This Saturday I finished hike number 35/52 for the 52 Hike Challenge in 2015. This was also my final training hike before starting the John Muir Trail. It was great to be able to spend the 4th of July at the summit of Cucamonga Peak and watch the fireworks exploding from high above. For this hike, I was joined by Julia, Isla, and Lilly.
Having spent the 4th of July at this summit a few times now, I was shocked to see how many tents were pitched when we arrived. The past few years, there may have been 2 or 3 other groups. There were at least 15 tents pitched this time around. It was really cool to see so many people, and even better to hear a few of them say they first read about this microadventure on my blog. It’s always a great feeling to know these posts help inspire.
We pitched our tent on the isolated strip of land on the north side of the peak that faces Etiwanda Peak. There was only one other tent on that side, so it made for a great campsite.
After pitching the tent, we took a walk around and said hello to a lot of the people at the summit. The sun was just starting set and we could hear the firework shows beginning. It wasn’t long before the sky went black, and blasts of light began to populate the scene below.
I woke up early the next morning to catch the sunrise and it was ever so worth it. The sun crept slowly up the back of Etiwanda Peak, as a thick blanket of fog clung close to the ground in the valley.
Isla and Lilly love camping on this north stretch of land because it gives them a racetrack to spring back and forth. For some reason, they do this every morning when we camp up here!
We took a few more shots of the sunrise and then made our way back down. A great final training hike before the JMT. I’m really starting to look forward to it!