Another great day on the trail! I expected to run into several snow fields past Icehouse Saddle heading up to Ontario Peak, requiring at least microspikes, today. Alas, that was not the case. My hiking partner and I stepped off about 6am from Icehouse Saddle Trailhead. The parking lot and trail were very busy this morning. We had a great trek up the canyon to Icehouse Saddle. Perfect weather and zero snow. Lots of running water though!

Once at the saddle, we took a break and ran into a few familiar faces. Most notibly my friend Sonia Pancratz, as she was making her way up to Cucamonga Peak. The trail heading to Kelly Camp was also free of snow with the exception of one minor crossing (no gear required). Past Kelly Camp there were maybe 2 or 3 more snow crossings, but again these were minor and required nor gear to cross over. Ontario Ridge and the summit were completely free of snow.

Our summit was great! Awesome views and perfect temps.

As we began our descent, we decided to head over to Big Horn Peak. Again, it too was snow free. We had this peak to ourselves for a short period of time, but quickly were joined by a few more hikers. We decided to descend via the trace trail that heads straight down from Big Horn to Icehouse Saddle therefore eliminating the need to retrace our steps back across the ridge and down through Kelly Camp.

Temps started to rise on our descent from the saddle back down to the trailhead. However several saded areas along the way made the descent quite pleasant. During the final 2 miles we were able to see, literally, thousands of Lady Bugs flying around the canyon.