Hello, world! We’re still here, just had to take six months off hiking to let Jane’s feet heal from a bad case of plantar fasciitis. Now ready to get back in the saddle, we were joined in Wrightwood for the weekend by Jane’s cousins, Jean and Janet. We had wanted to hike up Mt. Baden-Powell, but a heavy snow year means crampons and ice axes are still required atop the mountain – we chose an easier hike, wanting to start at Inspiration Point and walk west down the PCT to some point near Jackson Flat Campground, then return the same way for a total distance of 4-5 miles. We expected some lingering snow here and there but ended up with a bit more than we had bargained for. Just 100 yards from the trailhead, we found ourselves crossing a steep snowfield – not too problematic except for Jean and Janet who were wearing tennis shoes (at our advice – sorry about that). Most of the trail was clear after that, though, and we soon found ourselves at the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center, where we took a break, checked out the various exhibits, and ate some lunch. Resuming our hike westward, we followed the PCT further down Blue Ridge, eventually crossing more deep snow that remained in the more sheltered and shady spots. Ascending the knoll atop which sits the campground, we passed the spur trail to Jackson Flat and continued down the opposite slope, encountering quite a bit of snow that completely obscured the trail – we had wanted to show Janet and Jean the large sugar pine and its enormous cones found here along the trail, and we were able to locate it beyond the snow. Although the trail was open here, we could see a great deal of snow ahead, and we decided to turn around at this point. Reascending the knoll, we further decided that retracing our steps would only increase the chance of cold, wet feet for our guests, and we opted instead to head south through the campground and follow the paved road back to Grassy Hollow. We had wandered through this area once before having lost our way down the PCT but had never fully explored the group camping facilities. As we made our way south, part trail and part cross-country, we found a nice campfire area amid the scattered collection of campsites – though most of the access roadways were covered up with snow, we followed what looked to be roadbeds further south and stumbled upon the campground’s entrance a short distance later. A map there at the parking lot showed us the rest of the route downhill back to the road, and we were soon back on familiar ground heading east. After a short break again at Grassy Hollow, we continued east up the PCT to Inspiration Point, the only tedious area being the steep snowfield we recrossed just uphill from the trailhead. Total distance came out to exactly 5 miles, almost like we had planned it that way. Congrats to Jean and Janet for having their first fun with Chris and Jane – maybe more to come?