Thought I was finishing with easiest hike…I was wrong! We did the 6.5 mile option and now I see why people would hike 13 miles. (we went around to the right which is a slower elevation gain, according to All Trails we should have gone to the left and gotten the step part of of the way first) Started off easy and became moderate with lots of loose rock for the first 3.5 miles… Then came the hike to the top which was in my opinion very steep, views along the trail were quite beautiful the rolling buttes are stunning… The top was very windy when we headed down I thought it would be easy because yeah downhill… But it was so steep that it was not fun. We walked in the grass to the side of the road as we didn't have poles. I would recommend either going back the same way or doing the steep part first, poles are highly recommended. I probably wouldn't do this hike again.