| Peak | Cucamonga Peak |
|---|---|
| Group | N/A |
| Trailhead | Icehouse Canyon |
My boyfriend and I got to the Baldy Village Visitor Center a little after 7:00 a.m. The very friendly ranger working there wished us a ‘Happy Lands Day” and gave us a free map. Turns out, on Lands Day, no wilderness passes are needed. I did a little research on Lands Day later and couldn’t find any reference to a June 11 event. I did see that National Public Lands Day will be observed on September 30th this year. Maybe that ranger was just too excited to wait another three and a half months to celebrate.
The lot was full when we got to the Icehouse Canyon trailhead, but we were able to squeeze my Fit into a spot along the shoulder, just a half mile’s walk away from the lot. I thoroughly enjoyed Cucamonga’s scenery. James and I both agreed that it was a more pleasant and woodsy hike than Wilson had been. It’s piney, and feels just the way a camping area is supposed to. We didn’t encounter any snow on the way up to summit. There was, however, some brutal wind around the saddle. It continued to plague us as we rounded various curves on the way up to the peak, and led me to put on and remove my jacket several times as conditions changed. Not a wind related casualty – but James’ Dodgers hat got left somewhere on the mountain. We scoured the trails for it on our way back down. In the off chance that a future hiker spots it, contact me for a reward 🙂
Out of the wind, the temperature was perfect. A high in the low 70s, and we both completed the hike without a hint of a sunburn despite the lack of canopy for several miles. Huzzah! There were a few highly trafficked segments where we were ascending in a single-file line, but I don’t think it slowed us down much. Not realizing how close we were to the summit, I was definitely struggling in the last half mile or so. There were a good couple dozen people at the summit, and we were a little disappointed that we couldn’t find the geological marker. But it was a great spot to stop for lunch and a quick break before heading back down.
