Got a later start than I'd hoped, but still plenty of parking at the trail head.  Started up at 7:30am.  I decided to ascend the Ski Hut Trail and come back down Devil's Backbone and I'm glad I did.  The trail was quite crowded and a beautiful holiday weekend, but everyone was friendly and it wasn't too bad.  Overall there were no bugs except while taking a break at the Ski Hut, and those were non-biting flies.  At the top 0f the ridge to the south west of the Bowl, I saw a dog crossing the path in front of me.  Wait that's not a dog, the face looks like a cat.  A large bob cat (not a mountain lion thankfully) crossed the path about 5o yards above me and sat under a tree for ~ 5 minutes until hikers came down from above and it scurried off.  Very cool to see.  The summit was CROWDED, and I stayed only long enough to catch my breath, refuel, and take the commensurate summit photo.  While the trails and south side of the mountain are completely clear of snow there were a few patches on the north side, including some watermelon snow just off the trail as I began my descent.  I really enjoyed Devil's Backbone, but it was starting to warm up significantly.  I stopped to refuel briefly beside the ski lodge, and started down the road.  Ending on a well maintained dirt road with a reasonable grade was much better than coming down the fairly steep Ski Hut Trail, hence I'm glad I did the loop that direction.  Overall and enjoyable yet challenging hike.  Half way done with the Six Pack.