Four of us met December 27 at Hwy 74 at the PCT Trailhead. David Eisenberg informed us that he only needs Butterfly Peak, and he will finish the list the second time on the new addition, Ken Point. So we decided to hike over Butterfly to Ken. Jack Haddad already did Butterfly from the PCT so we were confident to find the way. Ruth and I were interested in doing some exploration in the area.
We drove to the trailhead, passing the Pathfinder Ranch where new fences are erected to keep hikers out or the ranchers in. The jeep road is in awful shape near the mine with huge boulders blocking the passage. We climbed up to the old mine and climbed Butterfly Peak. The weather was perfect, visibility unlimited. A storm was coming that evening.
Dropping down from the peak to the SE, one meets a 4WD road located in section 28 on the Butterfly 7 1/2 topo. This wide road crosses a creek, turns NE, passes Tunnel Spring, and climbs up the ridge to meet the PCT. At the junction, there is a sign. You turn right and take the trail going uphill through a gate, while the PCT is going downhill. A mile further, there is a duck on the left side of the road. A trail starts here through the brush over the false summit to the peak.
There is a conflict: The 15' Idyllwild topo indicates the peak at 6464', while the 7-1/2 Butterfly Peak topo shows the elevation as 6423'. We need more research on this.
After we celebrated David's second time list finishing, we went back the same way and hiked the aforementioned 4WD road to its end where there is a "Prospect" marked on the topo. From here, we dropped down from the ridge and contoured in a gully to the West going over a small rise and finding the ducked trail which went back to the mine. The round trip took less than 8 miles hiking with 2400' gain. We did it in a little over 6 hours.
After the hike, we drove to Anza for a pizza, where we talked over some more upcoming list finishings, planning parties and more hikes. We left for home while David went to find a dry spot for the night - he had a hike to lead Saturday. A storm was on the way.
