He explained he'd missed the turnoff road to Calexico and drove up and down on the main Street in Calexico but couldn't find us. He'd found the ranch after a fashion and negotiated the waterfall by rolling stones on the left of the hole and climbing up the waterfall with his pack on his back! On Sunday we had a 12 hour day from 7 to 7, boulder hopping, crossing the stream countless times and fighting the brush. When we got to Campo Noche, Ron Bartell and his party of 4 were already there. They had just gotten back from climbing the peak, after having come in from the west. He and his group left at 5:30 am the next day and we left at 7:00 to climb Picacho del Diablo. The route is well ducked but somehow we went off route about 1/3 of way up and it was an hour before we got back on after looking for a shortcut. Eventually we made the top and were back at camp after 10 1/2 hours. Tuesday we left at 6:30 a.m. to reverse our trip. I lost my down jacket; it pulled loose somewhere in the brush. Since I was last, with my 2 speedy companions ahead, I didn't notice it was missing until the red rock area. Steve went back to look for it, but couldn't find it. While he was gone, I changed socks having stepped into foot deep water. George took the opportunity to apply a couple of band aids to his toes. We had another grueling, long day, stopping just short of 12 hours at the "big bend" area. It was a balmy, warm night and we were serenaded by the frogs. As we were getting short of food we shared and had quite a respectable dinner. Steve contributed onion soup and a limp carrot, George cooked an herb noodle dinner into which we put in a can of tuna that I had. We drank tea and each had 3 large M&Ms. George provided breakfast of granola the next morning. Wednesday we left at maybe 7:30 a.m. and were at the cars by 10:00. We again used the rope to get our packs around the waterfall without getting them wet. We all jumped in the pool afterwards, cooled off and relaxed for a while. We drove to San Felipe for lunch after stopping at the Santa Clara ranch to let them know we were out and to thank them. I gave the man (I wish I'd gotten his name) $10.00. Our vehicles had not been disturbed. He even asked us when we'd be coming back! Going north on highway 5 from San Felipe, would you believe, we were flagged down by the military who were standing in the middle of the road. We thought it was a check point of some sort, but all they wanted was a ride to Mexicali. There were 4 of them - an officer and 3 enlisted men with their duffel bags. I made room in the back for 1, being careful to take Steve's camera that fell out of his pack up front. Steve gave him a cold can of something since it was scorching hot. George took the other 3 and we gave them the 100 mile ride. There was no traffic at the border on this Wednesday and we drove right through after dropping off the soldiers. I could not have had better companions than George and Steve. I want to thank Steve for his rope work and both of them for route finding since they were always ahead of me; also for the occasional helping hand. We followed the John Robinson book on the trail and Gene Olsen's directions from a write-up to get to the trailhead. Suggestions: It would be helpful that someone in the party speaks Spanish and always stop at ranch and let them know you are going to be climbing and how long you expect to be gone. I would recommend something else in addition to beer (maybe a sack of California oranges or apples). Stop afterwards and let them know you are out - maybe giving them some money. The ultimate DPS peak and backpack trip!

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