One person encountered the entire hike! This was the most solitary hike I’ve done of the Challenge. And the sixth – challenge completed! 5 hours to finish hike: 2.5 to top, .5 at top, 2 to hike back down. The first 3 miles are quiet forest trails, and you can’t even see the mountain. Beautiful views of Diamond Lake and Mt Thielsen, though. The last mile has some scrambles, I guess they’re tougher Class 2, so I was very careful. Clear skies at the top, I could see Mt Shasta to the south and South Sister and Bachelor to the north. I did this on the way from Bend to Ashland (to see some plays), it was hardly out of the way at all. Poor signal at the trailhead, though, I couldn’t load maps and had to figure out how to proceed.