We started the trail around 6:30, heading counter-clockwise on the loop up towards the Baldy notch. We were able to see the sunrise come up over the mountains, so beautiful. It seemed like we had the trail mostly to ourselves (I think most take the clockwise route). We ended up going under the ski lift area, which was really cool and different. We passed the Baldy Notch and made our way up a steep climb towards the Devil’s Backbone. On this climb, we were so focused looking down, grinding our way up the mountain, once we looked up, there was a young bear running right across our path! ? We paused for a sec just to make sure he didn’t have any friends waiting to join him, then we continued on. We finally reached the “Devil’s Backbone”- a narrow-ish part of the trail with steep drop-offs on either side. This was legit! The time of day we were here was beautiful…plus we were all alone, which made it surreal. We made it across the backbone and continued to follow our way through the trees until they were no more- we knew we were close…the bald top of Mt Baldy was in sight.  We made it to the summit with big smiles on our faces- a great accomplishment…10,064 ft elevation! After enjoying the views and having a snack at the top, we headed down (the Ski Hut Loop route).  We finished around 12:30 (6 hrs total) and approx 11.4 miles. Definitely one of my favorite SoCal hikes. Loved all of it!