Partly cloudy and cool, this Christmas Monday brought out hundreds of hikers, young and old. Most masked up. I haven’t hiked vertical peaks in a couple months so I was humbled as little itty bitty kids were leaving me in the dust as we ascended to the peak!

I made it to the chilly top in 90 min, taking the Hidden Valley trail up. Lots of people were trekking this wide, gravel trail. There is no tree cover going up this trail, so a chilly day like today.

Since I am also trying to complete the Bay Ridge Trail, this peak challenge helped me accomplish a section. There is a Christmas tree at the peak! A great place to have a snack to enjoy the amazing view.

I enjoyed descending the much more scenic Heaven Horse Trail that loops back to the staging area.   This is a single track trail, packed dirt, not gravel, so less chance of slipping. Rolling pasture land, livestock, moss covered trees and stones fill every stream bed. Very few hikers on this section made it feel more tranquil. I stopped to take lots of photos so the whole loop was 7 miles, plus a extra mile there and back to my car, 8 total!