My friend Patricia and I got to the Ice House Canyon parking lot around 6:30am and began our hike shortly after.
Before starting our hike, I made sure I hung up my parking pass, made sure I had enough water and snacks for our hike (I took 6 water bottles in my backpack, a six inch turkey sub, fruit snacks and some sour candy belts.)
At the beginning of the hike there is a box that has permit forms in there, we each filled one out, with our name and address and vehicle information. I believe this is incase we get lost, they know who to search for.
This was my first time hiking up Cucamonga Peak, and I needed all the help I could get. I did my research on the hike, looked at many pictures, read and reread everything there was to say about this hike. I am most grateful for stumbling across a hikers website. Without his “help” it would’ve been really hard to know if I was going the right way or not. Y’all should look him up, just go on thehikingguy.com and look up Cucamonga peak. He uploaded pictures with a description under each or every single turn you had to make to reach the top. Before I drove up the mountain I made sure to screenshot every single one, and let me tell you, I am so glad I did. I like the feeling of reassurance and although I had my Gaia GPS app, I still have to give this hikingguy credit.
This was my first time using my Gaia GPS app and I am grateful that it was given to us for a free 3 month subscription. It’s the best app I’ve used for tracking anything! Although it did almost kill my battery, but that’s besides the point because I should carry a portable charger on every hike I go.
The first half of the hike was shaded the entire way, and we walked passed a stream of water and were able to see a beautiful skinny waterfall as we worked our way through the switchbacks to make it to the Ice House Saddle. We came across a few people which I was glad we did because it just reassured me that we were going the right way, I also kept checking my Gaia, I was amazed at it the entire time!
Before we reached the IHSaddle we came across four people coming down the mountain with huge backpacks. They camped at the top of Cucamonga! That gave me more drive to hurry up and reach the top just like they had.
When we finally reached the saddle it was about 9am, we stopped for a good 10 minutes before proceeding with our hike. Many different trails connect with the IHSaddle so having my screenshots helped a lot. There are signs that point to where that trail leads you, either way you could find your way.
This is where the patches of snow began. You know, the ones that everybody has been talking about. The ones that make this hike dangerous and tell you to wait more and more weeks before attempting it.
Let me tell you, I did not have crampons, or trekking poles or micro spikes. All I had was my Columbia hiking shoes, I was wearing compression socks for my calves, and thick hiking socks incase my shoes got wet. I was wearing 3 jackets because it was cold, but most of the time I only wore one. I regret not bringing along a beanie or gloves.
There was more than 5 patches of sketchy snow. I uploaded a picture of the second one for reference. As you can see, one wrong step or one accidental slip and you’d be falling down the mountain. This is why people are so adamant about bringing crampons, they do look useful. But like I said, I had NOTHING, and I MADE it. This is where my friend Patricia stopped. It was too scary for her to continue without the right equipment. But there were 4 other hikers(not together, 2 and 2) going up so I went up with them. I had to,I was so close.
There were parts where I avoided the snow and climbed up the mountain through the dirt and rocks because to me that was safer than the sketchy-skinny-tiny-only-one-foot snow trail. Then the snow disappears for a little while before it’s completely unavoidable.
There was only one way to go and that was up. Snow everywhere, but this wasn’t scary anymore because it wasn’t on the side of the mountain where if you slipped you were a goner, this was easier, you had so much space on either side of you and the snow footprints were so deep it was easier to climb up.
Finally I reached the top and all the snow was gone! That’s why you don’t see any snow on recent pictures!
It was the best feeling in the world. Being able to stand at the top and know that you made it and you CONQUERED that mountain, it was just an unexplainable feeling. There were 10 people at the top, including myself, so yes, this hike is definitely doable because so many have done it.
I enjoyed the scenery, took my pictures, ate my turkey sub and wrote my piece and put it in the box. I was getting eager to get back down because my friend was waiting for me. When I saw two hikers getting ready to leave, I asked if I could join them on the way down and they said yes. I am very thankful for them as well because they helped me get back down. They had crampons but I didn’t, one was in front and the other in back of me. I felt safe, secured. We finally got back to where my friend stopped to wait for me. And the four of us made our way back down to the saddle.
We stopped at the saddle for a five minute break. Then continued down the mountain. Instead of taking the same way down, we took a detour and took Cedar Glenn trailhead? down. The entire trail was super narrow, but the views were AMAZING! 4 miles later and we made it to the bottom.
This hike was my goal. On January I told myself I would hike this one. (This was before I knew about the Six-Pack) And I trained for this hike. 2+ times a week I was doing all the Claremont trails. From Thompson Creek to Johnson’s Pasture, to Claremont Loop and Potatoe Mountain. My next goal was San Gorgonio. It was hike Cucamonga and San Gorgonio in the same year. And now that I joined the six peak pack I feel more than ready to accomplish this! Especially because they’re both on the list!
Responses
When you are hiking put your phone in Air Plane mode. That way it won’t search for cell towers when there is no cell service and extend battery life. The internal GPS will still work for navigation APPs. Still take the additional battery.
FYI there is cell coverage a Cucamonga Saddle.