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| This collection of documents draws mainly on trip reports published in early issues of The Sierra Echo and the Desert Peaks Section Newsletter (as the latter was then known). These reports chronicle some of the issues faced by the SPS during its formative years, including the need to limit campfire size in order to conserve wood. Other matters covered included the need to stop trying to run backpacks into the high country late in the season when becoming snowed in was a risk; the difference that road building has made in access to some of the peaks southwest of Lone Pine; and why it was wise to alert local law enforcement of a party's entering infrequently visited parts of the high country when no one normally would be there. There also are several examples of the relationship between the SPS and the DPS, the latter of which once regularly scheduled trips into the Sierra as part of its mission. The The Temple Crag - The Thumb report is a good example of the DPS's interest in mountains other than those in the desert. | |
THE FIRST YEAR OF OFFICIAL SPS TRIPS |
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| The Sierra Peaks Section became an official entity of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club in October 1955 and offered its first scheduled trips in 1956. The trips into the Sierra Nevada numbered 19 and included Matterhorn Peak in the north, Mts. Whitney and Williamson in the middle of the range, and Owens Peak in the south. A 20th trip was a joint undertaking with the Desert Peaks Section to what then was an unnamed summit in the Inyo Mountains. Everyone now knows that peak at Mt. Inyo. By going over the materials available on these trips, readers will find many changes have occurred in the past half-century. No entry permits were required in 1956, and the size of parties often was quite large. Campfires were a normal part of the backcountry experience, and wood was then plentiful. What hasn't changed, however, is the fervent love of the mountains that is the hallmark of the climber. The records have been extracted from the Angeles Chapter Schedule and the chapter's newsletter, Southern Sierrran. The SPS publication, Sierra Echo, did not begin publishing until February 1957, so those persons wanting information about the early trips needed to look elsewhere. |
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