Castle Peak

The 12th highest at 14,265ft.

My 8th successful fourteener climb!

9/1/96 climbed w/ Rick, Norine, Vance, and Dave

Luckily I traveled with Rick and Vance who had four-wheel drives!!! August 31, 1996 Dave, Vance, Rick, Norine, their dogs Neevar and Goliath, and I got into two four-wheel drives and drove all the way to Montezuma Mine and set up camp. We were unable to hang our food from a tree (seems there are no trees at 12,000 feet!). When we woke up the next morning, September 1, 1996, one of the dog's packs was missing. After a little searching, Rick found the pack. Apparently a Pika decided to drag it off and chew a hole into it to get some dog food! We started off early morning and hiked through a lot of snow. The bowl was the most difficult part of the hike up. Rick, Vance and the dogs zipped up the snow covered climb with no problems. Norine, Dave and I climbed up like a Chutes and Ladders Game. I felt like I was climbing up oiled marbles! When we finally made it to the top of the bowl we had to rest (both our nerves and our bodies). Vance had already made way for the ascent. Rick had climbed up Conundrum Peak (14,022 ft. but not considered a separate fourteener) and had come back down to wait on the ridge with the dogs. We all headed up the ridge which was easy climbing. At the top we could see many other fourteeners. It was a very clear sky making it easy to see for miles. We took a few pictures and headed down. When we got back down the ridge, Rick and Dave glissaded down to catch up to Vance. Norine and I climbed up Conundrum Peak and then glissaded down. We caught up to everyone at camp loaded up the trucks and headed out. It was a very pleasant weekend. Castle Peak is one of the easiest mountains I've climbed. (Although the snowy bowl was quite unpleasant.)

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