MORE 0N "PICACHO DEL DIABLO"
To the Desert Peaks Newsletter: Andy Smatko's suggestion that mountaineers use the name 'Diablo' for the highest peak in Baja California strikes a responsive chord here. And while we're at it, let's make it 'Pico' instead of 'Picacho', which means 'little peak'! If the Padre who first named it 'Picacho' had ever climbed it, he would certainly have allowed it the status of a full-fledged peak. I understand the name 'Providencia' was given it by Spaniards who, from the east, saw snow on its summit, and felt the moisture was a gift of providence to the thirsty San Felipe Desert. The ridge which contains the highest points on the plateau west of the peak has sometimes been referred to as 'Cerro de La Encantada'. in the 1933 Sierra Club Bulletin Bestor Robinson calls the high point at the head of Canyon Diablo 'Pico Encantada'. I believe this is the same high point that is called 'Blue Bottle' on some recent maps, because some gringos placed their names there in a blue bottle. I suggest the information on the Smatko sketches be checked again, in situ, before perpetuating them, especially the first sketch (un-numbered). If Smatko's Camp is eight miles from the canyon entrance (falls), then the distance from there to Cedaroak Camp is a good deal more than 1/2 mile. Randall Henderson, in DESERT MAGAZINE for August 1955, estimates the entire length of Canyon Diablo from its head at the plateau rim, to its mouth on the San Felipe Desert at 22 miles. Roughly a third of this distance is above Cedaroak Camp. We estimate the distance between the entrance falls and Cedaroak Camp to be closer to 14 miles than to 8-1/2 as the Smatko sketch suggests. Peak 9600', climbed by Arky's party on Sunday may be one of the pinnacles on the Pinnacle Ridge; if so, they made a common mistake made by many first-timers, of climbing too high too soon. The fact that 'missing the right ridge' was mentioned several times leads me to believe this is true; the easiest route from Cedaroak Camp to the summit contours the ridge well below the pinnacles until it intersects the Slot Wash, and then climbs up the Slot Wash to the summit of the south peak. Only on the traverse from south to north peak is there any top-of-the-ridge climbing if my memory serves me right. Water can usually be found five to fifteen minutes above the cars in Diablito Canyon, varying with the seasons. This is good to know in case of an emergency.
									- Louise Werner
Ed note: "Picacho" means 'sharp' or 'precipitous' peak and has no relation to size, according to a Long Beach State College professor of Spanish. Since 1924 Mexican publications have used "La Encantada" as the name for Baja California's highest peak, not the high point of the Martir Plateau (see Aurelio de Vivanco's Baja California Al Dia, available at the Long Reach Public Library).     -JWR
"EL PICO CON MUCHOS NOMBRES" (The Peak with Many Names)
Few mountains in the world have had as many different names as has had Baja California's precipitous highpoint. In the past four and a half centuries since Spanish explorers first gazed upon its snowy summit, no less than five titles have been bestowed on the peak. Early Spanish explorers, sailing north along the barren western shores of the "Sea of Cortez" (Gulf of California) were one day surprised to see, far to the west across the burning San Felipe Desert, a towering mountain peak glimmering under a white mantle of snow. Believing the moisture a gift of providence to the hot desert below, they dubbed the mountain "La Providencia". This name remained in general usage for almost four centuries, and is still used today on a few maps.

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