Wow and, glad we're home and done.  That was an ass kick of a hike and climb.  Loved it!  I look forward to doing it again, but not for a while.  We got a fairly early start at 6:00am although there were about 5 cars in the lot with a 2 some heading out as we arrived.  They cranked up and down at a killer pace….saw them descending when we had about a mile to go.  The temp was perfectly cool for the start with clear skies.  We wanted to get moving as we know we'd have little relief with no clouds.  Once you cross the creek it's a truly steep 1 mile climb gaining about 1000 feet into the ‘Wilderness Permit' zone.  We were prepared, but it was still pretty taxing.  There was a little relief in slope for about a .5 mile then more switchbacks and climbing.  Cool breezes and getting to the creek with running water helped us along the way.  We kinda coasted through to High Creek Camp somehow and realized we were 6 miles in in 2 hours and 30 min.  We snacked and rested about 10 min then hit more switchbacks.  Along the way we passed a cool solo hiker woman who we played hiking leapfrog with up to the summit and back.  She was just completing her 6 pack!
The last 2.5 miles were pretty grueling with plenty of rocks and loose terrain to navigate.  That said, it was all worth it.
I loath descents.  This one is not too bad, but over 9 miles, my feet were burning most of the way.  We took timely breaks to cool down as temps increased.  The final descent was tough, but we focused on our individual food prizes and post hike drinks.