Bagging a 14er

Looking Up to Castle Peak

Been working from the western office of Chilmark Research high up in the Colorado Rockies for the last couple of weeks.  And while I have certainly kept busy with various client engagements, tracking the happenings in DC, attending the Aspen Health Forum, etc., have also tried to find some time for myself to enjoy this beautiful place I once called home. (Long story as to how I ended up in Boston, suffice it to say, have always been torn between the sea and the mountains.)

One of my mountain passions, besides doing crazy rides up mountain passes on my bike is to climb a mountain on foot.  And not just any mountain, but a big one, one that exceeds 14,000ft, or a 14er in mountain parlance. This being my 10th 14er, I picked one of the bigger ones in the Elk Range, Castle Peak at 14,265ft.

As with anything worth doing in life, to climb a mountain successfully, one must prepare for just about anything. Up in the mountains, weather can change very quickly, I mean like the snap of your fingers it could be sunny and then all of the sudden a squall hits and its literally snowing, and this is in July!  Thus, like a boy scout, the motto is to be prepared packing a light rain coat, thermal shirt, plenty of water, some moleskin for blisters, matches, food, small first-aid kit, ace bandage, etc.  If you are in a group (best not to hike alone) you can split some of the load.

For this trip, there were four of us, I being the only one who had scaled more than one 14er, the others novices.  We drove up a rough 4WD road to about 11,200ft to begin the roughly 6.5mile hike up the 3,000+ft of vertical to the top of Castle Peak.

One of Many Rock Fileds to Climb

One of the many challenges in climbing such a peak is that even with a good map and directions, it is easy to lose the trail in one of the numerous rock fields that you climb through on your way up the mountain.  This became a problem early on for us as while scaling a rock field, a couple of people headed east, while I and another headed towards the west (and what was the right direction). Eventually, one of the two off to the east dropped behind a ridge not to be seen.  This brought all forward progress to a halt as on any mountain, in a group, you do not want to get separated – period!

It took nearly an hour before we were re-grouped and ready to continue our trek ever upward.

13,200ft and Castle Peak in Distance

Once we reached about 13,200, everyone was feeling it, both the strain of the strenuous climb and the increasingly thin air.  It was at this point that one of the four stated he had gone far enough and would meet us below at the base of a snowfield.  There is no shame in calling it quits on a hike of this sort as far too many hikers meet with serious accidents, even death from a fall, most often as a result of pushing themselves to far, getting too tired and making a misstep (most often on the way back down).

As a trio we continued the climb to crest Castle Peak.  That last 1,000ft of vertical or so is the toughest part of any 14er climb simply because there is so little oxygen (especially for a flat-lander such as myself).  The last 500ft of vertical is one where you take 20-30 paces, stop, rest, catch your breath and proceed.   About 4hrs after our initial start at 11,200ft we reached the crest of Castle Peak..  As the old adage says: Why climb a mountain?  To see what is on the other side! The views from the top of Castle Peak were simply spectacular. 360 degrees of mountain ranges with views of peaks that were up to 100 miles off in the distance. Incredible only begins to describe the experience.

View from the Top (looking NW)

Made It!

After a brief rest to enjoy the views, eat a little and talk with others that came up behind us it was time to head back down.  This is where one has to be super careful as heading down is when most accidents occur.  You’re tired, gravity is now pulling you down and it is very easy to make a misstep on loose rock and take a tumble.

Yeehaw!

But for us, we did not have to walk all the way down. Once we hit the big snowfield, we glissad down on our butts getting totally soaked, but feeling like kids on a huge slippery slide.  We probably dropped at least 500-600ft of vertical in this manner.

From there it was a long, slow enjoyable walk back to the car admiring the wildflowers along the way and enjoying one another’s company.  This is truly an experience that one should partake of if you ever get up into these high peaks.  Trust me, be prepared, be cautious, be in good shape, use good maps (the 14ers.com website is fantastic) respect the mountain, respect the weather and you will not be disappointed.

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