Wednesday Ramblings: PCT north

Eight of us set off into the high country on the PCT from Rte. 80. Our intention was to climb Castle and Basin Peaks but after 2 days of rain, the clouds and wind had not retreated enough to make it happen. After crossing Castle Meadow, we started up the PCT. At Castle Pass, the wind was strong enough that we cringed at the thought of high peaks and ridges. We continued north, fording a stream just past the hut and on past the un-named trail that we usually use coming down from Basin. Our hope was to go to Paradise Lake.

Note Tammy having to cross stream barefoot

Stopping for lunch at a rock outcropping with a great view, we put on all our garments and hunkered down for lunch. The clouds were building up so we decided that a better option would be to return. Anyway, after carefully examining the maps, we saw that the round trip to that lake would have been 17 miles. Too long.

On the way back we stopped at the Peter Grubb Hut to use the facilities. We were surprised to find the it was accessible as there had been a sign warning of it's closure for maintenance. At that point we were starting to meet quite a few thru hikers. They all talked of two days of rain and holing up in Truckee or elsewhere in Tahoe. Some German hikers carried fairly small packs: 40 and 50 liters. We were quite impressed. Their first pairs of shoes had worn out after 900 miles so they had ditched them and bought new ones in Tahoe. They weren't even high-topped boots so crossing the high streams would be quite wet.

The clouds cleared up by the time we got back to Castle Pass, so we decided to go over the shoulder of Andesite Mountain on the way back. We had hiked 10 miles with an elevation gain of 1700 feet.