David called Wednesday night and tried to talk me out of it. I told him I didn't know what the weather would be, I'd call him Friday and make the decision then. We had rain on Friday, but the weather forecast was for clearing and windy on Saturday so we decided to go for it. Austin and Betty Stirratt had written in December, so I knew we'd have two victims. Friday night, somebody called and said to Erich, "It's canceled, uh?" Erich told him it was a go. Mr Uh turned out to be George Thomas.
On the drive out to Pinyon Flats, we kept hitting pockets of ground fog. When we arrived there, it was foggy. A cloud hung over the northeast side of Toro Peak all day. We were in white-out conditions most of the day. The hike out to a ridge short of Cactus Spring was uneventful. From there on it was pure map and compass work. David and I worked together. We made it to the top without incident. On the return trip, we hiked too fast and had a little uneasiness before we arrived at Cactus Spring.
My thanks to the group for their silence when David and I were navigating. Thanks to David and Erich for all those compass bearings. Thanks to the USGS for their fine map! Thanks as always to David for his able assistance.
