We arrived at the trail head at 7:30am and saw plenty of parking, which is a very nice contrast to parking at the Chantry Flats trailhead. The weather was cloudy and cool, perfect for a hike in the front range. We ran into several crews doing trail work between the trail head and Orchard Camp, possible for the upcoming Mt Wilson Trail Run event. We took a 10 minute break at Orchard Camp and then continued on to the toll road, where we got above the cloud cover to sunny skies. We reached the Cosmic Café parking lot in 3 hours 20 minutes. We continued on past the café and found a nice bench sheltered from the cool breeze to eat lunch. The hike down went by fast. It was a great day to hike in the San Gabriel's!!!