Beautifully maintained trail — and the newer edition towards the start was truly stunning, especially with flowers in bloom. My only complaint regarding its maintenance is some of the mileage estimate markers were significantly off (more than a few tenths of a mile), which threw my pacing a bit.

Conditions-wise, the trail was a bit rougher towards the top with some snow — not quite enough to need spikes, but enough to slow one down. There were plenty of opportunities to filter water as well — nothing like water straight from a stream!

Once at the top, I highly recommend adding a little bit of extra distance to make it to Echo Rock. The view there is STUNNING, even more so than the view from the actual summit. You've already made it so far!

Super fun: while I didn't see it, I'm pretty sure I heard a bear — I heard something large move, too big to be anything else. My guess was seconded by someone who hikes the trail regularly and has encountered bears there in the past.

A bit humbling, overall, as I was pretty spent by the end, but a great benchmark to start the season and challenge!