| AUG/SEPT 1990 | 209 |
It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since our last trips into the desert and that it is once again time put away the ice axes, crampons and backpacks and bring out the camp chairs, fire wood, coleman stoves, lanterns and all of the other paraphernalia that we drag into the desert to compliment our desert peak climbs.
I find it amazing that every year around April and May I find myself yearning for evergreens, snow and the feel of a backpack on my back as the Sierra's begin their yearly call to me. But no matter how much I had yearned for the Sierra's it seems that by September or October I begin to hear another voice. This voice appeals to another side of me - the side which loves the desert and all it has to offer.
Many people on the more "normal" side of life look at the desert as being something desolate, hot, drab and not appealing. Their attitude towards the desert is just fine with me as it is just this attitude which still makes possible the reward of being able to get out to a place (without the need of a permit or permission) where there are no people other than those that came with you, who also happen to share your love of the place.
There are those who climb in the desert because the Sierra climbing season is over. Their peak bagging fever forces them to seek the high places that from October to April are easily accessible only in the desert. Even though that is why many a DPS'er came to the desert at first, when you really look for the deep down reasons (the ones we never really are willing to think or talk about) you find that the reasons why they keep coining back year after year are much different.
What is it about the desert that draws us year after year to fight the bad roads and drive some of the distances we have to drive to bag and enjoy our desert peaks? Many famous authors have written about the beauty of the desert - the quiet, the solitude and the subtle beauty of the surroundings are something that one cannot fully appreciate until one has experienced it for themselves. The peaks? The mighty peaks of the DPS range from very easy to some of the hardest peaks around - something for everyone. But almost always with the climb of the peak comes a feeling of isolation - which is something that I think we all desire.