Whoever says this hike is short is painfully wrong!!! Im 24 in decent shape, and this is the longest and hardest hike Ive done. It took me and my sister 3 hours up to the lake, and about 2 hours down. Keep in mind we were going fairly fast both ways (especially down, we were passing everyone--I do not recommend, so bad for your legs and we had knee pain for days after). A middle aged lady using hiking poles was going downward as we were going up, and she said it took her 5 hours just to go up. So leave EARLY, and bring headlamps just in case. Anyway, besides the difficulty, it was a beautiful hike. We went in late September during cold-ish weather and it was also raining a little during the hike. So luckily we didn't get stung by mosquitos although we did see a good amount, and we were wearing long sleeves and pants. The trees were green but some were turning red. At the top, there was snow on the mountains behind the lake. Lots of chipmunks! I felt safe on this hike as there were a lot of people hiking too. The trail is fairly easy to see and keep track of and it is a super steep hike.