us - no, not Gene. It was a guy from Tucson who had a group that was going to hike Pinacate and he wanted directions. We pointed to Carnegie Peak (Pinacate is behind it), and mentioned that we were going to go around to the left (Ron Jones' write-up) rather than the right (Gene's route). On we ventured over the lava flow. We met this Tucson group again at the base of Carnegie. They had found a drainage that bypassed most of the lava. The route to the left has a trail until the saddle by the base of Pinacate, then it was up a steep hill to the top. We enjoyed the summit view of the Sea of Cortez and waited for the Tucson gang, who had gone up Gene's route. After 1/2 hour we grew tired of waiting and started the descent. We made very good time by returning via the drainage they had ascended. Upon our return, we found Gene and Jay Holsuh's cars but we never saw the group. Don Sparks almost didn't make it back into the U.S. The border agent looked suspiciously at him while slowly reaching for her gun with her stubby fingers. What country were you born in?" she snapped - "Cleveland, Ohio", was the icy reply. Her fingers relaxed and waved Senor Don on through. We had just parked for the night at Kino when Caroline's group drove out. Randy Bernard, who had joined the group, apparently had been given a warning citation for parking off the road in a National Monument, plus not paying a day use fee. At their suggestion, we drove back four miles until we were outside the boundary. In the morning we drove to Bates Well and parked in the wide area at the park volunteer's house, then started hiking by walking through his back yard. We were not cited, so this is the suggested route (you can avoid his backyard, if you wish). We soon hit a nice trail that took us to a saddle east of Kino. Here we met two Tucson hikers who were just returning and had spent the night on the peak. we contoured along the "seemingly impossible" hidden ledges (class 2) to the summit. Now Vi needs four more peaks and Mary Sue needs seven. Their finish date is April 9 in Old Woman (finishing on Virgin was discussed, but determined to be inappropriate). No one has any excuses to miss their finish! I would like to thank Vi for inviting me on this trip. It's nice to hike with someone who is finishing the list because whatever happens, you know they are going to bag the peak.

Paul Freiman

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