O’Leary Peak-cool views of lightning for a lot of the hike

for me, a fairly difficult hike. We started at 10:15, and I think that’s way too late to avoid the heat of the day. There’s not much shade and it’s steep steep steep. It’s not the prettiest of trails, as it’s really a gravel road the whole way up to the tower. About halfway through, clouds gathered, and we were high enough above sunset crater to watch it deluged in rain. That cooled things off tremendously. We were advised to vacate the area immediately when we got to the top, as signs posted said it was not safe if storms were present, and we had been watching the lightning  for an hour. On this hike, We used walking sticks for the first time, and found it much easier on our knees going down, really a game changer for us.