After hiking Picacho in the morning, I headed to Saguaro National Park for the Sendero Esperanza trailhead with a short stop for gas. The turn-off from Sandario is unpaved but passable. I reached the trailhead and after a few minutes rest, I started hiking up Sendero Esperanza to the Hugh Norris trail. There were a few isolated wildflowers. The weather was clear with a breeze. At the saddle near the trail junction one third remaining till the summit, two hikers, Ellen and Rebecca caught up with me. They asked if it was the summit and I pointed it out to them. We decided to join together for the last 0.3 mile to the summit. On the way we talked, and stopped briefly at the register podium to sign the register.  At the summit we looked for the survey marker and had photos with our shoes touching the marker. Using my tripod we took group pictures and took each others' photos. Shortly after that they headed down while I stayed there until about 5:20 PM before heading down. The hike back was uneventful and although it was close to sunset, I did not need headlights until about 0.7 mile from the trailhead on the Sendero Esperanza trail. My concern was that the gate would be closed as it was past sunset when I got back to my vehicle, but when I got to the T intersection with Sandario Road, the gate was open. I then left and headed back to the I-10.