Despite a few no-shows, a good group of 12 hikers rendezvoused at the meeting place: Jawbone Canyon Rd. and Hwy. 14 at 9 am. There was heavy fog in low points between Lancaster and Jawbone so that some drivers were delayed a few minutes and we waited until 9:15 to caravan to the take-off for Butterbredt.
With several choices of route, we opted for the first high saddle and went directly up the ridge to the peak climbing over rocks on the left side going up and taking the clearer route between knobs on the way down. On top, we were delighted with the far off views of desert to the east and snow clad peaks to the north. An added pleasure was having bottles of "sparkling" broken out to celebrate Lars Evensen's 25th Peak.
Returning to the cars, we lunched and drove to the gated entrance to the old calcium mine property and hiked in from there though we could have driven in through the unlocked gate to save a mile each way. Climbing the ridge and approaching the mountain, we got some awed comments from first timers such as, "My God, do we climb that!" as they looked at the infamous scree slope. Nevertheless, Beverly Rawles, Jennifer Lambelet, Teresa Ebeling, Ron O'Brien, Dave Evans and Frank Jarvis together with the leaders surmounted the summit and Irene Evans and Katie Jarvis went all the way up the scree slope to the saddle. Ron's son-in-law Greg said he would rather be biking! As we approached the top of the slope, we met Greg Jones descending. He had arrived at the meeting point just too late and decided to do Chuckwalla and Cross instead of Butterbredt.
With lunch stop, "bubbly," and enjoying the views on both peaks, the outing took mort time than we had estimated and we returned to the cars just at dark, 6:00 pm.
There was snow in places on north sides and in the hollows on both mountains, but hiking conditions were perfect - warm enough for shorts but still cool. Despite the sea of fog over the Mojave, the views from on top were gorgeous. All seemed to enjoy the outing and their accomplishments. Much thanks and credit to Gordon who assisted in his usual capable manner.
