Starting off on the trail was a bit cool, making me regret that I hadn't grabbed my gloves for this little excursion. There was a bit of water flowing right by the trailhead, something I haven't heard there in quite a while. Once I got up above the creek bed it felt a bit warmer, or that might also have been due to my poor conditioning. The section right above the Cucamonga Wilderness boundary held a lot of ice where it crosses the canyon, and I saw a couple more stretches as I neared the saddle. I originally thought I might go visit Ontario Peak but once I saw the snow I figured that would be a bad idea since I was only wearing trail runners. I did see a couple of people head towards Cucamonga, but that would have also been covered in snow and ice since it's on the north side of the mountain. After a tea and 3 Musketeers break at the saddle I walked up the sunny trail toward Timber Mountain. That little peak was getting a lot of love on this day, since about a dozen people seemed to have the same idea as me. I didn't hang around long and braved the ice on the way back down. The upper portion was turning to slush, but the shady parts were very slick. Fortunately I was able to remain vertical the entire time, although I slipped a couple times.
I got water at Columbine spring, it took 90 seconds to fill a 32-ounce Powerade bottle.
Weather report I looked at this morning said rain again on Saturday so it will probably mean more ice. Walk carefully out there. I'm going to look into some micro spikes.
Few pics:
New to me, these steps near the cabins have a plaque noting an Eagle Scout project.
First snow I saw on the trail.
Big crowd in front of me crossing the icy canyon.
Saddle view.
Trail to Timber. I did not see any footprints heading to or from Telegraph.
Timber summit. Snow in the shade, nice in the sun.
Bighorn and Ontario.
Baldy. The view never gets old.
Looking toward Mt Wilson. Couldn't see Catalina, cloudy over the ocean.
