DPS MEMORIES OF A LOW RANGER

Our Editor asked me to jot some script about old days in the DPS. He must think I am an old-timer! Well, I guess I am, but not a real old one as there are quite a number of still-active climbers that have me beat in years with the Section. It was in 1954 when a couple of female friends asked me if I might like to join them on a DPS weekend. The desert roads then seemed no different than most of the peak approaches do today! Jeeps and war surplus trucks were the only available 4-wheel drive vehicles, and The Low Ranger DPSers were a scarce breed. This modern handle comes from one used to engaging the low range in the FWD transfer case--especially necessary in deep sand and on rocky terrain. The DPS trip formats were no different than today! I accepted and we took in a Mopah Peak weekend, which was for a Low Ranger, for sure! We were able to drive almost to the base of the peak, and arrived Saturday mid-afternoon. I wasn't qualified to fully tackle that Sunday summit, as weren't my hostesses. So we sat below and watched! The fun part of this short, but technical jaunt--among others of the period--was that Randall Henderson was generally a participant. He was on this one, too. Now Randall was more than just a DPS member--he was Editor of one of our richest outdoor publications--that being Desert Magazine. It first appeared in the late 30s--November, 1937--and was published in El Centro. The magazine grew and some years later a new Desert Magazine headquarters was established in then-new Palm Desert, just below Palm Springs. The edifice became a national showplace and displayed artworks, crafts, and books. When Henderson retired around 1960, the spirit of the publication markedly diminished, and with the advent of several succeeding editors, it finally succumbed sometime in the 70s, as I recall. A good feature of the magazine was that it many times contained articles written by DPS members and concerned various DPS climbs. I always looked forward to receiving the one best source of desertiana. The late Parker Severson was among the DPS firsts (he designed our Section's emblem), and was a fine hiking companion. He prided himself in having saved all the DPS Newsletters that were ever published during his time--quite an array clear from #1. Walt Heninger (also late) and wife, Bernice, led many DPS bus trips and always planned nice return-home dinners at good eateries along the way. Walt consistently tried to get Gene Neufischer as our Greyhound driver, and with success. Gene's sense of humor was admired. Once, on an Arizona-bound DPS outing Gene delivered us at a Needles gas station for a rest stop. He advised us to be still and watch while he quietly switched the destination sign to read "SAN FRANCISCO". He then found the station operator, and from his driver's window, and with a straight face proceeded to tell him that this was his first trip out of LA and wondered if he was still going in the right direction. The interrogated party was pretty well baffled and gave him a bunch of candid opinions, as we passengers all sat back and laughed at the dialogue. Gene afterwards advised him that it was just a gag. To my knowledge, the biggest DPS field event ever staged was in the spring of 1963, when two full Greyhound busloads of hikers-around 80!--left the drivers at Grand Canyon's North Rim, and rejoined them on the South Rim, several days later. The Canyon posed no traffic problems, and we didn't see much of each other during the intervening days. I remember gazing at silver-dollar size blisters on a couple of the walker's hooves. Other exciting bus jaunts included a 1962 Hi-Lo Panamint Traverse, in which a fully loaded Greyhound delivered 38 clamorers to the Wildrose Canyon Charcoal Kilns before bogging. We did Telescope Pk and then ankled down to Shorty's Well in Death Valley--a very respectable weekend. This was followed by a dip in the ever-warm Shoshone pool with a later banquet at El. Rancho Barstow.

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