The fall colors were unreal. Bright bursts of yellow, scarlet and poppy. A marigold mountain.

I started the hike at 3:15pm on a Monday. There were 4 cars in the parking lot, but as I was coming two groups were leaving, so that left two of us. 🙂 Just me and a solo male hiker I ran into later on the trail.

The trail was embedded with roots and felt very steep to me for the first 3 miles. Finally, at about 3.5 miles, the colors popped. Bright golds and oranges and red blueberry bushes with LOTS of blueberries ripe for eating. I had a few and they were super sweet. So tasty.

I summitted at 6pm and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect time for the fall spectrum. I stayed at the top for 20 minutes just looking at the views, taking photos, refueling, taking more photos. Soooo stunning: the shadows, colors, textures, panoramas (and drop-offs).

Because I started later in the day, I had about an hour of hiking in the dark and finished at 8:21pm. Highly recommend this hike for the fall colors, the views and a killer workout!

Total time: 5:04 hours

Distance: 9.0 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,799 ft.