Got to the trailhead at around 7:00am. Our group consisted of just Connie and I. The Visitor Center wasn't open yet so I had to pay the $8 parking fee using a drop in box. Wasn't an issue, except I had about $5 in quarters, which made the envelope too bulky to in their drop in box. A helpful advice to the park is to make the drop in payment box coin friendly.

The hike itself was extremely strenuous. At ground level it doesn't look that bad, but you have to go down and back up around 2k feet of elevation twice. There's also a deep river/creek crossing you will need to do twice. We didn't expect this, but fortunately we came somewhat prepared. We took off our shoes and socks and cross the river. We had a spare piece of clothing and a backpacking chair to help dry us off after we cross both times.

The grade of the elevation grade is ridiculous steep. You DEFINITELY need hiking poles for this. Not so much for the ascension, but it'll give stability on the descension part. I typically don't use hiking poles for my hikes, but this is the one hike which I will say: Yes, you do need them.

The park does try to help you out with this trail. There's plenty of water sources along the trail, meaning you can pack less water if you have a water filter. Definitely take advantage of that. I carried around 1L of water and I refilled at the river once. Also, there's a restroom you can use halfway in the hike.

Weather was great in the mid 60s, not too much clouds. Help made the hike a lot easier. The scenery is great with smoky clouds and lush green mountains. It reminded me of hikes I've done in the past around the Great Smoky Mountains area. Also lots of wildflowers blooming, especially with the California poppies. Saw lots of wild turkey running around too.

Despite how great the nature was in this hike, I'm probably never going to do this again. I was mentally demoralized after our 2nd river crossing. Had to take a bunch of breaks not because I was physically exhausted, but because I mentally didn't want to hike anymore.

I haven't done the northern peaks just yet, but this is definitely the hardest peak out of all the peaks in this challenge.