After being cooped up with the unhealthy AQI and most forests closed from fires , it felt amazing to be on the trail again!
Left at 5:20, arrived at 7am. Foggy and cool, but warmed up fast. Gorgeous views and cool rock formations scattered everywhere. Fantastic hike. Really loved this trek to thr top. However, the peak is nothing special with all the towers, and the potato chip rock had 78 people in line ( I counted) and about 40 other people just milling about. Too crowded for my liking but there are so many other rocks with great views I found a quiet one to call my own and savor the views before heading back down. By mid morning a lot of people were heading up, took the loop around the lake and avoided the mid morning starter crowd and added 2 extra miles to the hike. The path around the lake was easy, serene and empty. Overall def a favorite !