RISCO PEAK, BAJA CALIF., XMAS HOLIDAYS: During the Christmas Holidays Graham Stephenson, Lothar Kolbig, Bud and Bep Bingham made an attempt to climb Risco Peak in Baja. The most prominent peak above the springs seemed at the time the most likely mountain to climb. This peak is no less than third class and most people need a rope.
After a good deal of trouble getting on one high point after another, the summit was reached. Only 4 names were in a tin can register. This the high point of the area and a most worth peak. Other high points in the area are mostly ridges and do not dominate the area.
It should be established which summit is the listed peak. The one we climbed has a beautiful buttress and lots of sheer rock. Arky Erb, Andy Smatko, Alden Sorbo, and Mike McNicholas were the only names in the register.
(Ed note: At least 15 other people have reached the middle and south summits of Risco, but not the exposed north one which I would definitely call 4th class. All three high points appear to be about the same elevation and the naked eye cannot tell the difference. Andy Smatko used a hand sighting level and believes the south (easier) summit is the highest by a few inches. Next time we schedule this controversial peak lets take along a surveyor!)
CONSERVATION COMMITTEE VISITS DEATH VALLEY, March 3-4: This group which represents the Club's conservation efforts in Southern California, net the first weekend in March in Death Valley. We assembled at the southeast end of Death Valley at Saratoga Springs where a small lake attracts a variety and multitude of migrant birds and where small fish recall prehistorical days when Death Valley was a vast lake.
From here we proceeded northward through areas scarred by vast mining operations, dwellings and surroundings littered with the cans and debris which one associates with the mining communities. We visited the area between Epaulet and Pyramid Peaks which the Park Service wishes to include in the Monument to protect the wild life range, Indian artifacts, and colorful desert scenery.
The next day Bob Marshall, Dorothy Cutler and I explored the extreme northeast of the Monument, the Bullfrog Mountains, which the Park Service proposes to exchange for this land. The snow was down to 4000 feet, but a trusty VW got us through to see that this was indeed and expendable area, mainly valley ranged by cattle from the adjacent private land.
At our meeting in the beautiful new headquarters we heard what we had previously seen - namely the impossibility of administering for public use for recreation and wilderness land on which mining is by law permitted. only an act of Congress can now prevent further mining in Death Valley. But are the people ready for this?
