Once again, up before Fred the Baker and hitting the road in the early AM hours so we can beat the heat and get a spot in the parking lot. At just a tiny bit after 7am the parking lot was almost full and there were many hikers gearing up and moving out at the Ice House Canyon Trailhead. The weather was very mild and the sky was clear. It was going to be a gorgeous day. I had micro spikes just in case, but my friend did not, so fingers were crossed that the trails would be safe and there would be no need. I had previously reviewed the logged hike of another challenger who had indicated that there was very little ice on the trail.

Trail conditions were fantastic! And I can confirm there was little to no ice on the trail. If I remember correctly, there might have been one spot for maybe 15 feet where some ice was on the side of the trail, but virtually no walking in ice at all. There are some muddy spots throughout, but nothing you couldn’t easily navigate around.

The weather was beautiful throughout the climb to the top. By the time we had reached Ice House Saddle the sun had crested the mountains, but there was some wind. This made it a bit chilly while we rested. The trail wasn’t overly crowed at this time of day, even though there were probably 15 to 20 hikers kicking back at the saddle.

On we went, with a couple of stops along the way. Stuck my trekking pole in the dirt at the mine shafts and tested for gold using the Cornelius method. Nothin’! We nearly got blasted off the mountain at that 2nd saddle (not sure of the name) before you start the last climb to the peak.

Finally we made it to the top and as I stood on that rock outcrop and looked out I swore I heard, <> “This is your captain speaking. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 8,859 feet. If you look out to the northwest we are currently flying over Hesperia and just a bit further north is Victorville. However, due to cloud cover, we have little to no visibility below 7,200 feet.” HOLY COW…it really felt like we were flying above the clouds in a jet plane!! I’d have to say that this was the perfect day to hike Cucamonga. We enjoyed our inflight trail lunch and headed back down after the weather started getting rough. The temperature dropped a touch when the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in which made the trek down a little more difficult until we were below that saddle which cannot be named.

This was my first time at the top of Cucamonga Peak and I’ve got to say, this will go down as a personal favorite. Come to think of it though, I’ve never met a peak I didn’t like.