Fall Colors and First Snow at Ontario Peak

A very windy and chilly morning adventure to Ontario Peak.

Recent rain brought some shallow ice and snow past Kelly Camp above 8000 ft. Only an inch deep or so for short stretches in areas shaded from the sun and easily traversed in trail runners. It did get a little mushy by the time I was headed back down and so it was a little slick. Super windy and cold at the summit (probably in the 30s with windchill). Had to hunker down behind some rocks to help stay warm. It was windy all morning with winds coming up the canyon, especially over the ridge, which made things chilly whenever I stopped to take a break. Had the trail pretty much to myself from the saddle out to the peak, which is wonderful compared to Cucamonga. Views were awesome. Cucamonga and Baldy also had a mild dusting of snow that was fun to see.

An unfortunate thing to see was a lot of trash at the saddle. I found five banana peels all around the same log and multiple other fruit peelings and food wrappers. This is why we can’t have nice things…

On a positive, the lower section of the trail is full of color right now with the fall transition 🍂🍁 This is my favorite time of year to hike Icehouse Canyon because of that. A lot of people are picnicking and hiking the lower section of the trail because of the leaves so it got a little busy later in the day on the way back to the parking lot. Got a “late” start and got to the parking lot at 5:40AM and it was full. Had to park out on the road. A lot of folks going up early to catch the sunrise were already on their way down as I was headed to the saddle.

Overall an amazing experience and one of my favorite hikes of the year.