Did the loop clockwise, starting with the Ski hut trail and then coming down the backbone. It wasn’t too bad going up ski hut until the last 1.5 miles or so. Ski hut is super cool and the trail itself is really pretty. After the ski hut it got a bit harder, and there was some snow still left on the trail. We didn’t need spikes though. Once you get up to the ridge, it’s a steep incline through an interesting forest landscape to the summit. This was probably the hardest part due to both elevation and steepness. It was so rewarding and exhilarating to reach the top. Not too crowded on a Friday. Went back down the backbone trail – first hills down are a bit steep with loose sand/rocks. Backbone itself wasn’t that scary – but there is one section that clings to a cliff wall and is very narrow, with metal rope holders drilled into the rock wall but no rope in it. The rest is just following the ski trails down to the ski base area, and then the road back down to the end. This part is long and boring. Great hike – will definitely do again.
AZ Winter 20% off early-bird rate ends in
:
:
:
Responses
We just hiked the same route this morning. No micro spikes needed because the entire route up has only about 100′ feet of snow on the trail, and it’s already packed and very dirty on top (the dirt helps prevent slipping, and some places seems obvious that hikers threw dirt on for this reason). And yeah, same assessment as the final few miles on the access road is quite boring, but it was still worth going down Devils Backbone because the views north over the inland valley were awesome.
Agree! I definitely liked going down the devils backbone part. Fun! Glad you enjoyed too!