With two peaks remaining, I decided to hike first the one more likely to get snow before snow came on it – which meant hiking Hot Springs Mountain. I got to the reservation late morning about an hour before noon, paid the entrance fee, drove to the trailhead and hiked up. There were several hikers out that day and I met most of them on the way up as they were headed down. The weather was excellent. The trail was mostly snow free except for the section of the trail between the old watchtower and the actual summit block, but the snow patches were easy to avoid or navigate and did not require traction devices. I took a few photos before climbing the summit block and two hikers showed up and we decided to climb the summit block at the same time. We took each others photos and descended. They went ahead while I stayed longer for a break before heading down. I got to my car with daylight still on and was out of the reservation before their closing time.