Ontario Peak #18/18!

cheriej2042

Before I go over the hike I originally thought it would take me 8-12 months to finish this. It doesn’t mean I’m stopping hiking and I’ll still post because I can think of at least 12 more hikes I want to do. My initial motivation was to go on hikes I had heard about but never hiked (17/18 hikes were either completely new or on a trail I’d never been on). I also wanted to lose my pandemic weight and I did lose 18 pounds so I at least am back to where I was in Jan 2020. I also was curious how I would find these hikes as training for my international trips. Because I don’t have a lot of altitude here the hiking is best for improving overall fitness.Unfortunately international travel is not looking good although I’m told my K2 Base Camp trip in Sept is still on but Nepal and Bhutan look like they aren’t going to be open this year. Papua New Guinea got cancelled in April for my fall trip.Trip operators seem to be slowly shifting towards 2023 as more trips cancel. Well I guess I should focus on the positive in that I’m with a small group of people I know to hike Whitney in October and Cactus to Clouds (C2C)in late October during the full moon.

Ontario Peak is located in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Cucamonga Wilderness. At 8696 ft, it is a 12.43 mile hike and 4,100 elevation. It’s named for the city of Ontario which is 12 miles to the south. The trail begins at Icehouse Canyon and follows a creek up to a saddle where several trails converge after 3.6 miles. You take a right turn and start down a forested trail. I was hoping to see some bighorn sheep but didn’t see any.




After one mile you reach Kelly Camp but was surprised no one was camping there.


You have to climb over 4-5 downed trees on the trail but the trail was easy to follow and much more scenic than Cucamonga Peak. The summit has a tree with what else but a bottle opener in it so you can bring your beer with you! A woman and her dog came after me and she took my photo.





This is a nice scenic hike that I would definitely do again and maybe combine to hike Cucamonga, Etiwanda and Timber as a C2C training hike.

cmriverside

K2?!

You're a serious hiker. It's been great to view your images over these last few months, I hope you'll keep posting.

My very beloved aunt and uncle lived in Ontario. I doubt they ever climbed to that peak, but I'm sure their very adventurous fireman son has. Fantastic being above the clouds like that.

Thanks for taking me out of my Seattle office and into your wilderness.

girlwithcurls2

Gorgeous. I love your photos. Be sure to keep sharing hikes 19/18, 20/18, 21/18, etc
The bottle opener is great! And so much sunshine. Wow!

L1zardQueen

So beautiful.