Well-maintained trail with a sunny day really made this an easy, mind-clearing hike. Most of the AllTrails reviews mentioned a steep section at the end, and honestly it wasn't as bad as I expected. It was also exceptionally windy, but I also went out on a very high wind advisory. Honestly, the best part was seeing the beautiful landscape just beyond Ortega highway. I've been local to southern California for about a decade now, and I have always loved taking Ortega highway and have taken it probably a hundred times by now. I've always seen hikers on the side of the road taking it in the past few years and have wondered what trails I could hike to see around the area. I was really glad to have found this trail and be able to take it to a great, local peak that allowed me to see nearly to the ocean. Really makes me want to look around more when I take roads like Ortega highway as I have never appreciated the landscape beyond the road.

Candy shop was closed when I got back to the end though, was really bummed about that. Saw a sign on the door saying they're going out of business. Hopefully I get a chance to check them out.