See the 2003 page for more details and pictures (although of a different route). This is the second time I did the Devils Slide Trail, the previous time being in 2004. This time I woke up at 3am and left the gas station at 3:45, to help make up for the longer drive (around 2 hours 15 minutes with no traffic). So I got there a little after 6am, but took my time eating some more food (I ate little at 3am!), putting on sunscreen, and enjoying the view of Tahquitz which I had climbed a couple weeks previous. A couple other groups left before me; I passed one of them after about a half hour and never saw the other guy, who may have taken a different route. I passed a few people going the other way both up and down, but otherwise as usual had the mountain to myself, including the summit, which was great. I started hiking at 6:27 and made it to the top in 3:25, over an hour faster than last time. I felt good the whole time and had no altitude trouble. Surprisingly there was no wind at all on the summit, so it was very pleasant this time to sit there, eat, and enjoy the view. The lack of wind is no doubt due to reaching the summit much earlier than previous times; indeed after I had descended a bit the wind started picking up. Weather was perfect--a few clouds but otherwise sunny, with temperatures in the mid-70s to mid-80s save at the very end when it got over 90. I only needed 2 liters of water, and ate just a poptart and slim jim before I started, then some Combos (a cheese-filled cracker) and candy during the hike. The trail is so gentle and good-quality that I had no knee pain at all descending (no hiking poles), although my feet were sore at the end of the long hike. The descent was just over 3 hours, so not much faster than the ascent. I still need to work on that. Overall a terrific hike with beautiful views just like last time. I should take pictures from this trail some time.
I tried taking 60 home rather than 10 since 10 had several very slow spots last week, but 60 had some terrible spots as well so no real improvement. I made it home at about 3:50pm, so just over 12 hours for the whole trip including driving.
Distance up/down: 8.1 miles
Total distance: 16.2 miles
Time up: 3:25
Time on top: 0:10
Time down: 3:04
Total Time: 6:39