Journal R.E.Johnson 1967 May 29 Castle Peak area, Nevada Co., California. Drove west over the new Donner Pass Rd to "Castle Peak area" off ramp (directly north across the highway from Boreal Ridge Ski Area) & parked. The road toward the peak was deeply snow-covered, however the snow was well consolidated & I did not take snow shoes. The road follows the west side of Castle Valley & ascends Castle Pass. Here I deported the road & walked east up the ridge to Castle Peak(9103). Much of the ridge was snowfree & rocky. The south slopes of Castle Peak have many large cliffs occuring in two major series. The lower series extend the length of the mountain (over a mile). Snow forms a solid carpet From their base on down to timberline. Only a few patches of snow remain above these cliffs. The uppermost cliffs are composed of 3 columns (I climbed each). There is no snow immediately below or on top of these. The north-east face of the peak is a cirque like wall culminating in the NE faces of the 3 above-named columns. Snow fringes the top of the cirque in most places and also fills it & extends down to tree-line as a solid deep carpet. The cliffs look ideal for rosy finches. Large numbers (50+) of Cliff Swallows were circling in the cirque & nesting on the NW face of the west-most column(at 9 AM). One rosy Finch flew out from near these nests & headed north toward Basin.