We debated which direction to go, and ultimately decided on up Devil’s Backbone to the summit and down Baldy Bowl (counter-clockwise). Left around 6:15am, temperatures around mid-70s, and were pleasantly surprised to be in the shade all the way up to the Notch. But then the real climb began haha.

I have a bit of a fear of heights, and some of those drop offs were not making me feel warm and fuzzy. I was glad to know we’d not be coming back that way. I also really started to feel the elevation as we got higher.

Finally made it to the summit in one piece around 10:15. Temperature up there was low 70s. Barely any wind. Beautiful views. No complaints!

After a break to rest our legs and eat a bit of breakfast, we were off down the Baldy Bowl. Was it steep? Yes. Slippery at parts? Yes. Did we keep checking AllTrails to make sure we hadn’t veered off onto some side trail because there were so many options? Yes. But give me a steep, knee-busting, confusion-inducing trail any day over having to descend scary sharp drop offs.

As we got lower, the heat definitely started to rise into the 80s. We saw a fair amount of red faces on the way down (ours 100% included). At some point we saw a helicopter circling overhead. They were clearly looking for someone. Hoping that everyone is okay.

Reached the car around 1:45. Overall, a challenging but rewarding hike!