Mount Baden-Powell, Ross Mountain

10 October 1970

By: Ken Ferrell

Leader: Ken Ferrell
Asst.: Les Stockton

Regardless of how tough (or dumb) you make a trip sound, there is bound to be a group of people show up to see if the write-up is really true. In most cases I would say this is true, but on the Baden-Powell-Ross-Baden-Powell trip on October 10 this was certainly not the case.

Three of the 10 people who made the long trek to Ross and back were on their first Sierra Club hike so I guess it might be said they didn't know any better. One of the three was my oldest brother, I tried to tell him what it was like when we were on Baden-Powell, but he had to see for himself. However, for seven of the 19 people it was at least their second trip to Ross and back so they were not out peak bagging, but were out to enjoy the beauty of this area and good comradeship. It was an honor to me to have such people as Sam Fink, Tom Amneus, Howard Stephens, Joe and Debbie Kazlowski and Dick Akawie show up for this trip. Their presence made the whole trip seem more meaningful.

For the others who bagged a new peak, I would like to congratulate you on successfully completing the trip and being able to add one of the tougher peaks to your list. We were fortunate to have almost ideal weather for the trip and this helped to make the day more enjoyable. A few of us stopped at Lamel Spring on the way back to enjoy a cool, refreshing drink even though water was not a big problem on this particular climb, that is except for one person who must have read a camel story the night before as his intake of water was non-existent. (Ed. - It wasn't too bad!).

On our return trip to Baden-Powell, we enjoyed watching the graceful soaring of several gliders near the summit. After reaching the summit, we were able to observe five at one time so we are not the only ones who enjoy this area.