We arrived at the Rhus Ridge Trailhead around 7:10am on a Saturday, and all the parking spots were already taken. We should've known since we saw hikers walking towards the trailhead before we even got to the parking lot. So we had to park at Foothill College, which added about 2 miles to our round trip for a total of 12.44 miles according to my watch.

I have a lot of room for improvement for my conditioning, so this hike was hard. The first mile or so and last mile before the summit felt like constant climbing. There were many times where I was actually hitting max heart rate and had to chill out before continuing. My friends, on the other hand, were able to keep trekking along so your mileage may vary.

Despite the level of difficulty for me, it was a great challenge and a great hike. It was nice to have friends with me to motivate and push me to keep going. I also drove so it's not like they could've left anyway. 😂