The most beautiful fall weather. The hike is as follows: small warm-up, steep, steeper, a bit of a reprise on wooded pathways, going down hill (wait what?), hike back up, finally big bare steep rocks on the home stretch. It was very windy and cold on the summit. The descent was absolutely gorgeous. Super fall weather, just beautiful.

The trail is well marked, however, I recommend always looking for the next trail marker, do not necessarily assume you know where the trail is, it can be deceiving. Once you hit the bare rocks close to the summit, you will follow the most magnificent cairns all the way up.

Also – do make parking reservations ahead of time. I was turned away and could not find parking on the weekend! On my second attempt during the week, the trail was not busy. I only encountered a handful of hikers and was all by myself on the summit. The white dot and white cross trail have pretty steep parts but are manageable. I consider myself a slow and careful hiker and it took me less than 4 hours.

Great mountain, wonderful views!