Did first 4 with Andrea my friend
Who slipped, pulled hamstring, still on the mend
She went ahead solo off San B
No waiting for me as I had to pee
Wandered off trail
Then got back on
And promptly slipped
I don't know if she tripped.
Ran into her lower down
Gimping along.
Hammie still not healed
So her 6 Pack is at 4 sealed – for now.
Since I signed up as was her tour guide
Wanted to finish the last 2 I did decide.
Roped in my trusty companion
To do the last two.
He had never done Cucu nor Ontario too.
Never done Ontario for both of us two.
When I wanted to turn back cause of sketch and long scree run
Mark kept trying to tell me we could get'r done.
But my warning sign of go back, go back
Would not stop so we turned back.
Back at the saddle, we saw the sign for Ontario.
Had no clue what it was, and no map to show where to go.
But it traversed the northwestern side, which had trees
And shade and a nice breeze.
Plus it was one of the Six Pack of Peaks!
I got cell service at the saddle!
The trail was an utter delight!
With gorgeous evergreens and oaks filtering the sunlight!
Reminded me of Baden-Powell.
Ontario, Ontario, oh where could you be?
We thought it was the first bump, then the second, then could it be three?
Beautiful “safe” trail felt so nice on our feet!
After all the rocks on Icehouse, it was quite a treat!
There were a few guys at the top
Where we finally did stop.
They took our pics
We took their pics.
Started down Chapman, and what did we see?
First of all, it was hot, and very sunny!
We came across another field of scree.
Runout not as long as Cucu, not nearly!
So we opted to go back down the Icehouse Canyon Trail
With shade, trees, flowers, and wood and dale.
It was a long 14 mi way.
Such a great way to spend our day!
Ontario is truly a hidden gem in the San Gabs! The only one of the San Gabs I want to hike again, honestly – so, so, so pretty and did not seem to be impacted by the 2022-23 winter and Hilary. AMAZING forever views too, as it is on the western edge of the San Gabriel range. If you are doing the So Cal 6 Pack and have more to go, DEFINITELY do this peak! It's an easy and so pretty one to bag and a BEAUTIFUL walk in the woods!
Warning though…read my first pic, and DO NOT hike this whole area in the snow. People die out in this area and Baldy too because of the heavy ice and long, fatal runouts where even if you know how to self-arrest and have 12-pt crampons and an ice axe and know how to use them, you will go down so fast and the melt-freeze snow out here will not even give you a chance to stop! There were some highly publicized deaths on Baldy this past year; it happens every year in the San Gabs, more so than any other local mountains, as the San Gabs are SO steep and fractured rocks in much of them.
Responses
I forgot the one very important winter sign! It applies to both Icehouse and Baldy. See it on my next Peak 6 post of Mt. Baldy.