“Choices”
Monday, June 23rd I headed out to summit Castle Peak. So many choices here. During the first two miles I kept running my choices through my head. Trying to figure out the best route without risking another aggravation of my hamstring injury. I thought about making a clockwise out and back which would mean a longer milage day, but a more subtle ascent and descent. Or I could do the counterclockwise out and back, which meant a very steep ascent and descent, but a much shorter day. Or I could do either a clockwise loop or the counterclockwise loop.
I think I changed my mind about a dozen times during the first 1.9 miles which was an easy trek with some snow on the trail/road. My total elevation gain for the first part of the hike was only 715 feet in 1.9 miles. After that the climbing began. I opted to take the short 1.3-mile climb to the summit with an elevation gain of 1211 feet. Surprisingly the accent didn’t feel too bad.
Once I got just below the summit rock, I found a section with great handholds and foot holds and began a 30- or 40-foot rock climb. About ¾ of the way up the winds were blowing very hard and I decided to call it at that point. Too windy, too dangerous, and I was solo. Still, it was a great climb!
After a short period of time, I headed across the ridgeline to Basin Peak. About 1.6 miles and about 544 feet in elevation loss and gain. It was an easy walk along the ridgeline, but again it was very windy. After summiting Basin I headed down the counterclockwise slope. It was an easy down climb, but it was about 5 miles more.
About 1 mile of the descent, was on the PCT and I ran into only one PCTer as I was taking a lunch break. She was about my age, from Germany and was doing a large section hike through most of California. We chatted for about 30 minutes then headed off in opposite directions. I didn’t see any other hikers until I reached the Peter Grub Hut. There I met two more section hikers who were only out for a few days.
The rest of my descent was uneventful. I saw about a half-dozen day hikers who were only doing a few miles. The only snow I encountered on the hike were the large patches in the first two-miles and once I got on the PCT section on my descent there were several larger patches. Easily traversed without any traction devices.
Today was peak #4 of my Tahoe Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. I recorded a total of 10.4 miles and 2,781 feet in elevation gain.
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