After finally finding a free weekend to kick off the 2021 Six Pack of Peaks, my wife and I decided to knock out the famous Mt. Baldy peak.  We wanted to hit the trail early but driving an hour plus at 4 am didn't sound very appealing so we drove up the night prior to camp at the Manker Flats Campground.  We awoke at the crack of 4 to a guy blasting an air horn and yelling “HEY!” off in the distance which provided a very good incentive to get moving.  We moved the truck up to the parking area to the San Antonio Falls Trailhead and found no evidence of the air horn guy nor what he was yelling at so we packed our backpacks, strapped on our boots and headed up the fire road by 5am.  The early morning air was cool with only a faint breeze and the road rose at a steady but comfortable incline.  We were passed by a few trail runners who were likely training for the labor day peak race.  The trail wound along the side of the ridge for about 3 miles until reaching the Top of the Notch lodge which was a very welcome rest area.  The facility had just opened and we joked that we could have just taken the ski lift up to that point.  From there began the Devils Backbone trailhead which is what I was looking forward to the most second to the actual peak.  The sun was just enough over the horizon by that point but we had a nice breeze to cool us off in the patches of shade that we could find.  There were several groups of other hikers along this stretch that had either started in our direction earlier or were doing our loop backwards.  As we walked along the ridge that was the devils backbone, I noticed my phone running the AllTrails app was buzzing.  Somehow I had lost GPS signal and the app had recorded a quick 1/2 mile teleportation off the side of the ridge and then back… that, coupled with an alarming rate of battery drain put fire under our boots to get to the top before it completely died! The Devil's Backbone trail was a little over 3 miles total and the last mile of it included a steep, gravely climb up to the peak.  We were floored when we finally made it to the top though.  The wide plateau let us choose a comfortable spot to have lunch and get an amazing 360 degree view of the mountains.  We even shared a shot of beer with an 81 year old hiker who had just summited as a training hike for the labor day race.  The way down proved to be somehow even more challenging than the ascent though.  The Baldy Bowl trail is the most direct path back to the parking area and stops by a different ski hut.  Most direct also happened to be directly down.  Our knees would have likely exploded had we not had our hiking poles winding down the steep switchbacks.  The sun was also intent on cooking us at that point but thankfully we were back at the appropriate altitude for tall trees.  The sight of the parking area was a much welcome sight after such a rewarding hike and the experience gave us the momentum and motivation to knock out another 5 hikes !