CASTLE PEAK
14,265 ft.
September 30, 1997
By Tim Briese
I have always liked the name of Castle Peak. It suggests something mysterious and grand. One can see how the mountain got its name, too, for it has a formidable array of towers, blocks, and turrets guarding its lofty summit. It is a veritable castle in the sky.
I had planned this day outing to climb Castle for some time, hoping to combine a fall color trip to the beautiful Aspen area with my first mountain climb in the rugged Elk Range. I left home at 4:30 a.m. with my lab Sadie under a clear sky that glittered with stars and headed up the empty highway into the mountains. The prospect of climbing Castle was a little intimidating to me, for the Elk Range seemed to be a distant and rugged place that I was largely unfamiliar with. That uncertainty started to melt away as the sun came up and began to shine on the high peaks while I drove over Independence Pass. I headed south from Aspen up the scenic Castle Creek Road and admired yellow forests of aspens adorning the mountainsides in the early morning sunlight under the deep blue sky. It had been several years since I had been to this beautiful area, and it was good to visit here again.
I drove up the enchanting valley to the end of the pavement and headed up the steep four wheel drive road toward Montezuma Basin. I admired the rugged peaks above, and waterfalls and aspen groves along the way. This area is more moist and lush, and has more ruggedly spectacular scenery than the eastern part of the state where I live.
At about 11,000 feet the road became quite rough so I pulled off to the side at a switchback and parked. I had traveled nearly 200 miles from home, the furthest I had ever gone on a day outing to climb a mountain. I probably could have four-wheeled all the way up the road to Montezuma Basin at 12,800 feet if I wished, but I did not want the climb to be too easy. Although I don’t impose on myself a rigid standard of requiring a certain number of feet of elevation gain for a climb to be legitimate, as some do, preferring instead to measure a mountain by the depth of inspiration it yields and the majesty of its views, nevertheless the climb up to Castle from Montezuma Basin just seemed too short to do justice to such a noble peak.
At about 8:50 I started hiking up the steep road in the brilliant morning sunshine. I soon shed my coat as I passed the turnoff for the Pearl Pass jeep road and continued relentlessly upward. At timberline I crossed a little stream gurgling through the rocks. I forged ahead, and gained elevation rapidly in spite of a very sore hamstring muscle that I had injured playing basketball a couple of days before. The surrounding peaks stood out boldly against the backdrop of the deep blue sky as I hiked past the ruins of the Montezuma Mine and reached the end of the four wheel drive road at 12,800 feet. It took just over an hour to hike the two miles up to this point. Above me to the south lay the steep slopes of the Montezuma Glacier which I would have to climb to reach Castle, which towered beyond.
I was uncomfortable climbing up the steep slopes of the glacier, especially since it was frozen and icy from the overnight cold, but I carefully hiked upward using my ice ax for security, and found the climb surprisingly easy. At 13,400 feet I reached a beautiful basin below the steep north face of Castle. A large snowfield lay in the basin, with a steep slope of snow extending up the west side of the basin nearly to the saddle between Castle and its subpeak to the north, Conundrum Peak. I considered climbing up that way and following Castle’s northwest ridge to the summit, but that icy slope appeared steeper than the one I had already come up and I didn’t care to tackle it. Instead I chose to follow a trail to the left that led up through steep scree toward the northeast ridge above. I spotted two climbers further up in the basin who hiked all the way to its end and then adventurously climbed straight up a snow-filled couloir on Castle’s north face.
After a vigorous but straightforward climb I reached the crest of the northeast ridge and headed toward the summit. The route along this rocky ridge involved some class two plus scrambling, and it was made somewhat more difficult by frequent patches of ice and snow from a recent snowstorm, and by my gingerly sore leg. I proceeded slowly and cautiously for safety, but nevertheless was on the edge of my comfort level a time or two.
Sadie and I pressed on and crossed a notch in the ridge just before the final pitch to the summit. That dog has a lot of heart, enthusiastically working her way through terrain that is quite difficult for her. I assisted her across a small gap just before we reached the top.
I was greeted by magnificent views when I stepped atop the summit at noon. I could seemingly see forever in the sparkling clear air on this beautiful, calm day. Not a breath of air stirred, and it was a pleasant 56 degrees, which is quite balmy for late September on a 14er. To the northwest I gazed at the beauty of the other 14ers in the Elk Range; the multi-colored sedimentary layers of the Maroon Bells and Pyramid, the massive glacier on Snowmass, and the white rock of Capitol. I did not know if I would ever climb those rugged peaks. To the southwest lay the West Elks and a distant range in Utah beyond. Far to the south lay the pointed peaks of the San Juans. It was a beautiful view in all directions, a new perspective of our magnificent world that I had not seen before.
The two climbers who came up the north couloir arrived on the summit a few minutes after I did and I chatted pleasantly with them. It is fun to see the exhilaration and excitement on the faces of fellow climbers while on the summits of mountains. At about 12:30 I began the descent, and chose to go down by way of the northwest ridge. I quickly descended down the steep, rocky ridge to the saddle below, and decided to make the 200 foot climb to the summit of Conundrum while I was there. Although Conundrum does not qualify as an “official” 14er, it is a beautiful peak nonetheless. Back down at the saddle I surveyed the steep snow slope that lay below me. I was a little uneasy about going down on it, for I did not have much experience on steep snow. I sat down on the snow and proceeded to carefully glissade down, using my ice ax for braking. It turned out to be fast and easy, and a lot of fun, even though I got rather wet since the snow was now softened by the warm sun. I paused for a moment in the basin and glanced up at Castle, whose summit towered grandly above. I then glissaded down the lower glacier as well, and soon was back on the old jeep road. There were now three or four vehicles parked at the end of the road, and a few people with toboggans were playing on the glacier. Those glaciers in Montezuma Basin made for a fun climbing experience that I had not had on a 14er before.
I briskly hiked down the four wheel drive road in about 45 minutes, and reached my truck at 2:30. As I headed toward home I stopped frequently to photograph the yellow aspens that were now bathed in the golden afternoon sunlight. It was a beautiful drive back through Aspen and over Independence Pass, and I stopped to admire a gorgeous sunset framed by yellow aspen leaves at Wilkerson Pass. I arrived home just as it got dark at 7:30, completing a grand adventure to visit a castle in the sky.
