Parked at Nordic Base around 8 which is a late start for us, but with a midweek hike (even with the holiday) we figured this trail may not be too heavy with traffic. We guessed correctly. We were one of 2 cars in the large parking lot. FYI, there are no bathroom facilities at the trailhead. We made it to Sawmill via Mt Pinos trail to Vincent Tumamait trail. The lookout at Mt Pinos offered fog covered views of the Bakersfield valley. It was such a clear, crisp day on the hike, so to see the fog over the distant valley was striking. My favorite part of this hike was the multiple peaks. It was a steady bit of work. I like that we went up and down one mountain, up and down the other, to go back and repeat the up and down of the first. It was unique to this hike for me. We completed the hike in about 3.5 hours (doesn't include a 30 minute rest at the summit).

Trailnote: There is a fork to the right that you need to take off the Vincent Tumamait trail to summit Sawmill. My husband and I were deep in conversation and overshot the fork by about .5 miles. It is a small fork off to the right…don't make our mistake…lol!