The last time we hiked Mt Baldy we went up the Devil's Backbone and down the Ski Hut Trail. This time we decided to do it in reverse and found it to be much more difficult. While the hike itself wasn't obviously more difficult that any of the previous hikes we have completed, for some reason I found this to be the hardest as it was hot and my legs were heavy before we started. The Ski Hut trail is much steeper compared to the Devil's Backbone and while the trail was in good condition I found this to be a tough start to the day. We slowly worked our way up towards the summit that felt like it was never going to arrive, but eventually we made it and ticked Mt Baldy off the list for our six pack.

The trip down was much nicer as we completed the look along the Devil's Backbone. As we hiked on a Friday there were not too many other hikers out on the trail, but we were pleasantly surprised when we got the the ski lodge and found it to be open. We enjoyed a couple of beers before heading down the access road back to the car at the campground. Overall our day hike was enjoyable, but since we were hiking in the middle of a heatwave we were very glad we decided to carry excessive amounts of water with us. While Mt Baldy is definitely work the hike, I found the Mt San Jacinto and Mt Cucamonga hikes to be much more enjoyable.