Some of the early trips to Big Picacho were from the West, but a very long walk across the Plateau was necessary. In 1951 a route up Diablo Canyon was found, which, when combined with Slot Wash (discovered later in that decade),became the standard route for the peak. By the late 60's a good road was available to the observatory on the West, eliminating the long walk, but the standard 4 day route up Diablo Canyon continued to be used. Virtually all knowledge of how to do the peak from the West had been lost by the mid 80's when Ron Jones decided to try to resurrect a route from that direction. He couldn't find out much from the oldtimers who had done it from the West. He even tried to get hold of Roy Gorin, who has a fifth class gully named after him (he led a Sierra Club trip down it in the 50's). Ron's first attempt from the West ended in failure, but on a second attempt everyone managed to get in and out in one piece, and a peak that had always required four days minimum for normal people now could be done in three. It was still tough to find the route, however, both to the trailhead and then down to Campo Noche. Then about four years ago Jerry Schad came out with a map showing us all how to get our 4WD vehicles to Los Llanitos ("The Cabin") and then how to hike to Blue Bottle and down to Campo Noche. This made the first and third days easy, and, with luck, peak day isn't all that bad either, since by the mid 80's the route from Campo Noche to the top had been fairly well ducked. Indeed our toughest peak can now be done as a long day hike, although I can testify that it is not an easy day. A peak that struck fear into two generations of climbers has been tamed - by people writing books and maps. Progress to be sure, but at a cost.
The same phenomena exists with our other peaks. Before the advent of our peaks guide, many peaks were best done by going on DPS-led hikes or else by talking to old timers who had done them. The information about how to do the peaks was spread by personal interactions or by looking through old SAGES. Now it's possible to finish our list without talking to another soul!
Joe Darrow's grave was for many years a landmark of sorts, and certainly part of the Big Picacho lore. Here was a peak so rugged that bodies couldn't be recovered from it. That's about as rough as it can get! In the late 60's the Riverside Search and Rescue team looked into hiring a helicopter but decided not to spend the money. His body was finally removed, however, in the mid 70's, by a helicopter supplied by the US armed forces. Fred Camphausen knew about the removal at the time, but he was up in Ridgecrest and the information wasn't widely disseminated. Knowing that Joe Darrow is no longer buried on the side of Big Picacho removes yet one more tiny bit of the mystery from this great peak.
Which brings me to my final point. In the August SAGE, Maris Valkass proposed an informal Explorer's List, to contain a hundred or so peaks that perhaps don't measure up to being included on our official list for one reason or another. Such a list would perhaps get some more interactions going amongst us about how the peaks could be done. In a world where a great deal of energy is spent reducing uncertainty and making things easier, perhaps there are some of us who would be interested in increasing the uncertainty. We're forming a committee with Maris as head to work up an Explorer's List. If you have any ideas or want to be on the committee give Maris a ring. - John McCully