On this day, admittedly, we initially set out for Mt San Jacinto for training but were turned around in town stating that national forests were still closed and the trail was therefore closed. They were due to reopen the day before but extended to 9/22 — bummer!  Hot springs was still on my list for this challenge and still open, so it became a perfect opportunity to still get some distance and check this one off 🙂 It was a perfect Saturday and maybe still only saw 10 people. The trail was almost like a road with loose sand the whole way, not my favorite honestly. And the summit didn’t have a sign — strange that it’s the highest point in SD County. The ladder and rope climb was also a first, we accepted the physical challenge with our packs and went for it. Sketchy but awesome.