The perfect day for this perfect hike. Due to king canyon trailhead closed.. we chose the hike via sunset which started at the el Camino del Cerro trailhead, resulting in a 9.3 mile round hike. The hike to the saddle wasn’t terrible with a decent gradual elevation increase.. with the most of the elevation coming in after the saddle. One of the things I love about this hike are all the spiky saguaros. It’s just such an amazing site to see all of them and to think about how long they’ve been there. All the different types; shapes, heights, grandparents, babies, crazy arms, perfect arms.. they are all so unique. We started at 10:22 and wrapped up at 2:15. Spent a good half hour at the top soaking in the sun and enjoying the breeze. This hike was special.. it was my boyfriend’s first SPOP challenge hike and was my sixth for this challenge. We called it the Sweet 16 hike. It’s always so amazing getting out into nature and feeling it’s peace. Never stop hiking my friends!!