"Drove to Madera Canyon, arriving at 7:25am, snagging the last parking spot in the whole lot. Next closest parking was a .5 miles further downhill. I immediately took the Old Baldy trail up, starting at 7:35, which was very clear and a fairly even grade most of the way up. I summitted in 2 hours and 3 minutes, arriving at 9:38. The summit was fairly crowded with about 10 people. I join in a conversation with a 72-year old man, Dave, who was a professional ski instructor and hiking enthusiast. He shared a ton of stories and happened to be completing 18 miles that very day; he's in incredible shape. I also met John and Danny, who were co-workers. John owned a small business in Tucson and was an ultra-marathon runner at over 50 years in age. We stayed at the summit for about 30 minutes before descending together at 10:07. We were the last ones on the summit and the next group did not pass us going up until 10:20, meaning there was a bit of a lull with no one up there. Perhaps for solitude, arriving before 9am or after 10am will get you a summit alone. After speaking to the group I met on the summit, I split from them around 10:45 and ran down the old baldy trail, arriving back at m..." — mchikes • Sep 7, 2020