| Peak | Cucamonga Peak |
|---|---|
| Group | N/A |
| Trailhead | ICE HOUSE SADDLE |
I had read that the weather was going to be pretty hot the day before, so we wanted to start early. I reside in Los Angeles, so I had to give myself enough time to get to the trail head. I left my house at about 4:30 in the morning. One of my friends met me at my house, and we left from there. We met another friend by the trail head, and ended up starting at 6:00 A.M. The ice house trail takes course along the northern bank of a creek that flows down the canyon. Crystal clear water tumbles past oaks and sycamores, and this is a fine venue for a directionless romp through nature for those disinterested in following the trail. A half-dozen cabins are spread out along the bottom of the canyon, along with another half-dozen stone foundations (ruins left over from the early days of the Angeles). The trail passes these current and past dwellings, ascending gradually into a wilderness with less and less human impact.Once you reach the saddle the peak is about 2.5 miles away. Don’t let those two and a half little miles fool you, It is not as shaded, and that is where you start the major gain. The first mile, you are trying to get to the mountain to get you to the summit. The time we did that part, it was about 11:00 am, and it was already really hot. We had stopped at the saddle to eat, re-hydrate, and re apply sunblock so we were feeling ok. Once, we hit the last saddle before the submit we started trekking. The second mile and half were hell for me. I wanted to throw up, and kept trying to keep my water down. The people descending kept telling us we were almost there, so naturally every switch back I thought we were done. We finally, reached the last 1/4 mile and I felt as is the elevation punched me so hard in the stomach I could hardly breath. As I was trying to reach the top, I felt myself slowing down as is someone or something was pushing me back down. It was a short distance but it felt like an eternity. Then, I made it. I think I almost cried, correction, I did cry. At first I thought it was sweat but then I found myself wiping a runny nose. I sat on a rock under the shade, and just took everything in for about 20 minutes. I did it.
