Eight hikers participated in this Valentine's Day outing cut short by rain. After
driving to the 2WD trailhead, six of the eight made a round trip climb in 2
hours; Patty and Frank Goodykoontz took an additional 1/2 hour. Moderate rain
began at 11:00 AM, while six of us were on the summit, and became heavy rain by
the time most had returned to their vehicles. The heavy rain lasted until after
4:00 PM in LA.
The group followed the standard route directions per the peak guide dated January
20, 1997. The hiking directions are accurate. It cannot be overemphasized that
one should proceed from the vehicles to the gully leading to the left of the
large boulder and stay in the gully, following a ducked route. In addition, the
comment "for an easy route to the summit, go to the top of the gully and look
for ducks on the right..." should be heeded. In fact, once beyond the large
boulder, a series of fragmented grassy ducked routes curve around the south and
east sides of the summit winding up just below the summit on its northeast side.
Following this series avoids much boulderhopping on the summit rock pile.
The driving directions in the peak guide require two changes. First, there is an
instruction to "go east on Hwy 74 to Desert Center." Obviously, the reference
should be to the town of Mountain Center, not Desert Center. [It should be noted
that Peak Guides 28E through 30D, a total of 20 guides, contain this error.]
Also, there is a statement, "At 2.3 miles, end of pavement. 2WD vehicles should
park here." There is no pavement.
