I started my day by sleeping in until 10:30am Lol! I ended up making it to the pay station by 12:00pm, unfortunately I did not realize it was the pay station because I didn't take the time to look. It is located at the stop sign right next to the Tribal Police trailer. I drove all the way up to the trailhead which is a few miles uphill and a dirt road. I couldn't find the pay station so I wasted 30 minutes driving around before finally going back down to the Police trailer to ask for help. Then I saw the pay station LOL! After paying my 10.00 dollars and driving BACK up to the trailhead I started my hike at 12:30pm. I was the only person on the road, in the campground, and on the hike. I did see a deer grazing and a flock of turkeys down in the campground. I've never experienced so much solitude before but it was fine by me. Got some good self time in! The first 2 miles is uphill, pretty decent incline, thankful for my trekking poles. After getting towards the top the scenery changes for the better. Nice flat walk through so many species of pine and oak. Bugs were bugging, thankful for my head net. There was also a pretty decent breeze near the top as well. I really wanted to climb up the old fire tower but didn't(this time). The actual summit is about 100 yards opposite the fire tower, there are a bunch of pink tape markers leading the way. After getting to the summit you have options, you can use existing ropes to scale up a boulder or a ladder conveniently placed right around the corner from the ropes. I enjoyed lunch on the summit, signed the notepad, and headed back down. Total hike time was 5 hours including a lunch break at the top. I don't recommend doing any hike in the heat of the day but I'm not a morning person…. I definitely recommend this hike!