Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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kpachuca
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Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Post by kpachuca »

I am hoping to snag a spot at conundrum hot springs this summer. I can't seem to find any information on hiking Castle Peak or Conundrum Peak from that side of the mountain. Any tips?
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supranihilest
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Re: Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Post by supranihilest »

Your best bet is probably to go over 13er "Castleabra". I haven't done it myself but the connecting ridge is Class 3 on typical loose Elk rock. The Cooneys have a route description from Castle to "Castleabra" here: https://www.climb13ers.com/colorado-13e ... castleabra
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twhalm
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Re: Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Post by twhalm »

I remember looking up at Castle/Conundrum from the hot springs and thinking how miserable it looked. Anyone who as descended from the Castle/Conundrum saddle without snow knows how loose it is in that area and you'd probably have to deal with that at some point.

I think if I were to give it a go I'd probably ascend the basin to the west of Conundrum and try to gain the ridge that heads up to South Conundrum. That looks like the best bet to stay on greenery for as long as possible before gaining a ridge. Who knows how hard/loose that ridge is though.
Mitchman98
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Re: Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Post by Mitchman98 »

I climbed Conundrum and Castle from the hot springs back in 2018. The rocks and scree are much, much looser than the standard route up the peaks, loose enough that I didn’t feel safe returning the route I went up, and instead went down the standard route, hitched a ride back to the conundrum hot springs trailhead, and hiked all the way back to my campsite at the hot springs. I do not recommend this route, but if you think scree is fun, this is your route.

I went up towards Castleabra from campsites 4/5/6 to the base of the cliffs you can see at around 11,600-11,800ft, then traversed around the base of them into the basin between Castlabra, Castle, and Conundrum. I ascended the west ridge of the south summit of Conundrum, which was solid, fun difficult class 2 I thought. At about 13,800ft, you come across a cliff band and need to traverse across the face to the Castle-Conundrum ridge. The scree is really bad here-it feels like the entire mountain moves under you with each step you take. Most of the way across, I’d had enough of the scree and ascended directly up broken cliff bands to the ridge, topping out maybe 100ft below Conundrum’s south summit.

It’s only about 3 miles to the summit of Conundrum from the hot springs, but a frustrating and dangerous 3 miles. Maybe my scree tolerance is lower than others, but I didn’t think that route was worth it.

Fun fact I learned on this hike too: Bears are talus-hopping masters
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TakeMeToYourSummit
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Re: Hiking from Conundrum Hot Springs

Post by TakeMeToYourSummit »

My friend Kevin wrote this TR a few years ago. Best description I've read of doing this route. I'll get up it one of these years...
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=16253
I'm horrible with names...
But will never forget a mountain's face!
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