Uphill both ways

There is an honor system fruit stand at the trailhead with tangerines, avocados and bottles of water.  Bring cash if you want to grab a treat.  There is also a restroom facility at the trailhead.  Nicely marked trail is easy to follow.  The trail is rutted out in a lot of areas and is pebbly rocky uneven ground throughout.  Not the best to walk on if you have any joint issues.  Very steep uneven sections made my walking sticks for stability extremely welcome.  Very challenging.  I drank all 5 liters of water I packed and it was a cool day in the high 60s.  We bypassed the extremely busy trail to the actual peak and benchmark to go to the face instead.  Well worth it and had a quiet lunch looking at the El Capitan lake.