After
being denied on two previous 14er weekend outings this year, I was determined
to top out on our early June climb of Castle Peak with my regular
partner, Patrick. We also wanted to tag the adjacent peak of Conundrum. While
at a little over 14,000' it is not an official 14er since the connecting saddle
was not 300' lower - details!
Click on any picture to enlarge it.
I made the drive to Aspen and then 13 miles to the turn-off on
the Forest Road where the official trailhead begins. FR102 is
known as a tough 4WD road so I met Patrick near the turn off and we camped
there Saturday night. Knowing that early June weather is quite variable
in the Colorado Rockies, we set an annoyingly early wake up time of 3:00
AM. We wanted to avoid any post holing and deep mushy snow as the sun
did it's work in the afternoon.
After
a quick breakfast we took Patrick's Four Runner up the road to the first
creek crossing and then hiked another two miles along the road
to the Montezuma Mine area. The road was mostly clear lower down but became
increasingly snow packed as we gained altitude. At 12,000' it was completely
packed as were the surrounding mountain slopes - a beautiful sight.
We spotted a pair of tents in the Montezuma Basin but no other climbers.
The sky was perfectly blue with only a small wisp of clouds - but that
was about to change. We got our first glimpse of Castle hiding behind
the smaller Malamute peak as we approached the headwall at 12,800'.
At this point everything was covered in deep snow with a few tracks still
visible from previous climbers. It was about then that we noticed a dark
wall of clouds had moved over thus blocking out the sun.
We
climbed the short 500' headwall to the next basin where we got our first
good look at Castle and Conundrum proper. It seemed like we still
had a ways to go! About this time the campers had left their tents and
caught up with us. The group of four 20 somethings were young, fit, strong
and ambitious - albeit not exactly experienced. One of their group did
not have crampons and retreated upon seeing the final summit climb. As
he left his group, It started to snow and the wind picked up.
Now standing at 13,600', we had a good view of the three routes
to Castle's summit. We evaluated them taking into account the deteriorating
weather. The weather forecast had shown a 30% chance of afternoon snow
showers but there were no major fronts moving into the area so we knew
it would be uncomfortable at best but hopefully not a drama. The normal
route was on the Southeast ridge and the Southwest ridge in the summer
but both looked a little corniced but still manageable. However the North
Face Couloir spoke to us. It was about a 30 degrees angle that got steeper
to 40 degrees near the summit ridge. The snow was firm and there
were no signs of recent slips or slides. So with that we stashed our
trekking poles and snowshoes at the base of the couloir and headed up.
Our Chicago team was close behind and moving fast.
Climbing
this couloir brought back memories of Denali and Rainier with the sustained
slope and steady repetition of rest steps and ice axe work. The wind
was now blowing steady at maybe 15 mph and the snow was pelting us
pretty good. The young turks had now made it to the summit ridge but
took a direct route over ice encrusted rock towards the summit. We
continued our steady progress and gained the available ridge. I approached
it carefully not knowing if it was a carefully disguised cornice
laying in wait. But it was a three foot wide solid ridge with a steep
slope on the other side - a perfect avenue to the top!
We
called over to the aspiring mountain goats to join us as we took
our final few steps to the summit. But before we started I paused
to ask them if they knew how to self arrest while looking over
my shoulder at the south side 700' snow covered slope. The reply was a quick "no"
and a blank stare so I gave them a 30 second lesson on using an
ice axe that was probably more for my benefit than for them. And
with that the weather got worse.
I reached the summit and took the camera out to record Patrick's
summit while watching the remaining two of the Chicago
four following close behind. Once all were settled I looked around
to see - well clouds - and snow! We took a few minutes to exchange
names and congratulate one another and then took a quick retreat.
The original plan was to take the Northwest ridge over to Conundrum
but we could not even see the next peak much less feel safe
about negotiating the ridge. So with Castle in our bag we left
the way we came up.
The down climb was slow and steady with all forms of techniques in use.
Just as we reached the base, the squall passed by leaving us
with an awesome view of the North Couloir and the summit of Castle.
I felt good for our loose collation. Patrick and I had accomplished
our goal and the Chicago team had performed quite well. The hike
back to our camp was long as is usually the case after a 14er summit.
We closed up our day with a quick pizza in Aspen before taking
the long drive home.
Castle Peak is a nice climb. I think I would enjoy it better as the
true snow climb we did versus a summer one however since the normal
route is north facing there is snow almost always on some section
of the route. I am *told* the views are amazing of nearby Maroon
Bells the other rest of the Elks but Mother Nature had the last
word on that for our trip. I will probably return to grab the unofficial
14er, Conundrum, one day.
But I would always enjoy another crack
at Castle anytime of the year.
|