After a late start my sister-in-law and I arrived to the trailhead around 10am. It's a small parking lot and there were rangers enforcing the parking rules. A kind man flagged us down for his spot - thank you! It's important to park in only designated spots ... on our return to the lot we noticed several cars tagged with the word "tow". That would not be fun to come back to your car gone! Even though it was a gorgeous day we wore long pants to avoid all the poison ivy and kept our dogs leashed and away from the sides of the trail. We opted to go left at the junction and do the more difficult climb since we're training for the summer. It's a straight up calf burner. At the top the wildflowers are stunning! With the crowds it kind of felt like visiting the Tulip fields in Mt Vernon (go on a weekday if you want some solitude!). We didn't mind because it was so gorgeous. Bring a jacket for the top, it's super windy. We descended via the loop for the Ausberger Mtn to save our knees. It's a much gentler grade though lots of loose rock. Back at the car we checked our pups and ourselves for ticks as we've heard this trail is full of them. Luckily we were all in the clear! So overall a great day!

The trail is beautiful! Many flowers are blooming up on the hills now. I'm not an expert at wildflowers, but I tried. I think some of them included shooting star, paint brush, phlox, steam violet, lupine, chocolate lily, trillium, fairness, larkspur, wild strawberry, yellow balsamroot, and solomons seal. The upper hills are very yellow right now, and even on a windy day with rain clouds hovering, the trail was fantastic!

The wildflowers are just beginning to show themselves.

The wildflowers are just beginning to show themselves.

Well this starts out with a bang!! Waste no time warming up. When I got to the first junction I choose to go the "more difficult " route due to a large party taking the less difficult route. This way had a few downed trees but they are easily manageable. When I got to the top the views were great!! Well worth the climb. On return I took the augspurger loop, again had some downed trees but easily passable. I did not have a dog with me this time, but there is not any water along the way for your hiking buddy. May want to pack some.