This was my first big peak hike. I have been doing small hikes, but nothing this intense. This is definitely a good hike to start building up to, I am sure, much more intense and difficult hikes.
The weather was nice, cool but not cold. It did get warm later on in the the day, but once you would stop for a rest you could feel the coolness right away.

We started our hike around 7:20 am out of Chantry flats. We made our way to the summit via the Gabrielino trail. The way up to the summit from here has a beautiful forest scenery. Lots of trees and rocks, some streams and dams along the way. Plenty of shade. You can feel yourself ascending up the hill but it is not steep until you start getting closer to the top. For me, I started feeling the steepness once I passed Sturtevant Camp, about 5 miles from the trailhead. Make sure you stop at Sturtevant Camp, it is a neat little spot to take a halfway rest. From this point the rest of the trail starts getting steeper and harder as your legs start tiring. Closer to the peak the trail starts to narrow and there is less shade, but gives way to some amazing views.

Reaching the top feelt amazing! Not only because I felt accomplished that I had made it up to the top but because the views are incredibly breathtaking from up there. The observatory and radio antennas are an added bonus. This time around our group did not get to stop and explore this area, but we will next time. We rested here at the top and ate before making our way down the summit.

Close to the end of the trail is were another first happened, we got lost along the way and took a detour, our 13 mile hike turned into a 20 mile hike. Our group missed an important junction about 9.5 miles in. But hey! you live and you learn. We should have ended back at Chantry Flats but instead took a detour that landed us in Eaton Canyon from where we made our way back to Chantry Flats.

The way down was more rocky and there was not as much shade. I felt the sun much more on me due to the trail being more of an open road. We still got to see some nice scenic views and the silver lining was a beautiful sunset which we would have missed if we had not taken this unplanned detour. Along our way to Eaton Canyon we passed by Henninger Flats. There is a nice little campsite here.