ignored. For example, Corkscrew Pk (5804) is listed, while higher and nearby Thimble Peak (6381) is ignored. Yes, Corkscrew is more of a challenge, but Thimble is a pleasant jaunt from Red Pass, above Titus Canyon! I have included most of the peaks in all the areas. Now, oft times, I have gained a "new peak", after the DPS has decided to anoint such a peak. Nelson, I climbed for the fun of it, and later led it for the section. It has just been climbed by Ron Jones as a list finisher! In 1975, published Desert Peaks Guide II. Death Valley Country. It covers 101 peaks, of which only 33% are "official" peaks. Many of the others were enjoyable climbs, and perhaps some of you will try these poor "orphans"! Sometime later, I became active in the Death Valley '49ers and have attended most of the Encampments since then, serving as a Director. I have written three of their keepsakes, including the 1991 Death Valley Bighorns, and expect to do another Death Valley Indian Tribes in perhaps five or six years. More recently, have acquired a 4x4 rig, and have been leading trips for the Backroad Explorers. A number of trips now driven with OHV, I had driven years ago with 2x4s -- often these were quite a struggle! And so this comes to a close.

Walt Wheelock

Dec 1, 1991

"DEATH VALLEY-THE 1938 WPA GUIDE UPDATED FOR TODAY'S TRAVELER" Edited by Cheri Rae, 1991, Olympus Press-Santa Barbara

This 160 page book which sold for $1 in 1938, is an updated reprint with two purposes: to tell the story of Death Valley, and to serve as a guidebook for exploration. There are 20 separate "tours" discussed and illustrated such as "West Side Road through Warm Spring Canyon, Butte Valley, Anvil Spring, Goler Wash and Panamint Valley" or the "Greenwater Valley Road through Greenwater Canyon to Death Valley Junction". All updates on roads or conditions since the original publication are highlighted at the beginning of each tour. Otherwise, the details of the 1938 Guide are unchanged, mostly still accurate and very interesting descriptions of the area in 1938 before major tourism. There are also some cultural locations described which are not well known today. I thought the following paragraph succinctly described the lure of Death Valley. "Ever since the first immigrants saw Death Valley, fantastic tales have been told of its blasting temperatures and stupendous riches, but exaggeration is inevitable in describing this narrow valley of strange, exciting beauty, cradled between towering varicolored mountains. Indians, immigrants, prospectors, miners-all have paused here and left traces; but the Valley, formed by mighty earth movements and sculptured by wind and water, retains a sublime impersonality that has changed little in a million years."

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