My husband and I arrived at the parking lot around 6-7 a.m. and it was already full–we had to find parking along the road going up toward Manker Flats. We began our 2nd ascent up this mountain with temps already in the 60s. The ascent was a lot harder than I remember it being. By the time we got up to the tree that separates the Big Horn from Cucamonga my morale was very low and I was very hot. We took a break and began the hot switchback section up to the peak taking breaks in every spot of shade we could find. Once we got to the peak, we ate some lunch, my husband took a nap, and I decided to try to get my picture taken at the summit. As I was walking over to the 3 Cucamonga Peak signs (since when were there 3 of them?!), a large rattlesnake slithered from beneath a rock toward the very spot where I was trying to go. I think he wanted a summit photo too. Eventually we got our pictures and headed back down. My husband and I are a little slow, and our breaks are often long, so we descended into Icehouse Canyon during the golden hour of sunset and got some beautiful shots. As we walked alongside the creek, my husband spotted a king snake on a tree by the water. I'd never seen one before–they're so beautiful!