The parking lot was wide open at 6 am when we started and the trail was very well marked. Lots of beautiful wildflowers and the stream was rushing. There were lots of bugs throughout the entire lower part of the hike, but they lessened as we ascended (bring a bug net!) The brush on either side of the trail in sections was overgrown with some thorny bushes so wear pants. I would definitely recommend breaking this up into two days, with an overnight at a campsite. It's just simply too long to do in one day from South Fork. Be sure you bring plenty of water and plan to filter in the stream. Altitude sickness was a huge problem for me, but the views from the top were gorgeous.