We started the hike early in the day and it was beautiful seeing the sun come up and fill the valley with light. We knew the day was going to be warm so starting early kept us cool all the way to the peak.

The trail up is really nice. The beginning has a slight incline and is a nice warm-up, then it's a steep climb for about a mile, after that, it's a pretty consistent grade right up until the last 2 miles when the grade increases again.

It is a longer hike but really enjoyable… unless a neighboring mountain catches fire.

During our trip up we had noticed a small amount of smoke in the distance but didn't think it would escalate.

We reached the top, took our photos, and ate our lunch. We were going to rest before heading back down until we noticed the smoke had increased and turned black. The fire grew larger the rest of the way down and at times the smoke blotted out the sun. We made it back to our car right as the sheriffs were starting to evacuate the park.

It was a truly surreal experience.