Wooo, this one was no joke! Definitely glad we had worked our way up to this one as we were totally exhausted when we finished. It’s a lot of up, up, up – so be prepared.
Having said that, there was a lot we liked: more water than we expected (including places to filter), some cool history (historic hotels at the trailhead and the observatory has a lot of history at the top), great views, and the Cosmic Cafe was great (but really? No cheeseburgers?).
There was one turnoff we missed – after hiking on the toll road for a bit you are supposed to return to the trail but we never saw it and it lengthened our hike, so watch for that.
Didn’t have issues with bugs or anything. Challenging hike in the July heat but we did it!
Responses
Congratulations Dallin! You are an impressive hiker and I loved your stories (especially about the candy store tip). 7 down, 5 to go!