It was a great day to be out. A bit of cold, nice warm sun and the luxury of finding a parking spot. The southern sun casts long shadows all day long and the moisture in the trees looks like little Christmas lights as the sun passes through. A bit of reflection off the ocean gives the wispy clouds a light orange glow, and the trails all look different when covered with snow.
Arriving after 8am I was happy to get one of three spaces remaining at Icehouse Canyon. I made a hike-time decision, which I would later regret, to wear my trail runners and I carried MicroSpikes and crampons.
The first snow is found just as the trail turns away from the creek, and a few people were donning spikes just past the Cucamonga Wilderness sign. Walking across the icy creek bed was slippery, but I waited until just before the 3-mile marker to pull on the traction. I wore the MicroSpikes the rest of the way up, which included a nice break at the saddle. The south facing slopes were mostly clear, which meant a few semi-dry sitting places were available. The path to Kelly’s Camp was easy to follow and had a good crust of ice which allowed the spikes to do their job. After that things got a little harder as the snow got softer and more like powder. After passing the Bighorn junction the trail disappeared a few times, meaning much less recent traffic. I postholed a few times up to my shins but was able to keep on trucking toward he destination. At the next saddle I could hear a couple guys talking below me, looking in vain for the trail. I looked for a bit before spotting some movement and went to a place where I could get their attention and guide them up to the trail.
While walking I didn’t pay attention to the time so I was surprised to find that it took more than two hours to reach the summit from the saddle - obviously a lot more effort going through snow. Since I also carried a JetBoil I had some hot tea while visiting with a big group that trailed me to the top.
For the trip down, I put on my crampons because the loose snow balls up in the Micros and I definitely didn’t want to slip on the downhill parts. I wore them all the way to the Chapman junction where I took another break. When I got home I found a giant blister on my big toe, I think caused by tightening the crampons onto the trail runners. In addition, walking in rather than on the snow made my feet wet and cold so I enjoyed the heat in the Ranger on my drive home.
Spike-wearing time.
Almost to the saddle.
Nearing Kelly Camp.
The views are great from this trail.
False summit, trail goes over instead of around like in summer.
