It was dark at 5:45 AM on the dirt road to the parking spot. We were glad we were in a truck. Once parked, we got ready and spotted the first water crossing. We looked for another way around the water, but we had no success. Our friends showed up and we decided to take our shoes off to cross the water. We did this two more times just getting to the trailhead that was 2 miles down the road. The trail was a steady incline on this cloudy day. We didn’t have great views, but we were not hot, as I could imagine the sun beating down during the many open parts of the hike. Watch out for that tree branch that poked our friend just below the eye. During this time, our other friend had show problems. The sole of her show detached. A friendly hiker had duct tape and they were able to tape the show back together. The peak was not impressive as we could t see much through the clouds. It was 10 miles to the peak and 5 1/2 hours. Going back down, it took 3 1/2 hours and it remained pretty cool. Kept my jacket and hood on. On the road back to the car, we decided to walk through the water with our shoes on. We saw others use trash bags to cover their shoes. What a great idea! We stopped in Lake Forest for food and beer before heading home. It started pouring rain on the drive home. Glad to get off the mountain before all the rain!