On Friday July 17, I started this hike around 4:40am when it was pitch black.  It was the first time I hiked alone in the dark, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared. All I could see was what my lamp light would illuminate, which was the path in front of me and once in a while a spider. I loved hearing the water rushing and crickets, it was a cool experience.

I've done this hike before and even hiked up the saddle two weeks ago, but for some reason this time around felt a lot more difficult. I think I was just in my head because it was dark and it was my first peak of the challenge, but I legitimately wanted to give up maybe 1 mile in. Once the sun started to break I got out of my head and shake off that feeling and the rest of the way up to the saddle was pleasant. I made it to the saddle by 6:40am and had still not seen a single other person. From the saddle to the peak is only about 2.5 miles, but I remembered that they are rough, so I took a little break, retied my hiking boots, and set up to the peak.

That first mile after the saddle feels easier because it starts going downhill, but it's not great once you realize that what goes down, must come up on the way back lol The last 1.5 miles up to the summit were the hardest and I remember I had to take multiple breaks here because I was just tired and it was getting warmer too. Then that final 0.1 trek to the summit is tough because it feels like it's just going straight up, but once I made it to the top, it was a wonderful feeling. I got to the summit around 8:15am. I took a nice break here where I drank plenty of water, ate half a sandwich, and took in the views.

As I was heading back down is when I finally saw another human, so it was around 8:40 at this point. I saw plenty of other people as I was heading back, but it was already A LOT hotter. I made it back to my car by 11am.

Overall review: Starting as early as possible is a necessity with this heat. Take AT LEAST 3L of water when it's super hot. It's better to have extra than run out. It's a beautiful, challenging hike!