We started the hike around 9:30am on Sunday.  The parking lot was full but we found parking along the road across from the Bear Canyon Trail Head.  I'd suggest starting an hour or more earlier to avoid crows at the start.  We saw a few folks taking our same trail during the day, but it was not overly crowded.  The first 4.3 miles was a gentle climb with different sections that had great views.  The skies were clear and we had great visibility and could even see Catalina before we got to the top of the summit!  We took the path to the right at the fork by Morgan Trail (the shorter route) on the way to the top.  Once you get to around mile 4.3 you go down hill and encounter wreckage from a plane crash.  After you see the wreckage you begin to climb up a very steep side of the final summit.  There are not a ton of switch backs – you basically scale up the side.  Erosion from the recent rains created a deep crevice down the center of the trail so you had to go on either side on the way up.  Once at the top we had great views to the West of Catalina and to the East of the San Gorgonio and Bear Mountains covered in snow.  It was beautiful!  There were plenty of places to stop and have a bit to eat and take photos before making the descent.  We had to take care on the way down the side of the steep summit – it was helpful to have a hiking pole to brace yourself with some loose debris due to the rains.  On the way back down we took the longer loop to the right that went along the ridge and met back up with the main trail.  Our lab and Chihuahua terrier mix both did the hike with us and loved it!  The weather was great with no snow at the top due to the lower elevation – we were in short sleeves at the top of the mountain but started out with coats, so bring layers you can easily shed!  In all the trip took almost exactly 4 hours.