"Started this hike a bit late in the day because of how hot it’s been. The hike hike in on the dirt road is not my favorite. This hike is about 3.5 miles from the trail head sign and pretty much uphill all the way, the last mile or so is fairly steep, but not technical. The summit is steep, but totally doable. A bit slippery on the way down until you get back to the main trail. Fun hike but hot!" — lorej22 • Jul 18, 2021

"Very enjoyable winter outing to Castle Peak and Basin Peak from the Boreal parking lot. The snow was very firm in the early morning, and I was able to make it to the summit with bare boots/microspikes in under 2h. I did climb the cl. 3 summit block (east tower). I'm not a great climber, but there are plenty of good holds up the near-vertical 30 ft route. From Castle, I followed the ridge to Basin Peak, still in bare boots as the ridge was only half snow-covered. I put on the snowshoes and dropped SW off the summit, going cross country down sunny slopes and along a forested creek to the tranquil and snow-covered round valley. I crossed the meadow to the Peter Grubb Hut, then followed the PCT back to Castle Pass. Finished off the day with a hike up Andesite Peak. ~5:10h RT. A very satisfying hike for not too much effort. 10/10!" — klotito • Jan 17, 2021

"Finally snuck in a legit peak for Peak Month. What I thought would be a very easy, straightforward outing took a few turns in the opposite direction. Started out as a trailrun but petered out into a rhike. The Class 3+ scramble up to the true summit block took me by surprise; I have a strong suspicion that the vast majority of logs of this peak just stop at the end of the more established trail on Castle's west peak. The sun was long gone by the time I scrambled up to the summit. I didn't linger up there because I could see an approaching storm headed right for me. A few minutes later while downclimbing from the summit, major adrenaline kicked in as saw first lightning flash and heard a loud thunder very soon after. With no other good option, decided I had to run toward the storm down the long exposed ridge to escape. At one point while flying down I completely wiped out, but I didn't even feel it, so much adrenaline. " — scott • Aug 28, 2020

"Started at the Donner Summit/PCT Trailhead and hiked on the PCT to Castle Peak (about 5 miles) then headed to Basin Peak. From Basin we made a small loop back towards the PCT and Peter Grub Hut. We connected onto the dirt road and made it back to the trailhead with a total of 12.5 miles. There were a few icy patches on the trail, but nothing that required micro spikes. Visibility was limited from the Camp Fire. " — runningvegan • Nov 10, 2018

"Finally got a chance to climb some peaks for Peak Month (other than Bald Hill which I do so often I don't count it). Ran the Castle Peak 100K for the first time, and Castle Peak would be the first of four summits that day. After a relatively easy first 20 miles or so, things got difficult in the heat of the day as we navigated the rocky terrain north and west of the peak. Lots of ups and downs and my feet/legs took a beating. From the Devil's Oven aid station we climbed steadily up the ridge to the summit. Castle Peak is made up of three main outcroppings of rock, none of which is on the actual trail and race course. Of course I wanted to scale them all, but I picked the closest and scrambled to the top. It's hard to tell which is actually the highest, they all looked pretty much the same." — rsnipes • Aug 18, 2018

"This was the first of three peaks today. This was the main peak I was going after and decided to go after Basin Peak and Andesite Peak while I was in the area. Castle was the hardest to summit of the three by far. There was some steep switchbacks with a lot of loose gravel. I had read some of the descriptions of the true summit and was pretty nervous about what laid ahead. As I got closer and closer to the top I saw the back side of the eastern most turret and thought there was no way I was going to climb up that. Since I was up there, I thought I might as well see what it looked like from the other side. From the south east side of the eastern most turret it looked like I'd have to rock climb about 50-60ft straight up to a tiny little pedestal, still pretty daunting for an amateur rock climber. I worked up enough courage and slowly made my way up. There were numerous hand and footholds which eased my mind a little going up. I summited about 2 hours after I had left the truck. Climbing back down off the summit was even worse which probably took me twice as long. I was pretty excited once I had my feet back on solid ground, I couldn't believe I had actually climbed that!..." — Sledhead29 • Jun 28, 2018

"Castle Peak & Andesite Peak – Snow shoeing Hiked from the trailhead in boots until we got to Castle Pass. Put on snow shoes and ascended to the top. 1:30 to the top. Enjoyed the views and was hoping for more snow to cover the area. Hiked to Castle Pass for lunch and then on to Andesite ridge to the pass. Total time walking was 2:45. Due to the lack of snow, the trailhead parking lot, which is normally closed due to snow, had cars parked on both sides of the narrow road. This made it difficult to get out with the car. We have not had a storm in awhile and this one of the few areas with snow on it. Lots of people were enjoying it. " — mj3920 • Jan 13, 2018

"No snow at the start, and parking available on the side of the road (before the gate). Lots of snow coverage fairly soon after starting, but trail is free of snow from Castle Pass to the top. Climbed the true summit, the furthest east of the three rock formations. It has the USGS marker and a repository for signatures. There is about 15-20 feet of vertical climbing to get to the top of the summit block." — TCH • Jul 1, 2017

"Hiked up in snow fields until Castle Pass, then a snow free trail to the summit. 15' vertical climb to the very top. Hiked in boots & used poles, but snow pretty consolidated. Got loose by afternoon." — julier • Jul 1, 2017

"From Castle Peak we saw a forest fire start--I think near Kyburz. Eek! We traversed from Castle to Basin, then took a cross country route down Basin and eventually met back up with the trail." — kaylam87 • Jul 25, 2015