This was our toughest hike yet, fourth in the series with Rose and Sizer left to go – and plan to do those as 2 day trips.  Weather was forecast to be 81, but that was at the summit.  It got up to 87 along the hike and was up to 95 on the return.  We drank lots of water!  The trail up Mitchell Rock, Eagle Peak and Bald Ridge is quite steep in places and our pace was much slower than most hikes.  Sections of Bald Ridge look level on the topo map, but are constantly undulating and no respite.  Summit trail is pretty exposed and was HOT.

Reaching the summit though, we found ice cream sandwiches at the gift store, so all was good.  The return hike down Juniper Trail, Deer Flat Rd and Mitchell Canyon Rd was pretty steep at the start, enough to slow us down and slip occasionally, but we eventually reached the bottom of the valley where we found the creek flowing and a more gentle road for the last 4 or so miles back.