Dog Mountain — Sunday, Jun. 11, 2017

I hiked this trail on June 11th and the wildflowers were unbelievably breathtaking.  The hike is not easy, it has a definite incline and you will get a workout but that's part of the fun, right!? I went early morning and at the summit it was quite chilly but the hike up was very pleasant and made the incline much easier, as I was coming down I noticed people were very sweaty, and looked a bit over heated so I would suggest getting there as early as you can.  The parking was also completely full when I was leaving vs I had easy parking upon arrival around 7:30am.  I did the hike alone with the exception of my dog companion who is 13 and he did great on the hike just don't forget to bring lots of water for the pooch!  He ended up drinking all of his water and MINE!  Bring a meal to enjoy at the top, there were lots of friendly people at the summit enjoying the view and their food and pooches playing together.  I would highly recommend the shallower trip down, it was recommended to me but I didn't heed the warning since it didn't seem that steep going up, but the trip down was pretty slippery, I fell a couple of times and I saw others fall also, in addition, injured my big toe from the constant pounding going down (it really seems more steep on the way down than the way up) so enjoy the longer yet more shallow route going down, I think it would be worth it plus I hear the flowers extend longer that direction. This is a beautiful hike, plan around 3 hours, which includes time to take pictures and stop for a couple of crazy gorgeous views (plus add a little time to linger at the top) Also, I think this hike is closer to 7.5 miles round trip (and that's the shorter version) than the 6 that is advertised. ENJOY!