After dropping my son off at the airport for his early morning flight to Chicago, I took advantage of being awake at that hour and drove up Icehouse Canyon to hike Ontario and Bighorn Peaks. The parking lot had some cars in it when I arrived a bit after 7 am. I grabbed my gear, filled out my day-use permit at the trailhead, and set off up the canyon. I have said this before, but it is such a treat to hike in Southern California and hear the sounds of flowing water. As I made my way steadily upward, I passed several folks hiking up with their goal of reaching Icehouse Saddle, and a father and son who were headed to Cedar Glen to camp for the evening. At the saddle, I took a break behind a tree, as a steady breeze was flowing. Given it was going to be another warm day, that breeze was welcomed. After mixing up my electrolytes and finishing my snack, I set off toward Ontario Peak.
Since I hoped to also climb Bighorn Peak afterwards, I kept a close eye on the terrain around where the side trail should be. I found enough visual landmarks at the junction that I felt confident I would find it upon my descent. After finding the turn off, I continued along the ridgeline, pushing past the bushes that bees were busy pollinating. Soon, the peak came into view, and the final push to the summit. As expected, I had the peak to myself. I sat down and enjoyed my PB&J and some of those electrolytes. I planned ahead and bought my tripod to take some better summit photos. When those “chores” were done, I packed up and headed back down.
At the junction, I left the main trail and started toward Bighorn Peak. I caught a glint from the peak, so someone was up there. The trail to the summit was not as used as the main trail and I had to cross over several downed trees. Partway up the mountain, I met the hiker who had been on the summit. We chatted for a bit before parting ways. At the summit, I had another snack and took in the 360° views of the peaks around me: Cucamonga, Ontario, Baldy, Timber, and Telegraph peaks. This was my 50th peak on the Sierra Club Hundred Peaks Section list!
I now took the trail heading east, toward Cucamonga, until I found the trail that would generally follow the ridgeline back toward Icehouse Saddle. It was steep and a bit loose at times, but soon rejoined the Ontario Peak trail, not far from Icehouse Saddle. I continued my descent, stopping for a while to chat with a hiker taking a break. She was training for an attempt to climb Mt. Whitney later this month. I shared what I knew and offered her as much encouragement as I could. While I had enough water for the rest of the descent, I stopped at Columbine Spring to filter some extra. That cold water felt great, as the day had become quite toasty. The rest of the descent went quickly, with just a few flies bothering me from time to time. I got back in the car, changed shirts, and headed home. When I went to look up the actual recorded stats for the hike, Runkeeper lost the track. OnX Backcountry routes out the hike at 11.7 miles with 4,185 feet of gain. Using timestamps on my photos, I did the route in about 7 hours, 20 minutes. Just one more peak, San Jacinto, to climb to finish all 12 of the SoCal Six Pack of Peaks!
I am an avid peak bagger, sometimes backpacker, and former sea kayaker living in San Diego. In 2019, I became the third person to complete the San Diego 100 Peak Challenge. Not stopping with that accomplishment, I set my sights on the harder San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list, which I completed in 2021. In addition, I have conquered several Six-Pack of Peaks challenges (SoCal, San Diego, Central Coast, and both the Arizona-Winter and Arizona-Summer). Beyond attempting the San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list a second time, I am looking forward to exploring new summits and new adventures across the southwest.