First, Jack and I went for a backpacking weekend with our neighbors John and Speedy the weekend of August 23. We see John and Speedy on Dunsmuir Ridge almost every morning we're up there.
Speedy is a rescued pit bull, and John is a fitness fanatic, who realizes the key to a great pit (or just about ANY dog) is them getting enough exercise. So, they go up the hill twice a day on his mountain bike.
Needless to say...John and Speedy are in GREAT shape.
The four of us started at the trailhead for Castle Peak off Highway 80. We climbed to 9000' and change, to the top shoulder of Castle Peak, and across a windy ridge to the North to the shoulder of Basin Peak. You then bushwhack across to the Northwest across another ridge which will show you the trail down to Warren Lake at 7200'. It's probably 7 miles or so, but the elevation gain and loss are brutal.
Warren Lake is really nice, because it's so hard to get to, there are very few people even so close to Hwy 80. The weather was just about perfect: cool. If it had been hot, this would not have been possible.
Jack had a great time, and actually seemed to play with Speedy once we got to the lake and got rested up a little.
Jack, Speedy and I, at the Castle Peak trail
There were a number of fires in the Sierra at the time, including an epic one burning to the south, near Yosemite. You'll see the smoke that almost made us cancel the trip on this shot heading up to Castle Peak
We were all pretty bushed when we finally got to Warren Lake....
But the view was worth it...
Boy were we tired when we got home. After a 4 hour ride in the car, we both just stumbled out into the driveway!
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