It was ten o'clock at night when the Greyhound bus left 33 of us at Pinyon Flats Campground on the Palms to Pines Highway. A cold, strong wind, harbinger of the approaching storm, sent us hastily to the shelter of the nearest hollow and bush.
At 640 a.m. the obliging and friendly Mrs, Brietzke served us a hearty breakfast, with Vic Metcalfe gallantly assisting. About a third of the group climbed Sheep Mountain of the 100 Peak List, another third conquered Martinez, a double entry on the 100 Peaks and Desert Peaks List, while the rest of us were happy to make our camp at Agua Alta Spring. This is an old Indian camp site as the quantity of potshards attested. We found that water had been piped into a small trough, presumably for the benefit of game. The increase in the amount of cans and bottles reconfirmed the presence of tote gotes, whose tracks we had seen in the washes.
During the day the storm made sallies across the Santa Rosas, bringing a few snowflakes at supper time. During the night those sleeping in plastic tubing felt themselves encompassed by a heavy weight as deep, wet snow covered all beneath. What beauty awaited us next morning as, unmindful of cold and wet, we watched the sun illumine a formerly drab desert with an unexpected winter mantle of sparkling white, and clouds poured up the canyon to shroud the hillside.