I’m on a tour of National Parks with my partner whose hiking range is more limited than mine. We decided to attempt this hike, knowing it might be beyond his capability. 700 feet of elevation gain over 1.6 miles doesn’t sound too intimidating, although it turned out that most of the gain was concentrated in about .8 mile of trail, which was steep. Also gaining our attention quickly was the 5000+ foot elevation at the start. I made it to the views at the top, while he made a good effort, but turned around after a little more than a mile. Beware the combination of elevation and gain.
It was a beautiful day on the mountain, with warm sunshine and cool temperatures. We were fortunate to find a parking space at the trailhead. Many others had to walk a quarter mile or more from the overflow parking. The person waiting for my space when I left reminded me of the Costco parking lot experience, where drivers jockey for the best parking. Even though there were lots of hikers of varying experience and ability on the trail, it never felt crowded as people spaced apart from each other and the wide paved trail made passing easy.
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