We had read that when you go to park the gates open at 6am. We got there at 6:05 and the parking lot was full. There was still parking in the pay parking area so we parked there. The hike starts going down hill and all I could think was that this would not be too fun going up it at the end of the hike (spoiler it wasn't that bad). The hike starts along a creek and we did take the branch off to see the sturtevant waterfall which was nice. until we branched off the trail to the waterfall it was packed with people. After you start heading to the peak the number of other people dwindled. There is an option to take an upper or lower option on the way toward Wilson after the waterfall and we went the upper route because there were fewer people. I was surprised how long you stay in covered forests on this hike almost the entire way feels like you are hiking along a stream due to the foliage coverage- it was beautiful. We saw a cute little green and pink ring snake. At one point we heard someone yell bear and learned we were just out of eye line to see a black bear run away as some bikers had startled it. Several hikers not too far in front of us saw it. We did see deer and many large lizards as well. The top was neat to walk around, I was concerned about finding the right way down as it is a bit sprawling due to the buildings. The cosmic cafe is closed for the year as are the bathrooms. We took winter creek on the way down and it was just as lovely as the way up. This hike was great- all but the peak.