What a beautiful day! I have to admit I didn't have the best attitude going into this hike…I was driving from LA and got a later start than I meant to. Knowing it was on the shorter side and not as difficult as other hikes I've completed, I had a bit of a “cross this one off the to-do list” mentality. What a mistake! First of all, I would have found this plenty challenging when I was a less experienced hiker. Second of all, parts of it were still a little steep, and since I was booking it to the top in a race against the sun, I did some huffing and puffing and let my dog pull me most of the way up. The views at the top were absolutely stunning, and luckily since I got up there quickly, I realized I had lots of time to enjoy the views. I did loop all around the top and couldn't find a sign to take a picture with but hopefully some nerdy selfies with the bench up there will suffice for this site to show that I did make it to the top. The top was so cool – in one direction you could see rolling green hills and colorful mountains, and in the other direction there were beautiful views but much more gray and rocky. The Salton Sea was visible too.

On the way down, I had amazing views of the sunset and changing colors across the green mountains. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen. And it felt so special to see this on a hike as I usually make sure to leave myself plenty of time to get down off the mountain before the sun sets. Just a reminder to myself to hike my own hike. Hope everyone enjoys this starter hike as much as I did!

This took me and my dog about 2 hrs start to finish with a break at the top for a snack.