The best laid plans are sometimes not how it turns out. And that’s ok too. Being prepared for any eventualities is the key to success especially up in these mountains. Rachel and I planned to hit up Cucamonga and Ontario on Sunday but on the last stretch of the Cucamonga trail I pulled something in my knee, and it was an uncomfortable grind getting to the top. We had to postpone Ontario for another day. No biggie but a bit disappointing of course. I’m glad we decided on Cucamonga being the first peak of the day since Rachel hadn’t summited that one yet. I’d done both and she’d already done Ontario last year.

We got a 5:45am predawn start with a ton of other folks at the trailhead. We were even stopped by a ranger checking for permits at the kiosk. First time I’ve been “carded” on the trail. We made faster work on the ascent than usual since we were hiking in the dark and not stopping for photos. After we got to the Icehouse Saddle, trail traffic picked up too. After my recent bout of pneumonia, I’ve been feeling good and have done some preemptive longer distance hikes to be ready for peaks again. Despite all that, this time I was NOT feeling my usual self once on the trail strength and endurance wise. Waaaa.

The grind up Cucamonga w a sudden bum knee and proved difficult at the end. Once at the top, we iced and Tiger Balm’d my knee; I took joint supplements and pain meds; and finally slid on a compression sleeve and drank a CBD infused spritzer. My knee felt amazing after that. I was almost tempted to give Ontario a go but nah, let’s make good choices Amber. We been inadvertently taking our time with the 6 Pack of Peaks Challenge this year so we have peaks to make up before the year’s end and I can’t be out with a trashed knee. A lot of folks laugh at the amount of gear we often bring even on itty bitty hikes but it all comes in handy. You don’t know you need something until you need it. I’d rather have it and not use it than not have it and need it.

After lunch we took our peak pics and low and behold there were the Super Hiking Twins!! – well known across the SoCal Hiking community. They’re 6yr old fraternal twins who embody legit hiking goals for us all. They’ve summitted all the local peaks time and again and I believe they’ve done some 14’rs too like Mt Whitney. Truly inspirational. I was soooo stoked to finally meet the family on the trail. We also met the infamous Mark Luebrun, fitness expert and hiking extraordinaire up on the peak and I shot an impromptu mini photoshoot with him.

Since we weren’t summitting Ontario any longer we got to spend more time up on Cucamonga. The view is spectacular and well worth the added time. We made our much easier descent back down to the saddle and then to the TH. Of course, we hit up the spring there in the middle to drink a couple of pints of ice cold mountain spring water before we began the last leg of trail. And finally, a detour to the creek is always a must so we wrapped up our day admiring the Icehouse Creek cascades.

We might not have reached the day’s intended goals, but we had a blast and met some cool folks along the way. Time well spent as far as I’m concerned. These are some of my favorite mountains, so until we meet again for our subsequent peaks. — with Rachel Waddy.