Apparently, this hike's elevation gain is on average 400ft shy of Mt. Fuji. I was not aware of this until after the fact but boy was I hurting. Not to mention that we made this our first hike of the six… We wanted to do this as our first because last year the wildfire prevented us from climbing it.

In the beginning the trail started with these steep switchbacks. Back in my mind I knew I was going to hate them coming back to them. Once we passed them, it was still tough but beautiful hike. I loved listening to the water.

Mile 7 or so into the hike, it seemed to take forever to get to the summit. As we were trekking, I was pleasantly surprised to see some snow in July.

Hoodwinked by the false peak, we still had a bit more to go. Finally we summited. Took in what nature had to offer. After about a half an hour rest, were started the climb down, which is really the awful part of any hike. To me, it's all mental. While the descend should be faster it is more painful especially with the impact on your knees. Also the scenery is a little bit different so you don't quite remember if you had came through that particular area.

The trail was neverending. Just one step in front of the other. Little by little we finished the trail. Finished those initial switchbacks. Some how we finished it. It took us about 11 hours 30 minutes.

On our way home, we saw a bunch of fireworks. Los Angeles was celebrating that we finished one of the toughest hikes in southern California.