The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 1975, Volume 21, Number 3
James E. Moss, Editor
Book Reviews
David J. Weber, Book Review Editor
Southern California Peaks. By Walt Wheelock. Glendale: La Siesta Press, 1973. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Maps. 48 pages. Softbound. $1.50.
Reviewed by Diana Lindsay, author of Our Historic Desert: The Story of the Anza-Borrego Desert (1973). Anza Trail Guide: A Recreation Corridor through the Borrego Desert (forthcoming), and articles in the Journal of.San Diego History.
Wheelock’s Southern California Peaks can best be described as an economy version of the best selling Southern California outdoor guides of the day. Listed are brief route descriptions of 112 peaks, selected from the 250 peaks catalogued by the Hundred Peaks Section and the Southern Mountain Section of the Sierra Club. Little topographical, natural or historical information is included. These peaks have already been described in much greater detail in the Wilderness Press set by John W. Robinson and the Ward Ritchie series by Russ Leadabrand.
This guidebook fills no need or gap for the outdoorsman or casual hiker. Even the slightly serious “peak-bagger” would likely use a combination of Robinson’s guides and a topographic map. As a brief catalog of some 100 Southern California peaks it is sufficient.
