Got to the parking lot around 6:30 and it was already pretty full. Started hiking a little bit before 7am and by 10/11am it was hot hot hot with very little shade. Took us a little under 6 hours. We started left/clockwise up towards the ski hut where we stopped for a snack (lots of people but also some shade!). Then up through the Baldy bowl until the summit. From the summit we went down the Devil's Backbone and stopped for lunch at the Notch restaurant (so nice!) before walking down the fire road back to the car. Overall we felt this hike and direction was a lot better for us rather than starting out right / counter clockwise on the ski mountain and Devil's backbone. Even though the Baldy Bowl is steep going up, I wouldn't want to hike up the ski slope and then the backbone (which is a lot of loose shale) in the direct sun. OVerall very enjoyable and would hike this again!