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| Hiking | 16.54 Miles |
5,525 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.54 Miles | 9 Hrs 2 Mns | | 2.02 mph |
| 5,525 ft AEG | 51 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | Third hike of the LA tour was same area as Mount Baldy. We started from Icehouse Canyon trailhead about 6am. It's another popular trail and being a Saturday there was a train of people going up the trail. Definitely recommend a weekday if you can. However, we were stuck with the weekend so made the best of it. On the plus side the trail is fantastic with nice rock work and timely switchbacks especially the last two miles to Icehouse Saddle.
We took fairly long break at the saddle and there were some 20 other hikers at the time. It's wide area so at least room to spread out. From the saddle there are several trails going to other peaks like Ontario, Bighorn, Timber and a few others. After the break we continued on to Cucamonga but with all the other trails the crowds thinned out a bit.
More really nice trail on the ascent 2.7 miles and about 1300 feet. There are good switchbacks that reduced the grade to a pleasant amount of steepness. Just below the summit we missed the spur trail that's more direct so we ended up taking the long way but only about extra 3/4 mile.
The summit was another large area like Baldy but it had a steep drop on the south side so the views were really great at least on that side. Some interesting rock formations also added to the spectacle. Took our time with taking some pics and another good break.
Done on the summit we hiked back down the same way to Icehouse Saddle again. From the saddle we continued about another 1/2 mile to a junction and decided to take the Chapman Trail down which added 2 miles to the hike. The trail we came up stays mostly in the bottom of Icehouse Canyon but Chapman traverses across staying above the canyon. Trail was in good shape but best of all we lost 98% of the people. Great views on the traverse so the extra 2 miles didn't seem to make much difference. Eventually Chapman Trail dropped back down to Icehouse and connected with the original trail about a mile from the trailhead.
Great hike on some of the best trail I've seen in awhile. Definitely would like to come back to do some of the other peaks preferably on a weekday. |
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