It was a challenging hike, and at the same time it was magnificent stroll through the forest. The beginning of the hike is pretty rough, sloping upward at a steady rate while you already start off at a high elevation! Who decided that? The second part of the hike is amazing, the hills are few and far between, and most this section is a nice walk through amazingly tall trees. Once you pass Mount Pinos though, and descend into the valley, it gets rough again. With a long downhill section and plants that are spiky just to make it even more fun! Once you reach the bottom, all that's left is to ascend a hill that looks easy but is very rough. But then you're done! Going back is hard though; the massive downhill section turns into a difficult climb uphill back to Mount Pinos and back to the Nordic Base. Also Mount Grouse is near the end of sawmill just in case you want to go even further.