so apparently this part of the park was closed off during the season because of... i honestly don't even know why it was closed up but i just know people were saying it was closed, and there was a chain link with a sign that said it was closed, so yea, it was closed? but shit, we didn't sit in the car for 20 hours to be turned around by a sign. we took the chain link as a cautionary sign and proceeded, of course watching for falling rocks and what not. this was definitely the highlight of the hike and to think, we were just going to just turn around after finding out it was closed. definitely glad we didn't cause this place was amazing.after we got all of our shots, we had the decision to make to either turn around and walk another mile or two to make it back up to the top where we began to catch sunset, or we can take the zig zag trail straight up. we took the zig zag. however, this way back up was like walking into a trap. the entire way up, we were visible to a bunch of tourists, hikers, and potentially rangers so as we made our way up, we kept seeing people stare at us cause there was a fat sign saying it was closed and it's considered trespassing... so we were breaking the law basically in plain sight. luckily, we made it out without getting in trouble, just a few smart ass remarks under the breath of a few older photographers. he was mad bro.