BUGS! I HATE BUGS! This was my 2nd hike up Cucamonga Peak. Started at the parking lot to Icehouse Canyon. First time up we did Chapman Trail on the descent. Not recommended!! Best to just go up and down the same route. Chapman was far too long and far away from the peaceful water.

Very unfortunate to have a phone freeze out the night before a hike, but I had my watch. This trip up I couldn’t take photos, but the photos I do have from the first time I’ll post below. Went with a friend the first time, we had fun and took our time, which ended up being just around 10 hours. This hike I’m posting about was just about 2 weeks later. Music couldn’t play on my watch from downloaded songs for some reason “An error has occurred please try again” of course that would happen. So no music. Just my loud heavy breathing for 11-12 miles.

Got to the parking lot at 6:15am, not even 2 other cars in the lot. There was one other hiker that arrived after me but she started probably 5-10 minutes after me. Trail to myself! So I thought… bugs galore. Started the hike around 6:30am, put my bug net on around 6:45am.

Had a blast! Cooked it on the way up. Not a soul the entire way until I saw a gentleman with a backpack heading up Cucamonga just past Icehouse Saddle. Took about 5-10 minutes there before continuing up the trail. I ran into the guy I saw and chatted for a brief moment about cell service (which I had none on my phone), and then I continued on.

Ran into one other person on the trail that told me I have the whole place to myself up there. I of course was out of breath trying to think but also have a conversation so I asked the dumb question “Oh yeah? How is it up there?” After he had basically just told me how it was up there 😆

Summited in just over 3 hours. It got HOT quick! By that point the bugs had dwindled but they were still around me. Took the net off to eat a cliff bar and had flies immediately attacking towards my mouth, eyes, and nose. I did make a wrong turn which added 15-20 minutes onto my hike. There’s a “sign” that’s been stolen and someone wrote on the post in dark blue ink, a sideways “Cucamonga Peak” as shown below:

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Who’s the jackass that stole the signs up at the top? Really unfortunate.

Anyways, the woman that I saw in the parking lot summoned about 15 minutes after me and by that point I was about to head down. I asked her if she knew where the signs were and she told me about reading that someone had stolen the summit signs. Lovely humans we have on this planet 🙄

Anywho I made it back down in just under 6 hours!! Super proud of myself. Saw lots more people coming up when I was on my descent. Stopped at the waterfalls below to splash my face with water. Wished I brought a towel some swim shorts and some hiking sandals.

Made it back down with only a few ounces of water left in my pack. Be careful out there! And don’t steal signs!!