It was an absolutely spectacular day. The day was completely clear and I could see the Sierras, Mt. Tam, and Mt Shasta (?). Not sure about that last one but it was a snow covered peak well behind Mt. Tam. The grasses are so lush and green. With all of the rain we've had over the past few months our hills looked like we were in Ireland. Luckily, the rains had stopped a day or so earlier so the trails were in decent shape.

The flowers are starting to bloom, birds singing in the trees, and a bunch of quails were running around. It's been quite a while since I've seen any quails. The sky was a clear blue – not much haze.

It was a stunningly beautiful day. It was also an a** kicker of a hike. I'm a runner and a hiker. I was pretty surprised at how difficult I found some of the sections of the trail. There were a few sections where the scree made my footing a little dicey.

We did the 13.2 mile hike. Took 7 hours. We decided to do the hike late the night before – so I wasn't very prepared. Next time – I'll make sure I'm more prepared and will pack a decent lunch.