Castle and Conundrum Peaks, August 21st, 2009

Dave and I had been planning most of the week to head for the Crestones and try for both of them. But on thursday afternoon, we decided that maybe we should try for something else. We were looking for climbs that we would be able to summit two different 14ers in the same day or weekend; not just a single mountain, but a series of mountains. Kind of one of those "wanting to pad one's peak list" idea. Paul had recently climbed Castle and Conundrum peaks a few weeks prior, so this set came up in discussion early on. So, it was decided. We would drive up to Aspen and as far as mechanically possible the rugged Montezuma Basin 4wd road; also known as the Pearl Pass road. Just one word on this road, it is the roughest road my little Nissan Frontier 4x4 has ever been on. Way, way rugged! We left Colorado Springs at 3pm and were in Aspen at 630pm. The sun was setting fast and we still had to get up into Montezuma Basin and set up camp before darkness. There were some really bad spots in the road, but my truck made it through them. The road goes all the way to the base of Montezuma glacier, but we had decided to play for the 3,000 foot 14er rule. Which basically says that in order for a 14er climb to be considered an actual climb the climber must gain 3,000 vertical feet of elevation during the climb. Castle Peak is 14,265 feet, and the end of the road is at 12,800 feet. Less than 2,000 feet, making it quite a bit less than the 3,000 foot rule. So, we planned on camping around 11,000 feet to make it fair. We set up camp and began boiling water for tea as we ate supper. Darkness was closing in on us as we noticed the thunderstorm some distance to our east.


It didn't appear to be a threat to us, just a pretty picture and a nice ending to a great day. We stayed up until 10pm ish tracking satelites and looking at the stars, awaiting the rise of Mars. Around 1130pm, Dave wakes me up to tell me he is really sick and needs to get down soon, if not now. For some odd reason, I thought that it was 4am and that the sun should start rising soon. We packed up camp in a fury, and started to drive down. It was very clear from the moment we started driving, that Dave was in pretty bad shape and that a visit to the ER would be imment. Driving anywhere at midnight with an hour and half of sleep is bad, but doing it on the worst 4wd road in the area, was well, just crazy.

But, we had no choice and this was begininng to be a very urgent situation. We arrived at Aspen Valley Hospital a little before 1am. After some much needed meds, Dave was released and we began our drive back home to Colorado Springs. We arrived back in town just as the sun rose over the plains. Whew, what a night! Castle and Conundrum will have to wait for another day. Which is best, I forgot my crampons anyways.