Tried to get an early start but the traffic from the high desert was slow.  Parking lot had 3 cars which was nice. When I went to fill out my permit the door shut on my finger and broke a blood vessel which caused some swelling and today is nice and red/purple. On the trail by 0700 and ithe weather was perfect.  Had shade all the way to the saddle and the bugs at this point were nearly non existant.  I was trying to keep a 3mph pace but got really slowed down around the waterfall viewpoint.  Not sure if it was my pack or shoes, but stopped and rearranged everything and on my way.  Passed a couple coming down who had gone to the saddle  and were returning.  At the saddle I continued to Cucamonga Peak trail and was looking for the trail on the left as I knew I stayed right.  Long story short, I went almost to the mine and was second guessing myself and turned around and almost made it to the saddle when I encountered another  hiker and he told me I was right on.  If I had gone another 100 yards I wuld have seen mine and known my location.  I have not been here in years and surprised myself by going back toward the saddle when I knew I was in the right spot, but hiking alone and being lectured continuously I made a responsible choice.  I wont do that again!  About 20 minutes from the mine my phone started ringing and it was my wife calling on “whats ap” from Kuwait.  That was certainly unforeseen and is a testament to technology.  We had a quick visit and I turned my phone to airplane mode, where it should be while hiking…  The switchbacks after the saddle did have some decent snow areas and could be treacherous if you were not paying attention.  Also the trail kind of gets hidden and people have just climbed straight up bypassing snow and the actual trail.  Upon reaching the Peak I found the sign and my mileage was just above 7 miles, probably due to my detour.  The weather was perfect and no wind yet.  On the way down I encountered rocks falling  down above me and thankfully could here them and try to get out of the way.  Stopped at the mine on the way down and then also stopped and soaked my feet in the creek down by the houses.  About 200 meters from the parking lot I heard rumbling behind me and turned around to see rocks bouncing down the hill and zoom across the trail where I had walked by 5 seconds earlier.  3 or 4 were the size of basketballs and could have been a bad deal.  This was the second in my SoCal Six Pack of peaks after doing Mt Baden Powell.  Fun Hike and really pretty.  The bees were awake around the manzanita but not too bad.  Took a yoga class about three hours after hike and felt pretty good this morning for a near 57 year old