Hiking with Heidi

Hike Details: Elevation - 7,000 - 8,000 ft. Location - Off of Highway 88, past the intersection of Highway 89. We parked in the lot of Sorenson's Resort, website here , the trailhead starts right outside their property. They're very helpful, just stop by the office and ask for directions. Mileage - 4+ miles Hiking time - 3 hours Route - we hiked up to the ridge overlooking Sorenson's Resort and Hope Valley Weather -gorgeous fall day We missed the peak time of the fall colors by a few weeks, but it was still gorgeous and gave us a taste of what it must have been like. This will definitely be a repeat trip next year.  Follow the yellow brick road (literally!). That rock cliff in the center of the picture below is where we hiked up to -- looks daunting, but it wasn't too tough of a climb.  There was a little patch of snow lingering from an early fall snowstorm.  One of the adorable cabins (St. Nick's Cabin) at Sorenson's Reso...

 Hike Details: Elevation - low 7,400 ft. to high 9,109 ft. Location - 39.36540°N / 120.349°W Mileage - about 7 1/2 miles Hiking time - 2 hours up, 2 hours down Route - Hwy 80 East, take Castle Peak/Boreal exit, go left under the freeway and follow the road until it ends at the dirt road. We continued down the dirt road until it got too bumpy and parked on the side. There's a fork in the road, we hiked down the right hand road that went downhill. It crosses the PCT, where we headed left up towards the saddle between Andesite Peak and Castle Peak. Weather - COLD! Gusty and windy, but sunny More Castle Peak info here:  Summitpost-Castle Peak This was a gorgeous hike and one we'll definitely do again, just not when it's so cold and windy. Would have been perfect at this time of year without the wind. This is at the start of the trail...Castle Peak looks SOOO far away. 27°...ice on the road, yep it was cold!   Yay for sun shin...