Castle Peak, 2/247
Day 2, Castle Peak
I awoke on the morning of day 2 to a fresh dusting of snow on the van. I began what should have been a short drive to Donner pass, but found it closed in Truckee, thanks to a stuck semi. Fortunately, the effort for the day would be fairly short, and a late start wouldn’t be catastrophic. I cooked breakfast while stopped in traffic, and prepared for the day. The 20 minute drive ended up taking three hours, but eventually I was skinning through a lovely sub-alpine forest towards Castle Peak, it’s three rocky turrets glowing in the late morning sun. That sunshine would prove to be short-lived, however. As I neared the summit, storm clouds engulfed the peak and the wind howled. The final third class scramble to the summit felt quite alpine, between the weather, snowy rock, and climbing in gloves and ski boots. I lingered on top in the snowy gale just long enough to snap a photo and scribble my name in the register, than carefully downclimbed, returned to my skis, and ripped quality dust-on-crust all the way back to the van. Another wonderful day in the mountains!
Note: Nathan's notes from Day 1 were added to the previous post.
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