We arrived at the parking lot at 5am. We wanted to get a good start before the sun’s heat would make it a little more strenuous. We were the first car in the parking lot, and soon two other cars were parking before we even hit the trail. The beginning of the trail is quite flat, and easy. Enjoy the easiness of the beginning, because once you are going up, it never seems to end. Being from Phoenix, we were a little nervous about the altitude. We are not used to the 7000+ feet above sea level altitude, and we just drove up. We didn’t stay the night before to get used to the altitude. So, you could say we might be crazy to some. The hike was absolutely beautiful with the sun coming up. It was rocky, and just kept climbing. Some areas were really steep, while others were gradual. We had to take a lot of breathers because we couldn’t catch our breath and also because our legs were on fire! This is a calf burner for sure! We reached the top 3 hours later, about 8am. We may have been the first to be on the trail, but we got passed by about 10 people at most. We even saw some running it, which we were like “HOOOOW?”. It absolutely amazed us as we were struggling to get up this mountain. We stayed up at the top for about 20 minutes to rest and eat some snacks. I always recommend gummy worms with your protein bar or trail mix. They just hit differently when you have just climbed a mountain. On our way down, it took us about an hour and a half to get down. It was easy at this point to go down. The only thing slowing us down was stopping for people to pass that were heading up. It started to get packed! It was person or group after right another. By the time we reached the parking lot, it was completely packed! As I was switching my shoes (I always change into my Chacos after a long hike!), people were even asking if I was leaving so they could have my spot. Parking is absolutely tight at this point. The cars behind me were very close and it took a bit of effort to get out. Overall, I’d do this hike again, but maybe if I prepared with the altitude a little more.