I have always had a long loop planned out in my head using the Devil's  Backbone and Pot Peak trails, along with the Stormy Mountain Summit. This morning, all my elder care tasks lined up around the 7-hour window I needed to complete my plan, so off I went to the Pot Peak Trailhead (1900').  I started at 5:30am riding up the Slide Ridge Road, all the way to the Windy Saddle Trailhead. I saw  three buck about five miles in, and a female about two miles more. At Windy Saddle (6100'), I entered the Devil's Backbone Trail and climbed to the Stormy Summit to get some pictures.  Then off I went, descending down from 7000' to the junction with the Pot Peak trail.  The descent was fairly simple and easy to endure the "Moto influenced" trail tread, but going the other way would likely been a hassle!  It was a smokey day today so the views below weren't good, but the "top of the world" feeling that I climb for, was very satisfying today. Descending Pot Peak was exhilarating most of the time but dealing with climbing moto's debris and ruts were a hassle during the lower third in the sandy soil.  The loop encompassed about 7500' of vertical. Trailforks ride log and some pictures are located here.