It was in Diablito Canyon that Sierra Club Members John Thornton, Bill Hunt, Bud & Bep Bingham and Sierra Madre Rescue Team Member Charles Kessler found footprints going uphill only. John & Bill found a small campsite and other evidence that the couple had chosen this difficult route. Bud Bernhard, China Lake Team personnel, John Thornton, and Bill Hunt continued the search the following day in the same canyon. Since positive evidence placed the couple as having tried to climb the mtn, two Navy helicopters were brought to the scene. Within thirty minutes, the registers on both summits ware checked out, and it was found that the couple had signed the record on the north summit, but without having entered a date. In the meantime, westward operation a from the Meling Ranch included a search of the extensive plateau country with participants Frank Sanborn, John Robinson, Friy Tiscareno, Pete White, Jerry Brown, and Dennis McAllister. No less than sixty miles were covered, including a climb of Blue Bottle Pk, from which one can look down into the upper part of Cayon del Diablo. No footprints were seen anywhere and no sign of anyone in the chutes below the Pinnacle Ridge. When the helicopters were on their return flight to San Diego they spotted a campfire In the vicinity of Blue Bottle Peak. Since base camp and the westside party had no contact with each other, nobody knew for sure who had started the fire. Hope was revived that possibly the missing pair had reached the plateau and was trying to attract attention. Bud Bernhard flew to Meling Ranch planning to ride horseback back to Blue Bottle Pk. It turned out that the Sierra Clubbers had lit the fire in hopes that one of the copters would land on the plateau. They had no communications and were running low on supplies. The copter had barely enough fuel left to make San Diego and could not afford such a landing. Discovery of the fire had switched the major search to the west side leaving the east side without "plane to earth" contact. Another complication was that two Sierra Madre Rescuers had been left on a ridge of Picacho del Diablo by one helicopter, and were stranded about 40 hours. A 24 hr search was made for these two men without any clues. The two did manage to walk out of Canyon del Diablo, and upon reaching the mouth found no one, as the former base camp had now moved down to the mouth of Diablito Canyon! Fortunately, Doe Hutchinson, a member of the Montrose Rescue Team was returning from a trip to San Felipe and happened to spot them, miles from the cars, somewhere on the salt flats. Due to home and job obligations, it was impossible for most people to stay any longer. In the meantime Bud Bernhard had convinced himself that Eleanor & Ogden had not reached the plateau and were still somewhere on the slopes of that huge mtn or within Canyon del Diablo. It was through his determination, his great mountaineering skill, and knowledge of the area, that the missing pair was found. Credit for aiding greatly in the rescue should be extended to Mexican search parties including a few Indians who were experts in determining ages of footprints, another a very active school mate fluent in Spanish, the fathers of the couple who inspired the searchers, the Rescue Team Members, the Sierra Club, and pilots of both private and naval aircraft. To them all, the happy ending was, quote, "the greatest thing in the world." Trip Reports- Superstition Mtns New Years(better late than never)-John Thornton As 1966 said goodbye, seventeen Desert Peakers gathered in Peralta Campground at the southern end of the Superstition Wilderness Area in anticipation of a 3-day week-end jam-packed with hiking and climbing adventures. The Superstition Mtns, known to the Spanish as the Sierra de la Espuma(Foam) because of a unique geological feature rise as a line of jagged cliffs some forty miles east of Phoenix, Arizona. These towering walls form a fortress some hundreds of feet

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