February 23, 2024
Today we are planning on a snow shoe hike to peter grub hut with seven people from the BAS meet up group. We will be doing 5 to 6 miles today starting at a comfortable 34°.
The trail sign is almost covered with snow this year. There’s been a fair amount of new snowfall in the last week that has come down. The trees are well coated. The trail is well packed and easy to follow.
Castle Peak sits off behind me. From this open spot on the trail we have a beautiful view of it.
The Pacific Crest Trail head is east of where we started our hike by about a quarter of mile. Our snowshoe trail essentially parallels the PCT going in a straight line while the PCT has a little more of a curve around the meadow that I picture earlier. It is in this area where we join the Pct although with the snow it’s not readily evident other than a blade visible on a nearby tree. We will be on the PCT until we return to here from the hut.
We stopped at the top of castle peak saddle for a nice group photo. From the top, you can see both directions for far distances.
We arrived to Peter Grubb hut, and unfortunately it was locked. About 1/4 mile back we came across a group of 18 cross country skiers who had spent a couple nights at the hut. During lunch the weather took a turn. The wind has come up and the sky has darkened becoming overcast. The temperature was quickly dropping as we headed back towards the cars.
Just outside of the hut location is this snow covered Meadow surrounded by picturesque mountains.
We’ve come over and off the saddle. Temperatures are becoming a little bit warmer and the wind is now blocked making it much nicer. I’ve gotten rid of my snowshoes, put on the micro spikes, and ditched my puffy jacket again.
Heading back down the trail we came across a couple of snowmen. I don’t know if these were here on our way up, but it looks like somebody took a little bit of time for some fun.
We arrived back at the cars, 6.22 total miles today with 1,152 feet of elevation. It was a great hike with a good group of people.
