Ice House Canyon Hike

Another weekend, another great hike.  This time it was a bit more of a trek than usual.  Ice House canyon is in the Upper San Gabriel mountains, just north of Upland.  Steve, Laura and I left at 6:45 to get there! AM!  We picked up Laura's younger brother and headed into the canyon.  Usually it costs $5 to park but for some reason this weekend was free! Win!  The downside was that the parking lot was packed and we tacked on another half mile to our hike because we had to park down the road.  But I was just glad to see some trees! Pine trees nonetheless.  The air smelled incredible.  I think that's how air is supposed to smell. Fresh.  We started off at 5000 feet and started to climb over 3000 more.   

The weather was perfect and I was really happy to be in nature.  So I climbed a log.  And then I took this picture of Laura's brother.

I climbed this log too. So I could take this blown out picture.

There were a lot of cabin ruins along the first part of the trail.  This was one of the more substantial ones.  Most of the others were just chimneys.   

My future residence..could be a bit drafty in winter

A couple miles in we started to get to the switchbacks.  Let me just say I hate switchbacks.  Ok hate is a strong word. But sometimes you wish you could just go strait up.   

But I love these views. 

We finally made it to what a sign informed us was Ice House Saddle.  I'm not sure what that means, but it wasn't all that satisfying.  It wasn't at the top of the peak and we decided that we had to get to the top of the peak.  We took a break for lunch.  Not a bad view for lunch eh?

It was another mile to the very top and we charged it.  The air was getting thinner and the gravel was very loose, so it was not an easy ascent.  I have never seen this before, a pine cone with clear sap over it.  It looked like icicles were dripping down the cone. Pretty cool

I call it a Pinecicle

We were almost to the top.  I was ready to get there and I charged ahead. 

 I paused to catch my breath and found this cool wood formation.

Cool wood formation

Finally we made it!  There were no sign at the top so I decided to get out my sharpie and my pocket hatchet and make one real quick.

Ok, I kid.  The sign was already there.  But kind of ghetto right?  We hung out for a while and just admired the views.

After some group meditation we began our descent.  Going down was a lot quicker.  I was doing my patented "controlled fall" down the the mountain.  We were surprised at just how far we had gone.  When we neared the end of the hike we decided that it was time for some creek stompin'.  The water was crystal clear and so cold it was almost painful.

After some hesitation, I decided to just go for it and jump in.  I went all the way under and it took my breath away.  But it was so refreshing, especially after being sweaty and dusty.  Laura and her brother soon followed, but Steve wasn't feeling it.  We dried off and headed back to the car.  It was another successful hike.  I would highly recommend Ice House Canyon.  It is amazing how close it is to civilization and yet you never get the sense that you are anywhere near it.  We were lucky enough to go back to dinner waiting for us at Laura's house, and man did it taste good!