This morning, my buddy Brian and I made our way into Icehouse Canyon. At 6:30 a.m. there were only a few spots left in the parking lot and the temps were in the 60s. We made our way up to Icehouse Saddle in good time, took a short break before being scared away by some bees, and diverged from the heavily trafficked Icehouse Canyon trail to the Ontario Peak/Big Horn Peak trail. It was here that we finally felt the hot sun beating down on us as we ascended to Ontario Peak. We made our way to the top, but had a few mini breaks along the way in the shade where I could catch my breath. At the summit we took some photos, ate some grub in the little shade we could find, and socialized with other hikers. From there we decided to take on Big Horn peak as well (a peak I'd never attempted). By this time, it was hot, so we weren't in our best spirits as we made our way to the top of this anticlimactic peak–at least we can say we did it! We made our way back to the car in good time despite the heat and jumped in my car–the temp originally read 109 degrees due to my car sitting in the sun all day (!!!) but after a couple of minutes the temp went down to 90. We enjoyed a burger and a beer at the Mt. Baldy Lodge Restaurant in celebration of a long day hike completed. I'm officially all done with the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge for the second year in a row!
AZ Winter 20% off early-bird rate ends in
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Responses
Great job! I’m hoping to nab these peaks on Saturday!