Took the ski lift from Sugar Pine parking to the Top of the Notch cutting the 3.3 mile ascent thru the fire road. The chair lift ride took 20mins.

We started hiking at 8:45am, reached the Devil's Backbone Trail marker at 9:50am. It was a brutal uphill to this point. I actually enjoyed the backbone trail. The skinny trail that trudged around the mountain was a bit scary to traverse. It was a short section. Then followed by subtle uphill with beautiful limber pines and other species of pine trees. The last mile were mini switchbacks to the summit. It was a moderate to hard ascent. Windy and cold.

We reached the summit of Mount Baldy (elev. 10,064′) at 12noon. It was like a party up there. I guess weekends at summits are like this. It was a beautiful feeling though. Felt like I belong! It was very windy and cold. There are many windbreaks. We found one a few yards away from the crowd and that's where we sat our packs, we sat on the ground, and had our snack…and took a 15-minute nap.

Took the obligatory summit photos then started our descent at 1:15pm. Took a side-summit trek to Mount Harwood (elev. 9,552′) which is equally beautiful. We were above the clouds! And spotted a family of big horn sheep on our way down.

We reached The Notch at 3:30pm. Treated ourselves with cheeseburgers and fries and sodas. Yum! Took the chair lift at 4:25 back to the parking lot. Recorded 8.09 miles!

Another fun and memorable summit trek!