OMG. This hike took it out of me! But I made it, and it was my first hike with more than 4000 feet elevation gain (my previous personal best was the ~3500 feet of El Cajon Mountain from the previous year's challenge). This hike is not for the faint of heart!

I booked a cabin at Snow Crest Lodge, so that I could be on the trail by 6:30am. Well, that didn't quite work out (I'm definitely not an early morning person), but I hit the trail at around 7:30am, which is not bad for me. As the day progressed, I realized that had I started any later I would have been in good bit of trouble at the end of the hike.

As far as my online research suggested, there are three main routes to the summit: the long route via The Notch and Devil's Backbone, the route via the ski hut and Baldy Bowl, and the short route via Register Ridge. You don't read many warm recommendations for Register Ridge, so I figured I go up via The Notch and Devil's Backbone, and down via Baldy Bowl, passing by the ski hut. I wasn't sure I could handle the elevation gain over the shorter distance, so my thinking was to stretch it out on the way up, to make the ascent less steep.

All the way up to The Notch, the trail is relatively easy, first a paved road until the waterfall, after that a gravel road, not all that steep. Past The Notch things get more difficult. I followed some other hikers that were going in the general direction of the summit, but it soon turned out that what we thought to be trail was really one of the ski runs. Luckily, it was not too big of a detour, and the route eventually connected back to the main trail.

At the Devil's Backbone, things got even more sketchy. Wouldn't you know it, the backbone of the Devil is pretty gnarly indeed. This part of the trail first goes over a narrow ridge (sometimes only a few feet wide) and then continues as a narrow trail along a steep mountain side. It's not really a steep drop, just fields of small sharp rocks, definitely not a good thing to fall there. I could see myself sliding down until I was ground up into pea-sized little pieces… I was really glad I brought my hiking poles, and I would say they're essential for this hike, but I did see a few hikers without poles.

After I survived the Devil's backbone the trail got a little more manageable again, until the final ascent to the summit, which is pretty steep and was slow going. Another reason I was grateful for bringing my poles, was that it allowed me to make it a little easier on my legs when I started getting little cramps around my knees. Luckily I made it to the summit without incidents and took a nice lunch break to recover. Nice views all around, but at least 50 people in the summit area at any given time, so it felt a little crowded. I could not really find a proper sign for the summit (maybe one of the bigger hiking groups was obscuring it?), and the only official signage I could find was a metal plaque in the ground. It turns out that it's very difficult to take a selfie of yourself and a plaque that's embedded in the ground, but I eventually managed.

On the way down, things start out pretty manageable, until I encountered a steep rock, gravel, and sand area, that was apparently part of the trail. The map actually shows a network of parallel alternative trails, but the truth is, there really is no trail. You just have to somehow get through this gravel field. There is no safe footing, and no matter where you step you'll hit sand and loose gravel and start sliding. It took me about an hour to cover a distance that couldn't be much more than a quarter mile, and I fell several times. I noticed several other hikers struggling as well. In hindsight it might have been better to take the same way back that I came, since it would be a lot less steep, but I didn't feel like walking on the Devil's Backbone twice in one day.

Originally, I figured that since the route down was (a) a good bit shorter, and (b) down goes always quicker than up, I would have no problems being back at the car before sunset. However, I had lost at least an hour maneuvering through the loose rock/gravel/sand area, and it was almost 3pm but I still had most of the way down ahead of me. There was no way I would make it back before it got dark. By the time I reached the ski hut the sun had already disappeared behind the mountain, though there was still good light and technically some more time before the actual sunset. Needless to say, I did not deem it necessary to bring my headlight. I figured if I could reach the gravel road before it got dark, I should be fine. Well, it got dark on me about 15 minutes before I reached the gravel road, so for short time I had to scramble down the mountain with the assistance of my iPhone flashlight. The road was manageable in the dark even without lighting, and I arrived back at my car at least a good hour after proper sunset.

Still, all in all, it was a glorious hike. It was nice to see the first sun rays come over the mountain (around 8:30am) and watch the golden glow right before sunset. Next time, I'll definitely start earlier and probably use The Notch and Devil's Backbone both on the way up and on the way down.