10/23/04 – The Castle – Southeast Gully

2.0 miles, 1671'


We met Kurt for dinner Friday night to figure out what we would climb on Saturday. After a lot of discussion, with consideration given to Front Range peaks from the Indian Peaks Wilderness to the Lost Creek Wilderness, Kurt suggested The Castle. It sounded like a great opportunity. The Castle had been on our wishlist, but it wasn't a peak we were willing to take on without a more experienced partner. Kurt's helped us push our limits before, so we felt very comfortable with him as our lead. This would be Kurt's third trip to The Castle, but it's a great climb, and he was excited to be heading back.

We were all feeling a bit lazy, so the 7:00 a.m. meet time that we set for Saturday morning really fit the bill. We made a pit stop at the King Soopers and Starbucks before Kurt drove the three of us to Bailey. Erin and I had seen The Castle last year when we climbed the nearby Jefferson County highpoint, Buffalo Peak. It definitely deserves its repuatation as a beautiful peak. We paid the entrance fee for private Wellington Lake and circled around the lake to the trailhead. Some mule deer were our only company as we got our gear ready. Kurt had brought a rope and said that he would teach us how to prussick, if we needed the protection on the route's cruxes. We started hiking up the road past the Boy Scout camp at a leisurely 9:45!

Apparently The Castle was used as a reference point when legislators created the Lost Creek Wilderness because the boundary line makes a corner directly amidst the summit structure. Like many summits in Lost Creek, The Castle is composed of the wonderful Pikes Peak granite, which means the climbing is on fun, solid, grippy rock. The price you pay for the grippy rock is a pair of raw palms by the end of the day, but it's always well worth it. Geologically, much of Lost Creek, including The Castle, is a part of the immense Pikes Peak batholith, which radiates over a hundred miles from that landmark peak.

Two things immediately impressed us about The Castle: its exceptional steepness and its awe-inspiring, rugged beauty. Jumbles of boulders form the peak's flanks, with fracture lines at all angles. Rock formations like this finger arouse constant feelings of wonderment. The views back to Wellington Lake, Green Mountain, and the Cathedral Spires weren't to be missed either! We followed a use trail up part of The Castle for a while until we had to start bushwhacking. Kurt recognized the terrain and knew we had to swing around to the left to avoid some difficulties that he and Dwight Sunwall encountered in 2003. His routefinding was spot on. We turned a corner, drew into flatter terrain featuring a nice view of the summit structure, and arrived at the base of the southeast gully after only an hour.

After a third-class move up a crack we were at the first of two cruxes rated 5.4 on The Castle. We were planning on roping up for this section, but there was already some webbing tied to the natural arch that is the obvious choice for an anchor here. Kurt inspected the webbing and since it didn't look very weathered, he felt it could be trusted. We were through the crux quickly and completed the rest of the scramble up the gully. Now among the towers of The Castle, we continued to scramble up and over boulders toward the summit. A fun little stemming move was the last difficulty we encountered before reaching the hanging garden described in the Roach LCW book. The garden is a magical place with trees and rocks all about and The Castle's four tallest summits surrounding you. We headed to the rear, left corner of the garden and dropped our gear for the climb to the summit.

One of the coolest things about this route is that you have to climb 20' up a tree to bypass the steepest section of the summit block. Once at the proper height in the tree, you have to push your butt back into the rock and then turn around. I found the turning around to be a little sketchy, though Erin figured out a much more effective way to do this by staying on the tree a little longer than I did. We used another piece of webbing that someone left behind to climb up the short stretch to the notch below the summit. Kurt showed us how to climb the final 10' of The Castle, which is also the second crux. The move isn't very exposed, though, and we got through with little difficulty. The summit was ours! Here's a look at Kurt standing on the other side of the notch, and this is the view of The Castle's lower western summit, which appears to be a very interesting destination in its own right.

But our fun was only beginning! While Erin and I played around on easier terrain, Kurt scrambled over to the southwest summit, which he reported was more difficult than the main summit. We all ate some lunch on the platform below the main summit, and then I headed over to the easiest of The Castle's summits, the northeast one, which is little more than a walk-up. You get a neat perspective on the main summit from this perch, as well as a jaw-dropping view down the sheer cliffs to Wellington Lake below. I was the first over to the northeast summit, and I started looking for a route up to the southeast summit, which Kurt was interested in. I have to admit, I didn't see any likely routes, and I thought that I'd be finished for the day.

Kurt, however, is rarely to be denied, especially since he knew that Bob Dawson had visited the southeast summit. He scrambled over to the base, and climbed a crack on its east end. He popped out on a pinnacle east of the summit, and there I thought he'd stop. But he indicated he'd jump over a gaping crack and onto the summit. I had him hold for a moment so I could try to take a shot of his leap, but unfortunately the shot didn't take very well. I decided at least to take a look at the leap, because other than that, Kurt assured me that the climbing wasn't too difficult. I left Erin with the camera, and I headed on over. The crack was deep, and the jump several feet. It got my heart racing. Kurt demonstrated the leap for me, showing me the best jumping-off point. I had been staring at the chasm too long, and so I just counted down aloud and jumped over. What a rush! It was really an easy thing, but you wouldn't want to mess up! I had shouted a countdown to give myself a boost of confidence, a little extra motivation to make the leap. But Erin took the cue and shot this great pic of me in mid-air doing my best Air Jordan imitation. The southeast summit is home to a small rock garden of its own and has a number of small pools of the type that seem to form often atop Pikes granite boulders. After a while, we made the climb back to the hanging garden. I had to get Kurt to show me the ropes again, but eventually I had the courage to make the leap back. Erin said it was cool to watch our leaping shadows from her vantage below. While Kurt and I were on the southeast summit, she had been taking some more pictures, including this one of the freestanding pinnacle that's very prominent from Wellington Lake.

Before we retrieved our packs, I snapped a shot of Erin in front of the northeast summit. It's fascinating to inspect some of the erosional wear on these huge boulders. Water somehow can dig chutes into the granite when it only has a few feet to pick up speed. On the way back to west side of the garden, we came across a small alcove under a pile of boulders. It would be amazing to bivy there, under a skylight to the stars.

We spent over two and a half hours up on The Castle, but it was time to head back down. This is a look at The Castle's southeast summit from below, so you can see how the route Kurt found must be its easiest route. We got down the peak quickly, even though our bushwhack wasn't as friendly as during our ascent. We drove out in the afternoon sun, with a couple of fleeting views back to the peak. In Bailey, we ate at the Platte Canyon Grill, which had come recommended. We liked their food, a mix of standard and Creole fare – Kurt had some tasty spaghetti and meatballs and Erin and I each ate a shrimp po'boy – and their pricing is very reasonable. Special thanks to Kurt for helping us up this route. The Castle now ranks among my favorite places in Colorado, and I'm already looking forward to a return trip in the coming years.