drove down to open the gate and let me out. Approaching Glass the next morning, I got out of my car to open a wire range gate. The wind blew the door shut on me and I was locked out in the cold in the middle of nowhere with the engine running. There were few rocks in the soft tufa material. Finding several, I tried throwing them through the wing window but they just broke apart. Finally got one big enough to go through the window so I could get back into the car. Charleston: Did not get a very early start and it was late evening when I finally reached the summit. Still had not learned to carry extra clothing, a flashlight, etc. so while hiking down in shorts in early November I once again froze myself. While travelling along in the darkness as best I could, I really got a shock when I stumbled and fell onto a hunter who sleeping on the trail. Sentinel: What a great time. Mid-December I drove up Surprise Canyon. The road was in great shape and camping near the historic 1870 smokestack in the Panamint City ruins which were covered in snow was eerie. Going up Sentinel the next morning, the snow drifts got deep, my boots got soaked and my feet froze. The views of the snow covered Panamint Crest were beautiful as I attempted to sit in the sun and dry out by boots and warm by feet. Inyo: Three days after Christmas, decided to try out my brand new pair of Lowa boots my parents had gotten me. Drove to the base of Mt. Inyo and decided to go directly up the peak, using the ridge coming straight west from the summit. Since then, I have never heard of anyone else ever using this route. It goes but there was a stretch of about 3,000' of scree and very steep slopes. I have occasionally thought of going back and trying it again but haven't gotten around to it. Approaching the summit in late afternoon, it started to snow and I still had Keynot to climb. Heading south for Keynot, the snow got heavier and the sun started setting - even I figured out it was time to head back. So, it was straight down the canyon I was in. Somehow it went too - although I remember sliding down some pretty steep slopes. I discovered a fairly intact old cabin. The snow turned to rain and I was really wet and cold by the time I reached the bottom of the canyon. I wandered through the desert in the rain for about an hour before my flashlight picked up the taillight reflector on my car. Getting those new boots off, I had a terrible night trying to sleep sitting up the VW. Argus, Nelson, Eagle #2: The following week, I called a Bill Banks who was listed in the schedule to lead some DPS trips. He stopped by to visit me in Burbank and we compared desert climbing stories. He had started climbing desert peaks a little before me and from our stories, we knew we were both crazy enough to climb together. That first weekend in 1966, we headed north and Bill immediately impressed me with his ability to drive a VW bug further and harder up a desert slope that I had ever imagined.

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