Hello, SoCal Sixpack hiking enthusiasts! This was my second visit to Santiago Peak. The truth is my friend and I tried this peak in late July from Maple Springs. It was too much for us to bare with the heat, not enough snacks and fluids, and lastly the huge presence of motorcycle riders and truck drivers going up the trail with us. So, we turned back only getting 8 miles altogether. This Sunday, we took Indian Truck Trail. The views of Lake Elsinore and other mountain ranges were stunning. Though, the visuals in front along the trail had many somber looking dead trees and burnt bark. We did have some forest-like tunnels to give us some nice, cool shade. It did get hot like last time, but not as extreme. Before the start of Holy Jim trail, that was closed, there was the amazing land mass. Hard to explain, but from a far off distance, it looked like the symbol for “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” Anyway, as we came within 3-4 miles of the peak, we encountered a lot of gnats flying around our heads trying to get in our ears. Very irritating. Anyhow, we reached the peak, and there weren't any signs. I found rocks I could sit on, but I had to watch out for broken glass. There was lots of graffiti. It was very disheartening to see the damage to the land features, i.e. signs by people not caring about the land or nature for other hikers to enjoy. It kind of explains why there weren't many hikers at Santiago Peak or just may have been the weather. Nonetheless, we made it to the top and back down surviving the heat.