one of its original purposes.
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- - - Louise Werner
Judith Delmonte, age 8 is probably the youngest lady to have climbed Telescope Peak. She and her sister Jocelyn, 10, are serving notice that the DPS had better prepare to accept Junior members.
Telescope Peak doesn't often play host to 50 people, as it did on May 18. No other peak in the U.S. rises so abruptly in one sweep from below sea level to l1,045 feet. Its roots in the western edge of Death Valley, swelter most of the year, while its head inhabits a region of icy wind and snow. (See Col.3)
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---John Delmonte
Membership in the DPS requires climbing of any six of the peaks shown on the chart. For those whose forte is hiking over rugged country the year round, DPS membership offers many advantages. We extend the list as we explore new ranges.
The DPS accumulates useful and interesting data on the little-known desert ranges. These efforts are reflected In the "Guide To The Desert Peaks Of The Southwest", a publication which we add to periodically.
Those who intend applying for membership in the DPS are invited to write me for a sample copy of our DPS NEWSLETTER, 1018 Geneva Street, Glendale.
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The following new topographical names for High Sierra features have been proposed by Chester Versteeg to the U.S. Board on Geographical names: Polychrome Pk., Sunburst Tarn(el.l2,970), highest tarn on N. American Continent, north of Mexico. (SW of Forester Pass, in Kern Basin); Mt. Sunburst south of Sunburst Tarn; Golden Bear Lake(near University Pk. in Center Basin).;Granite Giants(highest of these is Goliath Rock); Mt. Torchbearer-named for the highest rank, Campfire Girls of America, (located south of Harrison Pass, Kern Basin); Tawny Boy (SE of Mt. Tyndall); Lake Downs (first large lake south of Forester Pass) for Donald Downs, who met a tragic death in that area while helping to build Forester Pass Trail.
- - -James Bonner
The founding of the DPS in 1941 extended the activities of the Sierra Club to include a new aspect of our land. The Sierras have been climbed, explored end studied. The desert ranges have been neglected by mountaineers and casual travelers alike--visited only by prospectors and sheepherders, but studied in no systematic way.
Our desert peaks axe a challenge. They constitute today our last frontier for mountaineering and exploration. They are as wild today as they ever were. The problem is not only to climb the mountain, but to find the mountain.
The DPS encourages a kind of mountaineering that has a deep historical background in our Club. Chester Versteeg, in recognizing the value of the desert region as an area for mountaineering and wilderness travel, followed in the steps of John Muir, who was an eager explorer in the desert ranges. His love for the pinon pine complemented his love for the big trees of the Sierra. He supplemented his crust and tea with pinon nuts.
The activities of our DPS have made our desert mountains better known than they ever were before. They, are gradually becoming familiar and loved as individuals. As the nearer desert mountains lose the glamour of the unknown, we may look forward to the time when climbing parties will go out into the deserts of the world, as they now do in the Himalayas.
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Telescope is one of our easier qualifying peaks. It has a good trail. The upper trail lay deep under snow, so we took to the ridge and found it even pleasanter going. John Delmonte led and Carl Heller encouraged the rear.
NEXT EVENT:
Climb White Mt., July 4,5, and 6.