I was scared to hike this one.  I heard so many stories about how hard it was.  We hit the trail around 7:45am.  We picked the perfect day! Snow was all gone. It was cool and with a slight breeze so NO BUGS!! The first 2 miles were hard – no lie however, it was the best and most scenic part of the trail.  Lush with wildflowers, a small creek, and nice views.  Rocky terrain and definitely needed the poles.  Switch back after switch back with grades reaching 30% mostly averaging around 20%.  When we got to the junction where the road was, the grade was more manageable, but it was sunshine all the way with no shade.  Thank goodness for the breeze.  The hardest part of walking the road was knowing there was still 4+ more miles to go.  It was a truck road, not too scenic, mostly on the side of the mountain we had to circumvent.  About 2 more miles we saw the Tower way up on the hill and got pretty excited except for the fact we just kept hiking and hiking and hiking.  Only one hiker passed us and met a small group making their way down.  What was most disconcerting was being passed by all the trucks going up to the summit. Although, one stopped and offered us water.  Around a mile from the summit, we got a reprieve from the sun and entered shade trees going around the last bend.  Got to the summit and the Watch Tower – a lot of stairs from ground level to the observatory deck. No access but sometimes the fireman came down and socialized a few minutes.  We just missed him.  Was so happy to make it I forgot about the registry.  Making our way back down was pretty nice except for the final 2 miles – so steep going up meant not so easy going back down.  Overall, it was a mental game, we had trained on distance and elevation for months and I was prepared to hate the first 2 miles – kept looking at the fit bit to see if it was almost over.  But now that I've done it, I wasn't so put off that I wouldn't do it again…someday.