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.
Columbine Spring was very low. There was a thin ribbon of water that could fill a 1 L Nalgene in less than a minute.
Glorious sugar pines were seen once we passed the mildly crowded Icehouse Saddle.
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:
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.
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'!
