at parking lot at 6:15. didn't realize there was an upper lot so not sure how full it was when I arrived. lower lot was 3/4 full. there were lots of people. I went solo and several others were also by themselves.  hike was fairly difficult almost from the start – steep and rocky, and remained so most of the way. short hike, seemingly, but it took me hour and 20 to reach the peak. had a few moments of feeling unsure about the rocks, but it went away. mind over matter.  hand rails helped. some areas had lots of space to pick your own way through, others were bottlenecked. I did have a pole and sometimes it was more in the way than useful – at the rails for sure, both up and down. at the top, I found the (closed) Cholla trail and it looked intriguing, but it appears to be in full sun. even though Echo trail stayed in the shade that early in the day, there was no breeze for much of hike and it was warm; 65 when I started, mid 80's by the time I was done. yuk. will be doing last challenge hike next week – not a moment too soon!  I was surprised at the amount of people starting when I left as it was forecast  to be 95 degrees in the next hour. overall, I give this hike a solid -meh. it was a challenge, but not one I feel the need to repeat.