also climb Big Chief, 2,937 ft., which might proper1y be regarded as the Northern outpost of the Stepladder Mountains. Ascent of Big Chief was via the south slopes - Class I to II. Camp was made nearby in a flat sandy wash. The heavens Saturday night were ablaze with brilliant stars and many meteors. Early Sunday morning we drove northwards to a point west of Homer Mountain, 3739-ft., a sprawling volcanic mountain several miles NE of Goffs. Ascent was via a complicated route from the west, but no basic difficulty was encountered. Following this peak we headed west and eventually reached the west side of Signal Hill, 3500 ft., also NNE of Goffs. The road driving up (sandy washes and some rutted roads) offered more of a challenge than the peaks themselves. Signal Hill is a black, volcanic peak and is readily climbed via the west slopes, Class I. It is amazing how extensive a view one is rewarded by gaining the summits of Desert Peaks. One could see for 50-75 miles in any direction. On reaching the town of Goffs the trip was officially declared to be completed and the respective participants wended their various ways homeward. NEVADA PEAKBAGGING                          John Vitz This spring Jerry Haven and I decided to use a few Sierra weekends to do a bit of climbing in Nevada. We discovered a land quite different from the California and Arizona countryside with which we are all familiar. The six peaks which we visited had only one thing in common; all were Class I and II walks. These walks ranged from the quite easy jaunt on Stirling to the rather lengthy march on Arc Dome. The first trip was in early May and the high desert of the Spring range was crazy with wildflowers, from the purple sage to the red prickly pear. Stirling and Potosi are both low enough to be warm in May and perhaps April would be a better time to visit these areas. Both peaks are rather easy and infrequently climbed by DPSers, a fact we noted on all six peaks. Stirling is a pleasant mountain covered with juniper and other evergreen trees and shrubs. Potosi adds to this some impressive cliffs and gullies. There are three arches near the west end of the ridge. The long Memorial Day weekend gave us the time needed for the rather lengthy excursion into the Central Nevada area containing Arc Dome and Mount Jefferson. Looking at the USGS map of the Tonopah area we decided to try to climb Arc Dome from the west rather than via the traditional Twin Rivers route. This necessitated driving over many miles of dirt roads but this is not as bad as it sounds as most of Nevada's dirt roads are of superior quality.

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