Rick Wang's Weblog

Although slightly weak from a recent cold, I decided it was worthwhile to bike myself to Cucamonga Canyon to join a Meetup.com group on a hike. It was a foggy day with threat of rains the next day, so we were skeptical of getting any good views. It was nice seeing familiar faces, as we waited on Almond Street for everyone to show up. Aside from the semi-strenuous climb at the beginning, most of the way up to the first fork was rather boring and uneventful. Brian had commented on how boring wide fire roads were, and I agreed. Whitney did not feel too well so she left, leaving the rest of us to decide on which way to go. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out that the other hikers wanted to go uphill, eastward, instead of downhill, to the river.

I began to enjoy myself almost as soon as we took the eastward fork, as the trail narrowed into a comfortable width, and became slightly more rugged. Moving eastward, the valley to the left had a slightly creepy feel because there were burnt trees against a backdrop of heavy fog. At this point it was foggy enough to be unable to see the other side of the valley. At some point, we came across a small incline, and with only a little encouragement, it was decided that we could check out what was on top. Sadly, the fog was so thick, we were robbed of the southern view of the suburbs. Upon descending the incline, some hikers left, and we continued on. The lady with the 2 dogs commented on how nice the fog looked moving quickly over the mountain, and I began noticing this afterwards.

As we ascended the first switchback, the fog alternated between light and partially clear, varying the views as we walked along. Most of the nearby scenery was typical foothills or low mountains. The trail had a pleasant incline and hugged the southern face of this particular mountain which I do not know the name of. I found that I actually enjoyed the company of the black and white spotted dog, which kept a good pace, often taking the lead. At some point, the fog did clear up a good deal and we were able to see down below. One of the hikers pointed out the lower trail looked like a river, which was true despite being a silly observation. We continued walking for some time through nice but somewhat repetitive winding, which I guess bored everyone else as they decided to turn back on the bend before the second set of switchbacks. At this point it was only 11:00 AM, and having nothing better to do, I decided it was worthwhile to at least ascend the second set of switchbacks.

I'm not sure what it is, but hiking alone versus being in a group is an incredibly different experience. I'm less aware of my surroundings when in a group, but when alone, even the smallest things start to look significant. There is always a nagging doubt that if I hurt myself, I would be shit out of luck, but I've long since decided not to worry about such things until they happen. I reacted with some alarm, then amusement as I took the first turn on the second set of switchbacks, and found a makeshift stand made of dead yucca stalks, over a stone ring firepit. Idly, I wondered if this was from a multi-day hiker or a homeless person living out in the mountains. Continuing on, I was enjoying the southern view from the mountain. The best view along the switchbacks was the westernmost point, from where one could see all four paths that forum the switchbacks. Finally, on the last path, there was a small erosion point that dropped very sharply. I hopped the small gap and wondered how painful it would have been to fall into it.

At the top of the second set of switchbacks, there was a sign pointing east, indicating 9 more miles to a campground. There was a path heading west, up to a nearby peak. There was the remmants of another stone ring firepit. There was also a path heading east, up to what appeared to be a ridge leading up to Cucamonga Peak, much further away. I rested for a while, drinking water and hoping the mild headache would subside, before taking the eastern ridge. The eastern ridge was a short and slightly steep climb, but did not require use of hands for balancing. I did wish I had my ka-bar, as the brush did get in the way more than a few times. Eventually, I came across a flat portion of the ridge, where I took another rest and stared into the foggy abyss where a view of the suburbs should have been. At this point I felt like I was in some kind of haunted graveyeard, with the fog obstructing vision past 50 yards, and all sorts of burnt trees.

After a brief rest, I continued along the flat portion of the ridge, coming to a small fork. I could either continue along the ridge, or drop down to a path below. I reasoned this path would take me back to the campground sign, and decided to take it back. I was very surprised to find there was a good amount of snow, ankle-deep, on this path. It makes sense because the northern face of this mountain is not exposed to the winter sun, which sits mostly to the south. The brush got really bad and I nearly tripped over some low branches. The snow however, was not so bad, a little fluffy and giving in nicely on each step instead of slipping. I had no problems with my running shoes. At one point, I began to wonder if this path might descend down the northern side of the mountain instead of leading to the campground sign, so I stopped enjoying myself and picked up the pace to find out. I kept myself calm by thinking of other things while moving, such as why all of the women I've ever felt attracted to had names that ended with the letter "a". I made up a stupid song in order to keep my spirits up. I was worried because I recalled seeing no snow from the campground sign. Eventually, the path did connect, so all was well. I congratulated myself and headed back down.

On the way back down, I took another look at the first incline we had tried as a group, since much of the fog had cleared. I was very happy with the view I saw, an elevated view of Cucamonga Canyon, with light fog moving along the sides and budding storm clouds to the right. The sunlight shone through where there was no fog, creating a beautiful sunbeam effect against the gently sloping green of the mountains right before the sharp cut into the canyon. The suburubs around Cucamonga Creek, the border of the cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Upland, was quite nice to look at as well. The southern view was not as good as the western view. I considered sliding down the southern face, but it looked very steep and ended up in some thick brush before linking up with the main trail. So I decided to backtrack instead. Once back on the wide trail, things got boring, and I semi-jogged the rest of the way down.