The highest peak I have ever done was Mt. Wilson.  So almost doubling the elevation knocked the wind out of me.  It was a struggle to get to the top, but I dragged myself up there.

Initially, we wanted to go up the Ski Hut route to the bowl and down Devil's Backbone.  But we missed/walked right by the trailhead and ended up taking the fire road all the way up to Mt. Baldy Lodge.  At the Lodge, the ski lifts were going, and it looked like they still have a few runs still open.  They also had a tubing slope, and it looked like the zip lines were closed.  The lodge itself was open and serving food and drinks.

From there we crossed over to Devil's Backbone.  We followed the lift/slope up, and right around the top was our first real dealing with snow.  Nothing too major, it wasn't too slippery, and you could have gotten away with no spikes.  All through Devil's Backbone was intermittent snow.  There were a few fields of snow, but again, you could have gotten away with no spikes.  There was only one section though on Devil's Backbone that posed a potential hazard.  That was a section about 10 feet long on a ledge that was covered in snow with a steep slope below it.  We all used spikes in this section, but if you were extremely careful, you could still navigate it.

The peak itself had a bald head surrounded by snow.

On the way down, we went via Baldy Bowl, and it was packed with snow for most of the way down.  Along Baldy Bowl, it was a more thicker, powdery snow that covered the entire ground.  Crampons definitely helped here, but you could get away with not using them.  Then there was a section of slope that was free of snow.  This didn't last for very long, as the final descent to the ski hut (which was also the steepest part) was covered completely in snow.  This snow was more icy.  Again, crampons are recommended, and this section I did not use them but probably should have.

Once you got to the ski hut, it was snow free the rest of the way down.

Overall, it was a fun hike.  I think the snow really made it more interesting.  Although we were supposed to go up the Ski Hut route, I think I'm glad we went up the Backbone side.  It just seemed that the snow on the Ski Hut side would have made going up that much more difficult and tiring.  Where on the Backbone side, the snow wasn't really an obstacle.

Here is a video I took of our entire trek on Baldy.