So, doing Sawmill mountain apart of another challenge involving 2 other peaks was definitely not a normal hike. Rather than the usual downhill break back to the car after reaching a peak with normal hikes, the hike back on this trail was probably more difficult than the way over. It was basically up, down, up, down, up, then repeat on the way back, probably the best leg workout I've ever gotten on a mountain.

The hike itself wasn't too bad, clocking in just shy of 11 miles total. I absolutely slept in at the motel down the road at Frazier Park and didn't start the hike until about 1pm. I was able to finish around 4:30pm, but I was pretty gassed. The first peak, Pinos, was the most crowded, passing by approximately 100 or so people I'd say (mostly in tour groups, however), but everyone was super nice and respectful. On the way to Sawmill, I only passed by maybe a dozen people max. Past Sawmill, I saw maybe one or two people.

As for conditions, there is practically 95% snow coverage, even starting at the parking lot (which served as a popular sledding area, tons of families and running children so be cautious). The parking lot, on this note, is absolutely huge, has trash containers, bathrooms, etc. For the first two peaks (Pinos and Sawmill), it was pretty consistent snow with patches of muddy, sun exposed parts of the trail. The snow was a few inches max, but in the shady spots there were really large, slick chunks of ice. After Sawmill to the final peak, it got pretty gnarly. I only had one to two sets of footprints to track, and the snow was knee-level at some points. I managed to do the entire hike with no spikes, poles, or snowshoes, but there were snowshoe prints I followed to the third peak that were helpful. I'd recommend, at the least, some poles to help with traction and to prevent slipping. If you're in decent shape, the snow even with bare shoes is manageable.

Finally, it was super windy, like unbelievably windy lol. Made slope-exposed parts of the hikes absolutely horrible, getting blasted by some decent gusts. I'd just say for anyone reading this, just bring some layers to cover your exposed parts of your body like your neck, face, etc. My nose, ears and lips got chewed up pretty good from the cold and wind. It was a great hike with some pretty great views, especially with clear skies. You can see extremely far, and honestly doing this hike apart of the 3-2-1 challenge made it feel like much more of an accomplishment (2 birds 1 stone kinda feeling, ya know) and gave me an awesome leg workout I feel for days.