194112-DesertMagazin.. - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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Seven times we were forced to swim narrow fingers oj the lake to avoid climbing jar up' canyon. Shoes, hat, and the writer are approaching shore. The pile oj clothes on the rock at the lower right is the spot jrom which the rattlesnake struck a jew minutes later. The reptile ivas undoubtedly beneath the rocks when this picture was taken. •fldventute on jjiCGtion -f/ill According to Viljarmar Stefansson, the Arctic explorer, adventures are the result of unpreparedness and incompetence. Hulbert Burroughs admits frankly that the harrowing events related in this story of his adventure on the top of Fortification Hill are just what the Arctic explorer said— the penalty for dumbness. But they make an interesting tale nevertheless—and if you have never suffered from heat prostration here is a tip that will help you avoid that unpleasant experience. / / AD we been innocent tenderfeet "f~I unschooled in the ways of the desert, our adventure on Fortification Hill might have been expected. But for years we had known the great deserts of the Southwest. By HULBERT BURROUGHS Photographs by the author. We had tramped many a mile over the barren hills of California's Salton sea region. We knew Borrego desert well. We had packed to the Rainbow Bridge in southern Utah; had completely circled and then climbed to the top of Navajo mountain on the very edge of the least known area in the United States. We had explored the full length of the Lower California peninsula, than which there are few more desolate regions on the North American continent. In short, we held the dangerous conviction that we had mastered the desert—thought we knew her so well that we could ignore her hazards. In an airline, Fortification Hill is about three miles from Boulder dam—a scant few miles from where thousands of tourists come from all parts of the world to gaze at man's great engineering feat. Yet it was there on Fortification Hill within plain sight of millions of acre feet of Lake Mead's sparkling waters that Don Pierotti and I had our closest brush with the twin devils of the desert—heat and thirst. The story of our experience—although laughable now— is told with the thought that others may learn from our folly. Late one June afternoon we were swimming in the refreshing waters of Lake Mead at Hemenway beach—a playground created by the national park service in Boulder dam recreational area. To the east Fortification Hill dominated the landscape. The setting sun mantled the rugged 24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE
DECEMBER, 1941 Boulder dam and Lake Mead with Fortification Hill dominating the horizon. Burroughs and Pierotti scaled the black mesa at the highest point at the right, and descended to the northwest beyond the lowest point oj the mesa visible at the lejt. Bureau oj Reclamation photograph. 25
Page 1 and 2: THE > M A G A Z N E DECEMBER, 1941
Page 3 and 4: DESERT NOV. 28-30 Fifth annual Papa
Page 5 and 6: Kofa massif viewed from the west. E
Page 7 and 8: easily passable. Many of the visito
Page 9 and 10: Information as to the discovery and
Page 11 and 12: Holding the flake tightly in my lef
Page 13 and 14: such as I have described. So the In
Page 15 and 16: the lovely cabin which the Ritches
Page 17 and 18: High Sierras, as seen from the "hot
Page 19 and 20: On one of their tramps over the des
Page 21 and 22: An O*tdia*A (leuelie By EVANELLE MI
Page 23: Landmark of the Old West Who can id
Page 27 and 28: i Following a wild burro trail up o
Page 29 and 30: A few thousand feet below the summi
Page 31 and 32: m€ i DESERT TRAVELOGS Noteworthy
Page 33 and 34: GtobweneA-- T | PI ^iiS,. DECEMBER,
Page 35 and 36: POST Classified advertising in this
Page 37 and 38: H6R6 D TH6RC . . . OH the, ARIZONA
Page 39 and 40: Lions Pay More . . . LAS VEGAS—Cl
Page 41 and 42: and Mln&udi This department of the
Page 43 and 44: PLACE THAT ORDER NOW! for a H I LLQ
Page 45 and 46: MODEL SOCIETY IS BOTH HOBBY AND STU
Page 47 and 48: TO IMPERIAL VALLEY PEOPLE AND NON-R

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