Another two for one hike. Two Peaks, Griffith and Charleston. One out and back hike from the South Loop Trailhead. Not many hikers on the trail today. Maybe 6 or 7 total. The trail up to Griffith Peak is in great shape. Maybe a dozen or so downed trees requiring you to either go over, under or around, but nothing difficult. There was a snow bridge crossing early on, but it was still pretty solid. Right around the final 12 or so switchbacks there are patches of snow, but really nothing significant until the final push to the trail leading either to Griffith or Charleston. Because of my torn quad muscle, I decided to wear microspikes for this section. Once at the intersection I took them off for the .4 mile climb up to Griffith Peak. No snow for that .4 mile climb. At this point I'd climbed just under 5 miles

From there it was off to Charleston Peak. It was about a 5 trek across the ridgeline over to Charleston. There were minimal patches of snow on the trail. Maybe 10 or 12 patches about 5 to ten feet long. Easily traversed or avoided. Temps were very mild with no winds. I only saw one other hiker who had obviously started before me coming down as I approached the summit.

My descent was uneventful. I ran into two other hikers making there way up. I took a long break at the Griffith Peak intersection before my final 5 mile descent. I decided to put my microspikes back on at that point. Partly for the soft slippery snow but also once beyond the snow the ground is loose dirt and rock. Wearing the spikes I was able to avoid slipping, which really irritates my quad. Temps at the lower end of the hike (7 to 8 thousand feet) were now getting into the 80's. So, it was quite warm for the last three miles.