ONE HUNDRED PERCENT DESERT PEAKER Word has been received that, with the climbing of Navajo Mtn in November, our Dr. Andy Smatko, has completed the ascent and descent of EVERY DESERT PEAL ON THE LIST. To the editors' knowledge, the good doctor's record stands as being the only person in the world to have done all the DPS qualifying & Emblem peaks. We certainly congratulate you, Andy, and hold it as a future goal for the rest of us. At the present time there are sixty-two such peaks On the list. This accomplishment has taken many years to complete and several had a number of false starts before their conquest. Maybe we can persuade Andy to give the Newsletter a "Memoirs of the Dean of Desert Peaks". Can you imagine the gasoline involved in this feat, when we drive 500 miles to climb 5 miles? WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTES Tom Amneus, Chairman Committee on Mountain Manners The following excerpts from a letter concerning White Mountain High Altitude Research Area and Motor Vehicles, written by Dr. Nello Pace, Professor of Physiology and Director of the White Mountain Research Station, are self-explanatory. "I am concerned about the High Altitude Research Area which includes the summit of White Mountain Peak, but lies largely south of the peak. It comprises 20 square miles which were set aside under a Cooperative Agreement between the US Forest Service, the US Navy Office of Naval Research, and the University of California in 1951, to preserve a unique natural area for ecological, physiological, and physical research purposes. Part of the agreement entails control of motor vehicles in the area, so that vehicular traffic is kept to the minimum required for operation of the research facilities at 12,500 feet on Mt. Barcroft and at 14,250 feet on the summit of White Mountain Peak. Although there is a locked gate across the access road at the south boundary of the Research Area, many visitors, including Sierra Club members, ignore the gate and drive across country to by-pass it. It would be helpful, therefore, if Club members could be made aware that the stricture is in part to reduce the impact of vehicular traffic on the natural ecology and in part because the road is very poor and in fact dangerous in some parts. The Station budget is sharply limited and road maintenance is minimal. I should hasten to point out that pedestrian traffic and equestrian traffic are permitted freely throughout the Research Area. Numerous research investigators from all over the world have availed themselves of the facilities of the White Mountain Research Station and have considerably enriched our store of knowledge concerning the native high altitude flora and fauna, as well as extending our understanding of the physiological effects of high altitude on man himself. Thus the Station is continually increasing the enjoyment and appreciation of man as he sojourns in the high mountain regions of the world so dear to the hearts of all Sierra Clubbers. They, therefore, should be aware of the great benefits to be derived from the protection of such a unique research facility as White Mountain." TRIP REPORTS               BABO-Q CONQUERED Baboquivari Peak(7,730') Nov. 26-29 -Ralph Merten Baboquivari(pronounced babo-key-varee) Mountain in southern Arizona is worth returning to. In a camp group of sixteen, the Thanksgiving weekend trip was the fourth visit for one, and the second visit for at least six others; and the writer, if able, will return again. The mountain is surrounded by a very dense green desert jungle crowned by giant saguaro. Even the cholla is as high as our heads. The red and orange rook of the mountain in the background makes the desert appear even greener. It is truly the most beautiful desert anywhere. A trail, probably built in the '30s, is a necessity in order to reach the granite head of Baboquivari. Without it, several days would be required to blaze a route

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