This past weekend Sandy and I hiked Castle Peak (14,265') and Conundrum Peak (14,060'). Since our 1994 station wagon is equipped only for flat surfaced driving, it was a fairly long hike - 12 miles (give or take). Our group was the first to start and the last to finish because of the 4wd access. In fact, a party of 3 summited on Castle just after us and said "Thank goodness for 4wd! That only took 2 hours [to summit]." Without 4wd access and with a few long stops (you've got to look around!), it took us about 4 hours to summit.
Anyway, it was a really fun hike. We did have a beer too many the night before but after about an hour and a half and a double espresso love GU, I felt great - esp. once off the 4wd road. After that, there was just a bit of snow until reaching the "old standard route" - apparently the new standard route is to climb straight up a snow field to the saddle between Castle and Conundrum (we descended this though).
Here's me on the second patch of snow (I'm kind of a speck in the center).
After the snowfield we followed a trail carved into the side of a slope and ascended the ridge to the summit of Castle. If you can make it out, below is a picture that shows the trail starting at the bottom left edge of the photo and leading up to the ridge.
Sandy and I hiked with our good friends Lisa and Tony - see the four of us below on the summit of Castle.
After Castle we descended the ridge to the saddle and hiked to Conundrum. In the photo below the trail down and back up can be seen.
Below is me and Tony just after getting to the summit - breathless.
Here's a view looking back at Castle Peak from the summit of Conundrum.
We descended the snowfield in the picture below - it's the one that is coming out of the left center of the photo - a line nearly down to the wee, brilliant blue lake can be seen.
Below is a view from the middle of the descent looking back up at the saddle.
So, there you have it, the Castle-Conundrum weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment