This was an interesting one to say the least lol. God of War had me staying up late and waking up even later.  I started this one at 1pm, and knew I would be racing the clock, since it gets dark wayyy too early now. The estimated time to finish this one is about 9 hours..  so unless I hauled ass, I was going to be hiking in the dark until 10pm. The plus side of starting late like a dummy- I got to see one of the greatest sunsets I've seen in my life.

I made it up in about 3 hours, and luckily a nice lady named Jaclyn gave me her head lamp for the descent. Total life saver, because I spent the second half of the hike completely in the dark by myself. I have never been more scared of getting eaten by a mountain lion in my life lol. But it was kinda nice to confront those fears and learn how to stay calm out there by myself. Finished in 6 hours (yeet)… but from now on, I'm going to wake up early for hikes like a big boy.

The trail itself is awesome. Its pretty easy to follow, with a decent amount of people out there. The uphill section is steep, but its a consistent steepness that allows you to get into a groove. Miles 3-5 were definitely the toughest, knowing you have so much left, but you've already covered so much elevation gain. It's a great challenge and it's extremely convenient to drive from LA. I'll probably try to beat my time in the future.

It was pretty hilarious that when I got to the top of the mountain, there were people who I guess drove to the top & were taking TikTok videos lmao. “Influencers in the wild” – Jaclyn the head lamp savior