Wow! Where do I start? I last did this hike two years ago, in July. IT WAS HOT, HOT, HOT!!! Today however, the temps were perfect. I started off about 7am and it was a little chilly. I didn't expect many others to be there early on a Friday morning and there wasn't. Just myself and one other hiker who took off about 20 minutes before me. Saw only one other hiker coming down on my way up.

I had the summit to myself for about 20 minutes. Then another hiker showed up. We mostly hiked down together and he recommended another hike in the area, since I was looking to do a little more than 5 miles. The Guardian Angel Loop Trail in the Calico Basin did not disappoint. Of course, neither did the Turtlehead Peak Trail. 😉 😉

The route up and down is pretty easy to follow as long as you can read signs (early on) and follow painted arrows and dots along the route and follow the permantent cairns also along the route. Once I made it down the lower portion of the trail was pretty packed. Mostly with families out enjoying Red Rock Canyon. The parking lot, which had 3 vehicles in it when I arrived at 630am, was now packed with vehicles.

The trail itself is in great shape. No water and no mud anywhere along the trail. My total elevation gain ended up being close to 2065 feet, 1300 of those feet came in the final 1.1 mile to the summit.