...Paul and Ed
Footnote: A problem with desert campfires is the resulting circle of unsightly blackened rocks. Ed Lubin has designed and tested a sheet metal fire ring that can easily be transported to car camps. Let him describe it:
"The parts were fabricated at no charge, by [Sierra] Club member Neil Caldwell of Caldwell Sheet Metal. Consist of two, 12" X 48" gauge GI sheet metal pieces: folded back around one half inch at the ends so that the pieces can be interlocked together to form a cylindrical ring. Parts could have been drilled to bolt together instead. A flat sheet metal bottom could be added: however, embers and practically all other evidence of there having beer, a campfire, was easily removed from the ground when the design was tested on the Manly/Needle trip. Debris only filled a three quart container. Parts were found to be amazingly clean afterwards. Can be coiled or laid flat for compact storage. Plan to reduce width of parts (height of ring) three inches. Think it worked well. Willing to loan to leaders for evaluation. With this fire ring we can leave only footprints on DPS trips."
by RON JONES
"Here is your opportunity to knock down one of the seven peaks required to make you eligible for the new 'DESERT PEAKS SECTION' ", reads the announcement in the Sierra Club Activity Schedule #108 for November 15-16 of 1941.
Chester Versteeg had spent 30 summers of climbing vacations in the Sierra Nevada. During that time he made many first ascent climbs of Sierra peaks, second only in number to the famous Norman Clyde. He named more than 250 Sierra Nevada peaks, passes, lakes and meadows. Then in June of 1941 he turned his attention to the desert mountains, the Inyos, which parallel the Sierra across Owens Valley. On June 1, 1941 Chester, together with Angeles Chapter climbers Virgil Sisson & Larry Jeffries, made an exploratory trip into the Inyos. They scouted a route and climbed New York Butte, a 10,668 foot peak across the Owens Valley from Mt Whitney. Versteeg was enthralled. He wrote, "New York Butte presents one of the grandest alpine views on the entire continent, the Sierra Crest from Olancha clear to Mt Tom! You may also see the vast salt deposits in Saline Valley, over 9,000 feet below to the east".
Louise Werner, who knew Chester in 1941 and who still is a member of the DPS, states: "If there was any one quality that especially characterized Chester, it was enthusiasm. Chester's flame all but died under the soggy indifference he encountered every time he brought up desert climbing. It took a great deal of fanning before it caught a few individuals, mainly because Chester was such a persistent salesman. We can see him yet, before a crowd of Friday-nighters at Boos Brothers Cafeteria, trying to warm us up to the idea".