I’ve been nervous and excited for this one at the same time! This was definitely the most challenging hike I’ve tackled so far. I started hiking about a year ago and I’m very proud of this accomplishment. My sister and I drove up the night before and stayed at the ski lift lodge, which I highly recommend! We stayed long enough to eat breakfast and then hit the trail at about 8:00 AM. The Rangers at the bottom made us a bit nervous, warning that wind gusts could essentially blow us off the mountain. Luckily, it didn’t end up being that bad at the top. I thought by the time we did this hike the aspens would have lost all of their leaves, but we were lucky to see them in there full fall glory! It was chilly when we started the hike, at only 28°. We were told that the temperature with the windchill at the top was 18°. We came prepared with lots of layers. The elevation definitely slowed us down on this one. My poor sister ended up with some altitude sickness and was pretty miserable on the way down. There was some snow, but it was way off of the trail under the ski lifts. Because of my sister not feeling well and since the elevation was hard on both of us, we took this one slow. We may not be the fastest on the trail, but we are persistent! We met some other challenge finishers at the top, which was awesome as well. The views were absolutely amazing, especially with all of the fall colors. Definitely the best time to do this hike and I’m glad we waited! We made it down just in time for the most beautiful sunset, which was the perfect way to end this challenge.