Started at Stanford Ave with the standard crowds but decided to fork out to take the path less traveled – Peak Meadow Trail to Horse Heaven Trail to the Peak.  Guessing that in the olden days, many horses have died and gone to horse heaven because the trail is so steep there.  The sun was on the other side of the mountain when we started at 6:45am, very nice to hike in the shade.  It was neat to see the huge shadow line slowly move across the valley of houses below; reminds me of the movie, The Legend of Hei.  There were lots of happy cows eating tender green grasses, a couple of creek crossings, a lush area near McClure Spring.  Overall, a pleasant strenuous hike with very few people around.