I usually stop in the lower parking lot, get a drink, blow my nose, make sure I'm in my lowest gear and that no vehicles are coming.
Ah, there's the rub, the Vehicle Intimidation Factor. Nothing like creeping up a near vertical incline with a big ol' SUV a bit too close to your posterior for comfort, oy. That's what happened with us, except the lady driving said SUV was quite nice and she probably wouldn't have minded creeping up behind us. But I needed an excuse to bail and that one was handy