HIKING: 5 miles one way, gain in elevation 3500 ft. From Snow Bowl the summit of Mt. Humphreys can be seen. Pick your own route up the trailless slop., through aspen lanes and corridors of pine, spruce and fir, to the volcanic rocks of the upper ridge, and thence to the top. The going is nowhere difficult.
Isolated San Francisco Peaks are of volcanic origin, dominating extensive areas of forest, desert, volcanic craters and lava flows. On an average day ??? Mesa, on which lie the Hopi villages, can be seen 75 miles to the northeast, while on a very clear day visibility may reach 200 miles, to Mt. Delano in Utah
APPROACH by car: 85 miles south of Ensenada, on Baja Calif. Hwy. 1, turn left on dirt road (large sign on the left of the highway reads "Hacienda Sinaloa," and small sign on the right reads "Rancho San Jose") and drive 32 miles to Rancho San Jose.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Rooms, board, riding horses, guides and pack animals at Hacienda-type rancho at 2200 feet In the western foothills of the Sierra San Pedro Martir; rancho owned by Meling family. RIDING and hiking: A day's ride up through the chaparraled foothills brings you to the lower edge of Baja Calif.'s only real stand of limber-oak, pine, fir, juniper, aspen, cypress end cedar -a forest 60 miles long and 20 miles wide between elevations 6000 and 10,000 feet, recently set aside by the Mexican government as Baja Calif.'s first' national park.
A day's ride up through this forest bmlngs you to Picacho Spring, 8500 feet, which is about as high as your horse (and guide) will go.
A word about guide service: A first-
Blue Bottle summit is visible from Picacho Spring as the highest point on the horizon to the east, about a mile of trailless scrambling away. It affords not only a sweeping view of the forest and the entire western slope to the Pacific Ocean, but also overlooks the desert to the east, Gulf of California and the mainland of Mexico. El Picacho del Diablo, Baja Calif.'s 10,100 foot high point looms close, cut off by a 3500 foot gorge. (El Picacho is a strenuous climb best approached from the east side of the range.)
Though your guide may scorn to accompany you to the top (because why should a man want to go where a horse can't?) if you have gotten as far as Picacho Spring, don't go back to the flatlands without having stood on the top of Blue Bottle Pk. A word of caution: make frequent rock piles (ducks) on your way up, so you'll have no trouble finding way back.
CAMPING: Utterly primitive, usually by some spring or waterhole known only to the guides. Water sources, though sufficient and safe, are not plentiful. Wood plentiful.
APPROACH by car: From the head. quarters of the Organ Pipe National Monument (State Hwy. 85) the cone-shaped summit of Santa Rosa Mountain can be seen to the southeast, separated by a saddle, from a massive rock face on its left.
Drive 4-1/2 miles (preferably with jeep or desert-going truck) south on the Sonoyta road from the Monument Headquarters, turn east on Border Patrol road toward Gray's Ranch, 3 miles Turn left on obscure truck trail and
HIKING: From the dam work up the left side of a wash iIn a northeasterly direction to pick up an old Indian trail that leads up the gradually narrowing canyon to While Horse Pass. Just before the Pass an iron fence divides the Monument area from the Papago Indian Reservation. On the flat above the gate, leave the trail and go left. (north) over a low ridge, then over a higher ridge. A third east-west ridge surmounted by two prominent pinnacles now comes into view. The pinnacles may be bypassed by easy ledges. Follow the ridge to the main north-south crest of the Ajo Mts. and proceed to the yellow-rocked summit visible to the north. Carry canteen. Allow a full day for the round trip from the Monument.
CAMPING: Headquarters of the Organ Pipe National Monument. Water available. Bring gas stove. Vegetation encountered: organ pipe, senita, cholla and saguaro cactus, ocotlllo, palo verde, mesquite, lupine and poppies. Wildlife: horned lizard, banded gecko, javelins. many birds.
APPROACH by car: Hwy. 95 14 mi. N.W. of Las Vegas, turn left on Kyle Canyon Rd. and continue 21 miles to end of road (el. 7500) in Charleston Park. Hard surfaced all the way.
CAMPING: Improved campsites with wood and water, among tall pines, along upper pert of the road.
HIKING: Good, posted trail to Mt. Charleston (9 mi. one way, 4400 foot gain in elevation), begins near the end of the road. Passes through beautiful pine and aspen forest, zigzags up a wall of sedimentary rock to meadowed shelves and ledges, finally contouring up bare slopes to the top. Rock here is highly fossilized. Good display of fossilized shells found by leaving the trail 1/2 mile before summit, scrambling up to the lop of the ridge and following it to the summit. Deer are commonly seen in the meadows. Carry canteen.
APPROACH by car: Hwy. 395 in Owens Valley, to Big Pine. Fill gas tank-none available beyond Big Pine. Take Westgard Pass road, turn left on Navy road to camp at McAfee Meadow, 11,500 ft. Motor, brakes and tires should be in good condition for steep grades on unimproved road along the backbone of the White Mountains. Be prepared to drain the radiator as it may freeze at this elevation.
Some specimens of bristlecone pines along this road. Many cones of these trees in White Mountains were recently set aside for special protection after scientists declared them to be the oldest living things, older even then giant Sequoias.
CAMPING: McAfee Meadow, or as near there as your car will take you. Primitive camping; there is on official campsite. Bring water and wood (or gas stove).
HIKING: 7 miles, one way; 2800 foot gain in elevation. Entire climb is above timberline, with spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada across Owens Valley to the west.
The Navy has built a station for high altitude research near summit, where scientists are studying the effects of cosmic rays end other high altitude phenomena, on humans and on animals. Trail to the highest buildings takes you to within an easy scramble of the summit.
Allow a long day for the 14-mile round trip. Hiking will be slow at elevation. The average person will get along better by maintaining a pace slow enough to keep going, then by stop-and-go routine with frequent rests. If altitude sickness is a threat, eat a light breakfast avoiding fat and other food that has, at times, upset your digestion.
From the summit you look down on the surprisingly lush stream-filled canyons on the east side of the White Mountains, and across Fish Lake Valley to the Nevada desert, punctuated here and there by desert mountain ranges.