I went today, Sunday, November 13th. I started at 8:30 a.m. and finished at 4 p.m. This hike is hard in its own way. The first half mile is pretty easy, however from the half mile mark until about 2.5 miles is nothing but uphill. Actually, it's nothing but uphill all the way to the top, which is almost 7 miles. It was pretty cold today. At the car it was in the high 30s when I started, after a couple hours it was in the mid 40s, but as I started getting closer to the top, the temperature dropped very quickly. At the top the temperature was a balmy 34 and it was very windy. It was freezing so I did not stay very long. The ranger in the fire lookout saw myself and a few others and came down. We are all now members of the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Squirrels. Haha! Not even kidding. If the ranger comes down, you get a little green card that says you hiked to the top. He dated and signed it too. So that made the freezing cold worth it. The hike down was a little bit miserable simply because it was so cold. Also going downhill for 7 miles is pretty hard on the feet and knees. It was so cold that the muscles were cramping in my legs, which made the hike back quite a bit harder because my legs were aching all the way down. If you're going to do this between now and the end of the year, wear warm pants. Mine were not warm enough and I learned that the hard way. I did not encounter any bugs. I did see some mountain lion tracks. It was a little bit muddy and there were a couple really small patches of snow near the top.

And with that, I have completed the 2022 San Diego County 6 Peak Challenge!