Castle Rock North Face

The View from On-Top: Introduction

Those of us living in the south Front Range have a great treat for the New Years every year. Based in Colorado Springs the AdAmAn Club braves the snow and cold on Pike's Peak and puts on a wonderful fireworks show. On clear evenings the show can be seen as far north as the Castle Pines area. At the bottom I have posted a link for the AdAmAn CLub that includes the history of the club and a trip report from the current trip.

Pike's Peak AdAmAn Club

Today's Climb

Braving the cold and windy night I thought that a great place to watch the fireworks would be from the top of Castle Rock. With the last two storms in the Denver area, the Castle Rock area received over 45 inches, I feared that loaning my show shoes to a friend would be a huge mistake. However, enough of the above mentioned had tramped down the trail into a hard packed super highway. But, stepping off to either side would cause you to post-hole well over your knee. If hiking the Rock in the next couple days watch the upper trail, the snow shoes have smoothed out the stairs and they are extremely icy.

Armed with a thermos of tea, digital camera and a head lamp I headed off from the Canyon Drive trailhead. 15 minutes later I found myself on the top. I was surprised that the head lamp was not needed at all, the city was providing enough light off of the snow for a wonderful walk. The scramble to the top was quick and straight forward, but enough snow that down climbing needed some thought and sure footedness.

Ah, the fireworks you ask. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy in the area. You could see the fireworks with the naked eye, but were lost through the lenses of the camera. The show was wonderful, not to mention the fine citizens of Castle Rock had a multitude of small show through out the city. Fireworks went up from the downtown area, the founders area and the meadows area.

I highly recommend this little trip to anyone who is looking for a new year's night in a little different stop.

Images

View Castle Rock North Face Image Gallery - 1 Images