The middle section of the Icehouse Canyon Trail was a mess from the rainstorm a few weeks ago. Paths criss-crossed the area but we eventually found the trail.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1794887/IMG_3746 (1024x768).jpg)
Columbine Spring was very low. There was a thin ribbon of water that could fill a 1 L Nalgene in less than a minute.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1794889/IMG_3749 (1024x768).jpg)
Glorious sugar pines were seen once we passed the mildly crowded Icehouse Saddle.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1794891/IMG_3755 (1024x768).jpg)
We bypassed Cucamonga Peak and stayed on the Cucamonga Peak trail (or, according to the worn trail map at ICH Saddle, the Wilderness Crest Trail) towards Etiwanda a mile beyond the Cucamonga Peak use trail turnoff.
Looking back at the peaks of the eastern San Gabriels:
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1794901/IMG_3767 (1024x576).jpg)
The trail between Cucamonga and Etiwanda was beautiful! We had the place to ourselves. It was as if we were in different mountain range in this old-growth area. The use trail to Etiwanda was well-marked with a tall cairn - it was hard to miss.
Etiwanda Peak (8662') is a "knife-edge summit" that is more dramatic than Cucamonga's flat broad summit.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1794894/IMG_3781 (1024x768).jpg)
Etiwanda Peak is almost exactly seven miles from the Icehouse parking lot. Our 14 mile round trip time was nine hours. The time included multiple rest stops and a half hour lunch at the top. The trail itself is in relatively good shape.
We also saw a buzzing rattlesnake at 8400'!