SCHEDULED TRIPS

NEW YORK MTN., April 14-15: 13 climbers, including 5 in the Ted Lewis family who came all the way from Lompoc on their spring vacation, drove through the Mojave Desert to climb New York Mountain on Sunday, April 15. The group camped Saturday night at the site of an abandoned miner's cabin at about 5,500' elevation. Old timers in a nearby cabin explained that sometimes the sunlight made it appear that there were windows and doors in the granite blocks on top of the mountain resembling the New York skyline, hence the name New York Mountain. Bill Lynch left early Sunday morning to find the summit and managed to climb three other peaks before he located the register indicating that he was on the true summit. The rest of the party broke camp at seven in the morning and scrambled across rocks and through brush looking for Bill Lynch and the summit. The summit itself presented an interesting third class climb and, with the patient leadership of Cliff Meyers, all climbers made the peak by eleven thirty. The group was rewarded with a good view of desert peaks in California, Arizona, and Nevada, and could even see snow-capped Telescope Peak far to the northwest. Descending the peak several climbers had their first lesson in rappelling Despite dire predictions, no one encountered any trouble from the cactus on the way down although Ralph Rice was bruised somewhat when a rock he stepped on turned out to be two rocks. All members of the party returned to their cars by 2:00 p.m.

- Joe McCosker

HI-LO PANAMINT TRAVERSE BUS TRIP, April 27-29: On Friday, April 27, an enthusiastic group met in Pasadena to begin the bus trip to the Panamint Valley. All went according to plans and late that night we made camp about 10 miles short of the charcoal kilns in Wildrose Canyon where the hike would begin. We were up at 5:15 Saturday morning and after a quick breakfast we boarded the bus. Upon our arrival at the kilns (7000') we were met by Ranger Mat Ryan who kindly offered to transport our packs to Mahogany Flat -- this offer was graciously accepted by all. At Mahogany Flat we were joined by our friends who had furnished their own transportation to the area. We left Mahogany Flat at 8:00 o'clock. There were 36 Sierra Clubbers and one ranger, Marshall Scholing, planning to complete the traverse. We were accompanied by others whose ambitions were to climb Telescope Peak and retire to the bus the same day. The climb from Mahogany Flat (8100') to the summit (11,049') is seven miles. This was a leisurely climb and we were able to enjoy the beautiful views of the valley as we hiked. We stopped at Arcane Meadows for brunch and about three miles later for lunch. Here we left our packs and continued the climb through the snowdrifts to the summit. Once on top of telescope Peak we signed the register, admired and photographed the valleys, and relaxed with sno-cones. The descent to the location of the packs was quickly accomplished. We planned to reach Hanaupah Canyon and water before dark. It was now 4:15 p.m. and the cry was, "It's all down hill from here!" Well aware of this, but also aware of the difficulties of bushwhacking, we chose our buddies and started the long trip down. Though we were strongly encouraged by leaders Bob Greenawalt and Bob Marshall to stay together, we were soon separated. That night we camped in three locations. Two hikers reached Hanaupah Canyon (they plunged ahead with good intentions planning to select a campsite and gather wood they said). About 26 camped on the ridge above the canyon. The others made camp near the snowline, reporting the temperature

Page Index	Prev	Page 2	Next	Issue Index