Cucamonga, Bighorn, Ontario
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:39 pm
This past Sunday I set out to hit these three peaks, and it ended up being a great day up in the mountains.
Parked at Icehouse Canyon at 5:45am and was hiking by 5:50am. Made it to Icehouse Saddle in 1:15, and got to summit of Cucamonga in 2:05 (personal best... although I still want to make it sub-2 hours).
Came down from Cucamonga to the saddle between it and Bighorn, and after a short break to put on my hat and some sunscreen, ascended up the SE ridge to Bighorn. It's pretty steep but not too long. It doesn't see much use and there is no official trail, but if you look carefully you can usually see the path most people take. In general just keep going up. Great views back toward Cucamonga from this ridge and up top at Bighorn proper.
The most tiring section of the day was between Bighorn and Ontario for me. Probably because I had already climbed over 4,000' and it was starting to get rather warm, and this entire section is exposed with the sun climbing higher in the sky.
Once I made it to Ontario I took my first real break in some shade. After that, I headed down the trail past Kelly Camp and back to Icehouse Saddle. Once I got a bit below the saddle, I took the Chapman Trail alternate back to near the parking lot because I had never done it, and figured it would be much better going down than up. It added some miles but it was pretty neat to get back into Cedar Canyon and cross Telegraph Wash.
Ended up being ~18.5 miles, ~5,300' elevation gain, and took me 6 hours and 55 minutes total. Drank 4L of water and ate around 1,500 cal.
Looking back down Icehouse Canyon
Looking up toward Icehouse Saddle
Looking back toward Icehouse Saddle
The SE ridge of Bighorn I'll be going up after Cucamonga
View from Cucamonga
Looking back toward Cucamonga from near Bighorn summit
Great views of Baldy and Telegraph
Ontario coming into view
Parked at Icehouse Canyon at 5:45am and was hiking by 5:50am. Made it to Icehouse Saddle in 1:15, and got to summit of Cucamonga in 2:05 (personal best... although I still want to make it sub-2 hours).
Came down from Cucamonga to the saddle between it and Bighorn, and after a short break to put on my hat and some sunscreen, ascended up the SE ridge to Bighorn. It's pretty steep but not too long. It doesn't see much use and there is no official trail, but if you look carefully you can usually see the path most people take. In general just keep going up. Great views back toward Cucamonga from this ridge and up top at Bighorn proper.
The most tiring section of the day was between Bighorn and Ontario for me. Probably because I had already climbed over 4,000' and it was starting to get rather warm, and this entire section is exposed with the sun climbing higher in the sky.
Once I made it to Ontario I took my first real break in some shade. After that, I headed down the trail past Kelly Camp and back to Icehouse Saddle. Once I got a bit below the saddle, I took the Chapman Trail alternate back to near the parking lot because I had never done it, and figured it would be much better going down than up. It added some miles but it was pretty neat to get back into Cedar Canyon and cross Telegraph Wash.
Ended up being ~18.5 miles, ~5,300' elevation gain, and took me 6 hours and 55 minutes total. Drank 4L of water and ate around 1,500 cal.
Looking back down Icehouse Canyon
Looking up toward Icehouse Saddle
Looking back toward Icehouse Saddle
The SE ridge of Bighorn I'll be going up after Cucamonga
View from Cucamonga
Looking back toward Cucamonga from near Bighorn summit
Great views of Baldy and Telegraph
Ontario coming into view