It was great to start the hike in the morning, we were on the trail by 8:30am.  It was a cool 41 degrees but very nice in the sun.  There was a bit of early morning haze but the views were great as we made the climb.  This was definitely a strenuous hike, I totally understand the need for gloves with all the cables and sharp rocks.  Much of the trail is narrow with cables on both sides; there is some wire fencing and bridging on the very steep parts.  Views were great!  The trail wasn’t too crowded going up but going down (starting around 10:15) we encountered al lot of additional hikers who were headed up.  We had time to take in more of the views and occasional hawks as we waited for those with the right of way to pass. It took us over 3 hours to complete and was a very good workout!