We started our ascent at 6:03am and we summited at 12:54pm, which puts our total ascent time at 6 hr 51 min. My Apple Watch logged it as 10.43 miles and 5,098ft of elevation gain. The trail is in great condition, the first 1.5 miles is a tough incline and so is the last couple of miles. In between those tough sections it can be quite pleasant but I would recommend having a mosquito net for the first half of the hike. We stayed at the top for an hour and started our descent at 1:55pm accompanied by some dark clouds above. About 10 min into our descent those clouds would start to produce pebble sized hail and thunder. We were completely exposed on the ridge line so our only option was to try to descend as quickly as possible to get some sort of shelter within the trees. The weather had called for a slight chance of rain in the late afternoon/evening hours but it moved in quicker than forecasted. We got down relatively quickly because of the scenario that was unfolding and finished our descent at 6:19pm. At around 3/4 of the way down the sky was back to being clear and you would never have known the storm we had witnessed just a few hours earlier. This hike was an experience I won’t forget not only because of the weather but the fact that we summited the tallest mountain in SoCal and the sheer amount of will power it took on the ascent. It’s a long hike and it seemed to just keep going. Do not believe AllTrails or the hike guide on the social hikers because this is not 17.5 miles. In total we walked nearly 20 miles! All in all it was a great day and another peak bagged! 2 more left for this 2024 challenge!!