tmeekins: Castle Peak (July 2011)

The second week in July I decided to head up to Castle Peak for a quick day hike. I've been here a number of times before and new the hike quite well. I even wrote a guide for it on Everytrail. The hike is at the Boreal exit, one exit west of Donner Lake.

Due to the late winter, I expected a few patches of snow, but when I arrived, there was snow everywhere. In fact, I missed some turns in the trail a few times and even started in the wrong direction. I soon figured out the mistake, but instead of backtracking, I thought I'd hike parallel to the trail and catch up to it a few miles later. My off trail excursion soon put me on a gnarly slope which became quite treacherous in the snow. I soon made it back to the trail and headed up to the ridge that would take me to Castle Peak. I made it about half up to the Summit when I decided I was too tired and headed back home. Slogging through the snow had worn me out completely. I actually had snowshoes in my car and about halfway through the trip I wish I had brought them.

On this trip I also made another time lapse video of the hike.