Snowmass, Castle and Conundrum

Due to a commitment in Denver I was unable to make it out to the Elks range until late on Saturday. At this point I drove straight to the Snowmass trailhead, prepared my pack and hiked just past the second gate and camped at the first campsite near the creek. My philosophy has always been that I am climbing these mountains for fun and therefore I done use an alarm and I get up and start hiking whenever I wake up. This time I slept in until 630 and was on the trail by 640. The Snowmass trail is not especially steep or difficult, it is just long. I cross the semi-stable log jam and walked past Snowmass lake where it seems that many people camp on their way to the summit. Other than some over grown bushes and a few scratches, the hike was pleasant. After leaving the lake, a climb to the summit began. It was very taxing due to the unstable scree that made up the majority of the climb. Once the top of the ridge was reached, it was continual boulder hoping nearly up to the final ridge. From the top here, the view was amazing. It was easy to pick up the true summit and to walk the ridge the final few hundred feet. At the summit there were a few other hikers enjoying the amazing day. It was 930 and I spent a good half hour up here and relaxed and took it all in before beginning the long walk back. On the way back it was very difficult to navigate the scree field and it claimed one of the tips of my trekking poles as well as a little of my blood and skin. But once the section was passed, it was a very easy hike back out to the car. 

Now it was time to drive to the Castle Creek trailhead. I did not like the look of the road so I parked at the 2WD area and walked the road for the countless miles up to the end pullout. From here it was very difficult to find any semblance of trail so I picked out both Castle and Conundrum peaks and aimed for them. Once again it was essentially taking two steps forward and sliding back one. But in this way I was able to climb above the loose rock and find a trail that followed the east ridge around and up to the summit of Castle. After a couple pictures at the top and noticing the sun would soon be setting I walked the ridgeline traverse across to conundrum. It was very straightforward and there was not issues with snow. I reached the summit and spent a few minutes just watching the sun sink into the horizon and snapped a few pictures before beginning the decent. I walked back to the low point on the ridge that connects the two peaks, then descended into the valley on the compact snow. It was half walking and half sliding down to the edge of the frozen lake. just as I neared the road and began boulder hopping in order to avoid going out of my way to rejoin the trail, it became very dark and it was about time to adopt a headlamp and walk the rest of the way in the dark. It was very amazing to see all the stars on the way down and it was hard to not let the view slow my progress due to continually stopping to admire them. I saw a few pairs of eyes staring back at me during my long road walk in the dark. I am sure they were either porcupines, deer, or foxes. I was not too worried. Finally about 1030 I finished out my very long day and reached the car and was on my way back to Denver and another week of work before more peak climbing next weekend.