Castle Peak
14,265 ft.
August 2, 2014
Conundrum Peak
14,060 ft.
August 2, 2014
Today we summited TWO 14'ers!
Hike report below with a bunch of pics...
Started at 11,100 ft and hiked 2 miles on a 4WD rocky road.
These are the two peaks over Bob's shoulders. Castle Peak (left side of photo) and Condundrum Peak (just above Bob). We hiked up to Castle first, then across the ridge (saddle) over to Condundrum. Our return was backtracking the same way.
Once past the 4WD road we had a snow basin to traverse.
Getting higher and rockier but closer to the top of Castle.
Near the top of Castle with a great view of Conundrum Peak (the mountain with the snow crack).
Below Conundrum and Castle is this aqua blue ice pool.
One last push to the top...
And we made it. Castle Peak!! Woohoo!
Summit shot. Castle Peak. 14,265 ft.
We weren't the only ones at the top! Perfect weather brought out a crowd.
What a view! You could see Capitol Peak, Maroon Bells, Pyramid Peak and Snowmass (all the other 14'ers in the Elk Mountain Range).
Now to hike the ridge over to Conundrum Peak. Steep with a lot of loose rock. It was slow going.
Here's a look down from the ridge to the ice pool. Some people actually took this way down hiking over REALLY loose rock and then glissading down the steep slope. We passed on going that way down.
Near the top of Conundrum we hit another snow patch.
The top of Conundrum Peak!!
14,060 ft.
We came from Castle Peak which is just off my right shoulder.
Enjoyed some lunch and the 360 degree view.
Bob pointing to the 4WD road we hiked up to the single track trail.
Now back over to Castle and down.
Pretty excited we summited two 14'ers today!
8.25 miles. 4,300 ft. elevation gain. 6.5 hrs round trip.
Tomorrow we're doing a 2 day backpacking trip to summit Snowmass Mountain. Our friend, Rich (who arrived tonight) is doing it with us. Weather. forecast looks good. :-)
Charlie and I so admire what you and Bob are doing....we sit here in our easy chairs, and say "Look what they have done"...you notice we are sitting and relaxing...you guys are awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen! We are pretty wiped out right now after just returning from our 2 day backpacking trip to summit Snowmass. We need several days off to recover from that one. No 14'ers are easy but some are definitely harder than others. Snowmass Mtn was the hardest one I've done. Glad it's over! I will post pics on that soon. Love ya! Jane
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