Our day began early, Shira and Crystal met me at my house in El Cajon,CA. We left my house at about 3:15am and arrived at the trailhead at about 6:15. There was plenty of parking when we got there but we were grateful that we hadn’t arrived any later because by the time we used the bathroom and geared up, the parking lot was full and I noticed people were circling around and around the parking lot, not finding any parking! We were on our way by 6:45 after a few pictures and registering at the trailhead. The weather was great. Nice and cool. Perfect for hiking. We came across many other six- pack of peaks hikers along the way. We really enjoyed the babbling sound of the creek which ran along the right hand side of the trail for the first half of the trail leading up to the saddle.
I call this the Not so Cuckoo Cucamonga hike because it was a pretty easy trail to follow. The signage was very helpful, for the most part. We were a little confused at the first fork, at the 0.9 mile mark. We were told that the Trail to the left (Chapman Trail) was longer but not as steep and the Trail to the right, straight really, (Icehouse Canyon Trail) was shorter and steeper. We voted and agreed to go the steeper route. I’m always up for a hill, so great! Well, we were glad, because it wasn’t THAT steep! Of course, that’s easy for me and Shira to say, we don’t suffer from asthma like Crystal does! Crystal had to take it a bit slower than us and we would periodically wait up for her. But at one point, I needed to find a good potty spot (TMI) so I hustled ahead until I found the perfect spot. Well, unbeknownst to her, Shira passed me and reached the saddle first. It was very windy at the saddle, so I was glad that I had packed my windbreaker. Shira had gone already, so I waited for Crystal to get to the saddle. She was concerned that she was going too slow for our time frame and her asthma was really making it difficult. So she decided that she would end there at the saddle, then head back down to the car. So I headed out for the peak and hoped that Shira would wait for me at the top. The next 2.6 Miles was definitely the hardest part of the hike, but lovely, as was the whole hike! This was where the great views were. When I was nearly to the top, there was a single post at a fork in the Trail that had carving in it stating, Cucamonga Peak. It was a bit unclear which way to go, but according to my map, I was pretty sure I had to go to the right. Yay for maps! I was right and I made it to the top at 12:10pm. There were two signs to take a picture with: people were off to the right taking pictures, and after I ate my lunch, I discovered one off to the left, up a sandy hill. Nice discovery. No one else seemed to notice it.
We started our descent at about 1:10 and made pretty good time. We got back to the car, and Crystal, by 4:30. Stopped for Italian food, then back on the road and home by 8:30pm.
It was a fantastic day in the outdoors, and although Crystal didn’t quite make it the whole way, she’s a trooper and wants to attempt it again by making it an overnighted! Good for her. We all have our challenges, and I love how she doesn’t let her challenge stop her from doing what she’s passionate about!