wmckinzie - Jun 11, 2018 11:39 am Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2018
Bushwacking!
The drive to trailhead was as described elsewhere and is fairly well marked, though it is a rough road and took a bit longer than planned. Allow an hour after turnoff from Rt 136 to trailhead in a high clearance vehicle. The hiking trail peters out fairly quickly so one has to be comfortable with bushwacking and using GPS to do this hike. BLM recommended the Avenza Maps app, where you can search for Castle Peak WSA, and download the map of the “trail” to the peak. Our location was accurately placed on the Avenza Map, but do not expect to see a trail at your feet, particularly in the approach to the summit. I recommend checking the map app frequently. We lost a lot of time wandering off the map guidance. “WSA” stands for Wilderness Study Area, so by design, this is not an area maintained for people. Lots of wildlife prints in the mud, including bobcat and bear, as well as scat. We saw a juvenile bald eagle, but were otherwise too noisy to see other wildlife. This hike has beautiful “big” views of everything from the Gore Range to Maroon Bells. A fair amount of wildflowers as well for this date, which due to a low snow year is running about three weeks ahead of a normal year. You have to be comfortable with being in the wilderness to enjoy this hike. There is a decade plus of tree downfall in the woods below the summit making for a rough trek. The map approach takes you to the Southwest corner of the Peak. I scrabbled up to the towers on that corner and found the route fairly unstable. My hiking companion took a pass on the scrabble, so I did not go to the central tower in the interest of time. Took me 30 minutes round trip to the SW Towers from the start of the boulder field. Our trip to the tower took 2 hours and 15 minutes (due to the wandering described above) and our return was only slightly faster (again, lots of map checking, fairly steep descent over treefall, etc.). These are much slower times for me than the distance and vertical would normally indicate on maintained trails, as bushwacking is much tougher. It makes one appreciate all the well-maintained trails we have in Colorado! I recommend calling the BLM in Silt (970-876-9000) before doing this hike for any up to date information and if you have any trouble loading the Avenza Maps app map of Castle Peak WSA. (P.S. There was a wildfire on Horse Mountain Road June 9, 2018 which closed Rt 136 for a few hours. Be careful out there!)
Brian Kalet - Sep 24, 2012 11:50 am Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012
7 Peaks
Climbed with chicagotransplant & Steve. Combined with 6 other Eagle county peaks for the day.
Climbed with Steve and Brian, this was my final ranked peak in Eagle County. This is my 'home county' and a list I had a lot of fun chasing. There was very little information on the lower peaks, and most of my routes were pieced together from maps and recon photos/trips. Gave a real sense of adventure and discovery, and got me into all kinds of nooks and crannies in the county that most residents and visitors probably don't even know exist. Very rewarding!
wmckinzie - Jun 11, 2018 11:39 am Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2018
Bushwacking!The drive to trailhead was as described elsewhere and is fairly well marked, though it is a rough road and took a bit longer than planned. Allow an hour after turnoff from Rt 136 to trailhead in a high clearance vehicle. The hiking trail peters out fairly quickly so one has to be comfortable with bushwacking and using GPS to do this hike. BLM recommended the Avenza Maps app, where you can search for Castle Peak WSA, and download the map of the “trail” to the peak. Our location was accurately placed on the Avenza Map, but do not expect to see a trail at your feet, particularly in the approach to the summit. I recommend checking the map app frequently. We lost a lot of time wandering off the map guidance. “WSA” stands for Wilderness Study Area, so by design, this is not an area maintained for people. Lots of wildlife prints in the mud, including bobcat and bear, as well as scat. We saw a juvenile bald eagle, but were otherwise too noisy to see other wildlife. This hike has beautiful “big” views of everything from the Gore Range to Maroon Bells. A fair amount of wildflowers as well for this date, which due to a low snow year is running about three weeks ahead of a normal year. You have to be comfortable with being in the wilderness to enjoy this hike. There is a decade plus of tree downfall in the woods below the summit making for a rough trek. The map approach takes you to the Southwest corner of the Peak. I scrabbled up to the towers on that corner and found the route fairly unstable. My hiking companion took a pass on the scrabble, so I did not go to the central tower in the interest of time. Took me 30 minutes round trip to the SW Towers from the start of the boulder field. Our trip to the tower took 2 hours and 15 minutes (due to the wandering described above) and our return was only slightly faster (again, lots of map checking, fairly steep descent over treefall, etc.). These are much slower times for me than the distance and vertical would normally indicate on maintained trails, as bushwacking is much tougher. It makes one appreciate all the well-maintained trails we have in Colorado! I recommend calling the BLM in Silt (970-876-9000) before doing this hike for any up to date information and if you have any trouble loading the Avenza Maps app map of Castle Peak WSA. (P.S. There was a wildfire on Horse Mountain Road June 9, 2018 which closed Rt 136 for a few hours. Be careful out there!)
Brian Kalet - Sep 24, 2012 11:50 am Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012
7 PeaksClimbed with chicagotransplant & Steve. Combined with 6 other Eagle county peaks for the day.
chicagotransplant - Sep 23, 2012 7:12 pm Date Climbed: Sep 22, 2012
Eagle County FinisherClimbed with Steve and Brian, this was my final ranked peak in Eagle County. This is my 'home county' and a list I had a lot of fun chasing. There was very little information on the lower peaks, and most of my routes were pieced together from maps and recon photos/trips. Gave a real sense of adventure and discovery, and got me into all kinds of nooks and crannies in the county that most residents and visitors probably don't even know exist. Very rewarding!