Whew buddy, this was hands down the hardest hike I've done.

I asked my friend, Geoff, who has led various Sierra Club classes, if he'd do this with me because I have basically no real winter hiking expertise (other than, don't die, don't do dumb s***). Super grateful to Geoff for doing this with me.

We started the hike at 7 a.m., and later wished we'd left sooner. I did Ontario Peak last year for the Six-Pack challenge, and I'm guessing I did it in prolly like eight hours, with a fair amount of dilly-dallying and a dog. This time, we finished about 5:45 p.m., no dog this time because Maggie May prolly wouldn't have made it with the depth of snow and tricky parts along steep slopes. We hiked out the last mile with headlamps after realizing about 4:30 p.m. that enough of the snow and ice had refrozen to make things dicey. (Watch yourself along the river — there are some slick icy parts that'll sneak up on you)

I would say like 80-90% of the trail has some form of snow or ice on it. Geoff estimated there was about 2 to 4″ consolidated snow on the upper third and saddle, deeper but firm along the ridge to Ontario. We put on our crampons once we got about a mile in, prolly around the third cabin. Lots of folks had microspikes and seemed to be doing OK with them, but I was glad we had the crampons. We also brought ice axes but didn't need them (no regrets, I'd take them if I did it again). One of the biggest regrets we had was not bringing helmets because there was a lot of ice falling from the south-facing avalanche chutes — including some widowmaker chunks coming off the larger pine trees.

Once we got to the saddle, we chatted with fellow hikers, including several who had tried Cucamonga and said it was way too dangerous to complete. It sounds like because Cucamonga doesn't get as much direct sun, there's a lot of ice freezing on the trail, making it pretty uncrossable. Another hiker told us he'd tried Timber Peak, but he'd gotten spooked from all the large chunks of falling ice. We made friends on Ontario, which seemed to be the best (still challenging) option WITH the appropriate gear and experience (or a Geoff). Highly recommend someone in your group have a satellite communicator.

I'd never hiked in substantial snow and didn't realize just how exhausting it can be. There were points on the trail, past the saddle, when it felt like we were hiking through thick sand on the beach. I fell a few times, but mainly because I'm a fairly klutzy human and have large feet, so I snagged my pant legs with the front of the crampons a fair number of times. (Laughing here is fine, I am slightly bruised but fine)

All that said, it was a gorgeous day. Not much wind, thank ya Jesus, so I stayed warm thanks to a *chef's kiss* perfect amount of layering. I am so grateful for the Six-Pack community and challenge to do these hikes. I learned so much this year on the six peaks I did, and I look forward to doing even more next year. See y'all out there! Onward and upward!!