MUCH Easier Going Down!!!

Gorgeous hike – the first mile or so was a gentle uphill with decent shade, but the following 4 miles were a bit more intense in terms of sun.  Lots of gnat clouds were annoying, but not totally awful.  I’d definitely recommend not starting any later than 8:30 am or so, as the heat & sun get intense quickly at this elevation and this far inland.  We hiked up the rocky path to the peak, which was about 5 miles of decently hard/slow work, but absolutely flew down after summiting.  If you do the loop, you’ll come down a fire road which is a bit steeper but also a little under 3 miles and much more stable for the downhill than the rocky bits we encountered on the way up.  The summit was a bit anticlimactic – no summit sign that we could see, and a giant tower blocks what would otherwise be a lovely 360 degree view.  Parking was $10 – they do have a credit card payment machine that made this really simple.