I agree - if you want to spend a decent amount of time at the summit and don't like feeling "herded", you have to drive yourself (or possibly backpack & camp out somewhere???). I drove up a few years ago with a couple of friends - our one & only time on the mountain so far. My passengers were uncharacteristically quiet on the drive up, and I admit that I was a little concerned about my ability to get us all back down safely. I can't recall whether it was Labor Day or Columbus Day weekend, but it was a sunny Sunday afternoon on a 3-day, fall holiday weekend. Needless to say, the road was busy. But we enjoyed spectacular, 100 mile views from the summit, and the museum exhibits were very interesting. We could easily have stayed up there longer, but the road was closing for the day. Since there was little to no traffic headed up, I could safely hug the middle of the road on the drive down. I also took my time, stopping at the turnouts to enjoy the view and check on the brakes. But no matter which way you choose to get there, if you live here and you've never been to the summit, you definitely should go! Oh, and BTW, it's also fun to watch some of the time-lapse photos of the drive up the auto road that some folks have posted online if you haven't seen them!
