This hike was a scramble all the way up. I've never done much rock scrambling but today I got my lesson! This mountain kicked my a**! But in the end…I won. There are 4 false summits. The views are spectacular at each one. Follow the white blazes to navigate. This trail is easy to navigate. The peak views were pretty nice. The weather was sunny, in the high 80's. I got real lucky as breezes came and went on a regular basis to help cool you off.

Get to the trailhead EARLY. I started my hike at 7:30 and there were a few spots left. If you get there any later, especially on the weekend, you will end up parked on the side of the road. Be a good person and pay the $5.00 for the day pass. This trail was extremely clean. I did not see one piece of litter except for someone's hair elastic band. It was very hard especially if you're not used to hiking in rocky areas. The scramble is REAL!!

It took me about 5 hours moving time for 5.4miles. Yes that's how hard this trail is. For knee issues, please wear braces. It's hard to use poles on this terrain. I was able to use them to keep my balance on way up but many time I had to toss them up the hill a little ways to use my hands. I did NOT use them going back down as I knew it was going to be a lot of hand use.  Besides, I wouldn't trust them to balance me well on the downhill. Wear sturdy hiking shoes, boots if you can as ankle support is needed. I wear Altra Lone Peaks however I did not like them for this trail. My ankles rolled several times. And as of writing this, I am sitting with knees and ankles on ice. (I want to head off the wakeup stiffness)

All in all it was a very challenging hike with amazing views and lots of lessoned learned.