TAILS FROM THE TRAILS

Ron Jones asked several of us to write about our "most" memorable or qreatest desert trip. I can not decide which trip is the greatest any more than I can decide which part of the desert I like the best. I like all trips and all areas of the desert, and I have gone back to many of them. The trip that I have selected to write about was a private trip, but it taught me and my partner, Donn Cook, some lessons from which both of us should benefit if we have not already benefitted. In June of 1981, Donn and I decided to get the distant Nevada peaks "out of our way", and took a week off from work to do so. We got copies of Sages, and various instructions from previous climbers so that we would not waste too much time route finding, and get to the top in the quickest time. We did not have too much trouble finding the roadhead for Toiyabe Dome. We were there early enough to complete our climb, fix a nice dinner, and maybe even start driving for the next peak. The weather was warm, T-shirts only, quart of water, light packs, and we were ready to go. In fact, the trail/road started right by the cars! Everything was going fine, we got to the plateau, and we could see the summit in the distance. Directions were fine until we reached the big canyon separating us from the summit. We tried to interpret the directions, but there did not seem to be an easy way except to go down into the canyon, loosing about a thousand feet and regaining it on the opposite side. At this point, I should add that we did not have a map of this area except for AAA Western US. We plunged down into the canyon, brush and all, and worked our way up to the summit. The view was grand, weather very comfy, and we could clearly see our way back, without going into the canyon. We ate our snacks, finished our water, and started back. We had a great time hiking back, talking about interesting things, and planning what we will have for dinner, including plenty of juices and soda that we had in the car. After a while, I mentioned to Donn that I don't recognize where we are. He looks around, and comes to the same conclusion. At this point we should have turned back and tried to find a landmark that we could recognize, we talked about it, but we did not want to go up hill. We looked in couple of canyons that went in the general direction, but none of them looked familiar. Suddenly we noticed other problems: the sun was getting lower (we lost time trashing through the canyon), we had no water, we had no food, and we did not have any warmer clothes. We were wearing shorts, t-shirts, and in the pack I had a light windbreaker. Fortunately the weather was warm, and the clothing shortage was not a great concern. The lack of water was! Both of us were

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