Captain's Log: Hike 5

This hike could have been brutal if it wasn't for pure luck. The day we did the climb was overcast and it even rained a bit. This was a minor miracle, as there is hardly any shade or tree cover the entire trail. If you come most days without enough water and unprepared for the sun, you will have a bad time. The trail has a strange design. You start with a descent, before doing half the climbing in a little over a mile. At times it feels like you are going up a 70 degree hill. Without the clouds we would have simply withered into husks of men at the top of this section. Fortunately we did not, and instead made it to the peak. It is super easy to miss, without any clear plaques or signs. Look for the hut with solar panels, as that is all there is to see at the top. After the most extreme climb on this challenge, the summit felt anticlimactic. There are not any good places to sit for a lunch break, so just find a good looking dirt patch in the shade whenever you need a break. At the end of the climb down there is a campground with pit toilets and small creek to rest up by before starting the most painful part of this hike: the 1000 foot climb back to the parking lot. To paraphrase the ranger at the station: bring water and know what you are getting into before attempting this hike, because he is tired of rescuing people on this last climb who ran out of stamina.