EISPIRATEN

got to work at 8am...by 830 i was sent home...i had fever and was dizzy..
as i was driving home my daypack started making fun of me..told me that i was a lame hiker..no heart....so after a few seconds of thinking about it
i jumped on the freeway and ended up in icehouse parking lot...after a few breathing treatments to open up the lungs i took off...my goal was to walk till i couldnt hang anymore....my first time on this trail and i was looking forward to seeing what it brings...



i was not feeling good at all..my vision was messed up,everything was blurry and it was hard to keep my balance....but i kept going..i didnt see anyone at all..the sound of the stream was nice as i walked.



it was getting hot...thought go thru my head telling me i should be home resting...pain is weakness leaving the body so i hiked faster...



i like this trail...nice views..i was glad to reach the saddle...some hikers offered me a sandwich...also there is cell service so i checked my messages..it was about 11:20..took me two hours...lots of trails going all over...95% of me wanted to rest and go back down..the other 5% was begging me to go on.... i felt like a fat kid in a candy store








decided to take the cucamonga trail....good choice for me....i enjoyed walking that path...i made it about an hour or so from the saddle when i decided thats it...it was already almost 2 and i had to get back home.
i look forward to coming back up here and finishing...hiking when you are sick is pretty hardcore...





found a cool cave but didnt have the enegry to check it out....
one thing that i could have lived without was those annoying flies
that buzz in your eyes and ears all day..

Those damned flies are still there? I'd have thought they'd be gone by now. That is a great trail. Lots to see up there.

One problem with hiking when you are already sick is it will not help you get better faster.

Cool hiking.

Don't be getting too dizzy there, bro. We like your posts too much. Don't wanna be a-reading about you in the morning news. Take care of yourself out there.

Hike on,

HJ

friendowl wrote:after a few breathing treatments to open up the lungs i took off

I'm glad that your breathing treatments were successful.

Being sick is hardcore. having a bad hangover is even worse. 8)

Don't use that as motivation.

TacoDelRio wrote:Being sick is hardcore. having a bad hangover is even worse. 8)

Don't use that as motivation.

i hate hangovers.....alcohol and sun dont mix with me...but i'll still drink up
no pain no gain

Those flies in icehouse are so annoying, cant stand them, a few in the eyes and mouth don't make a fun hike.

In the bottom cave I believe, deep in it is a fresh water source, at least as far as what I was told by some dude I met up there. I trusted him! Never checked though.

Anyone know the truth?

When I went up Cucamonga on the 4th, I checked out both caves. I went part way into the lower cave with my LED flashlight but I don't remember seeing any water, although I could be wrong. I think that steel cable comes out that cave?

I tried to take a peak inside the upper cave. I climbed about 8 ft up on the crumbly rock then suddenly my right hand hold gave way, taking a huge big old rock with it. I panicked and jumped off the wall just as everything was coming down on me. My arm got banged up by the falling rock so I took that as a sign to move on.

I ain't goin' in those damn caves!

We went up to Cucamonga Peak in late July and didn't have any fly issues...

What about those caves/mineshafts? What is the history on those? I checked out the Robinson books but couldn't find any references.

Before you reach the saddle between Bighorn and Cucamonga, there is a chunk cut out of Bighorn with two mineshafts, one high, one low. There may be a log blocking the bottom one.

From what I heard, and the guy came out carrying a milk carton full of water as he was talking to us. He said that if you go in the bottom one, after crawling in on your hands or knees or ducking, it'll have a drop of about 3 feet, after that you can stand up inside. Said not too far after the drop theres a pool of water thats constantly there.

Seemed like he knew what was up, said he had camped on Cucamonga for a few days(looked like it too, unshaven and all) and came down to get some water.

However, looked like it'd be a perfect place for a bear or something! I'll never go in :p

Getting water out of a mine shaft sounds like a really bad idea. Who knows what minerals they found. What if it's something toxic?

Gold is what drove local mining (generally). What other elements are commonly found with gold? How about asbestos and arsenic (at least in the Sierra Nevada)? Oh, and mercury was often used to separate out gold from the ore. Can you say "toxic?"

Yum, yum, drink up!

early Dec. 2007

this is about 10 feet from the cave. meow.

is this the upper cave or the lower one? its right above the trail about halfway from Icehouse Saddle to the Cucamonga-Bighorn saddle

The lower cave is behind the snow with that stick. You can see the entrance just barely.

Hikin_Jim wrote:Gold is what drove local mining (generally). What other elements are commonly found with gold? How about asbestos and arsenic (at least in the Sierra Nevada)? Oh, and mercury was often used to separate out gold from the ore. Can you say "toxic?"

Today cyanide is used to extract gold from ore.

simonov wrote:

Hikin_Jim wrote:Gold is what drove local mining (generally). What other elements are commonly found with gold? How about asbestos and arsenic (at least in the Sierra Nevada)? Oh, and mercury was often used to separate out gold from the ore. Can you say "toxic?"

Today cyanide is used to extract gold from ore.

Thank God we're using something safer.

TacoDelRio wrote:The lower cave is behind the snow with that stick. You can see the entrance just barely.

Yeah, that duck almost got ya there!