This is an absolutely stunning hike, but be prepared for it to take longer than whatever your average hiking time is.
For one, the road is ROUGH. I know that this has been remarked on already, but the day that I hiked I was one of about 30 high-clearance cars that weren't able to leave because someone trying to go down over the infamous "potholes" at the junction from the main road to the FS road rolled their vehicle (see attached picture). Luckily no-one was hurt. It took about 20 folks to roll the car back over and push it out of the way and work to partially backfill some of the potholes with rocks and branches so that the line of cars could finally leave the FS road. The remainder of the road still has some very rough spots and it will take you longer to drive up and down than you think.
The hike itself is beautiful and strenuous. When you reach the boulders at the top be ready to look closely for the cars and still spend quite a bit of time scrambling around trying to find your way up and back down. It will take longer than you think, even for experienced route-finders!
All in all, totally worth it. Just plan to add on an extra couple of hours to whatever is your norm to account for the driving and the boulders at the top.

Comments