TAJO CANYON, BAJA CALIF., March 24-25: One of the most beautiful and carefully planned trips was enjoyed by the Werners and the Hunts with the San Diego Chapter the last weekend of March. We assembled as Rumarosa west of Mexicali at 9 Saturday to caravan to the head of Tajo Canyon, 25 miles down a dirt road through the Sierra Juarez. At noon we hiked, 23 of us, to the head of the canyon with gorgeous views of the Laguna Salada, 40 mile long dry lake, then dropped in three miles 3000 feet by a steep Indian, miner improved trail to the rugged canyon. Randall Henderson, in the June 1948 issue of Desert Magazine, tells of this same trip, counting 4400 blue (Washington) palms along his way. As we went through the canyon on the faint Indian trail following water and palms, we could well believe this figure. The head walls of Tajo look like the great white throne at Zion, a rock climbers paradise. Bud Bernard and two scouts had ducked the Indian trail the day before leaving crepe streamers and cairns to guide our way from one side of the canyon to the other, keeping us from the stream bed, deceptively sandy in spots but leading to huge boulders and impassable falls. The last two hours at the mouth of the canyon were hot and dry. Surely it must have been a mirage when we were greeted in this remote desert with iced lemonade, followed shortly by a pit barbecued 26 pound turkey, 40 pounds of tenderloin beef, tortillas and chili beans. A truly festive way to greet weary travelers and celebrate the engagement of the leader, Myron Smith, to Nancy Munger of Glendale. We really covet the opportunity to lead this spectacular canyon for the Angeles Chapter with the help of Bud Bernard, yet can offer no such reward at the end of the arduous 15 mile, 5000 foot elevation loss backpack.
- Trudie Hunt
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DPS SCHEDULES TWO OUTINGS IN THE WHITE MTNS. THIS SUMMER: Each summer season sees the DPS reduce the quantity but not the quality of scheduled outings, leaving the weekend field pretty much to the SPS. This summer is no exception; We've planned two excellent weekend trips into the loftiest (and coolest) desert mountain range of them all - the whites. Tom and Trudie Hunt lead a car-camping excursion into the southern Whites the weekend of Jun 30-July 1. The famous Bristlecone Pine area will be visited Saturday, followed by a car camp at 11,000 feet. Sunday two short, pleasant hikes will ascend Sheep and Piute Mtns., both over 12,000 feet high. Labor Day weekend (Sept, 1,2,3) will see Robert Greenawalt and Hugh Parshall lead a grand tour of the northern Whites. The group will backpack up Chiatovich Creek to Pellisier Flats, climb our second highest desert peak, Mt. Dubois (13,552'), then traverse north to climb emblem peak Mt. Montgomery and Nevada's loftiest summit, Boundary Peak. This should be a moderately strenuous, thoroughly enjoyable weekend for those in shape.
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MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF VARIOUS AND SUNDRY INTEREST TO DESERT PEAKERS: The DESERT PEAKS GUIDE, PART 1, should be out soon, according to publisher WALT WHEELOCK. This volume is a must for all active Desert Peakers. Attending the recent DPS Banquet were NILES and LOUISE WERNER. Niles is one of the few charter members of the DPS still active, led the first scheduled DPS trip up New York Butte in November, 1941.

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