We were blessed with some wonderful weather to get one more 14er done this season. Almost exactly 11 years ago we hiked our second 14er, Castle. We didn't get an early enough start back then and it was really windy on the summit and saddle and so we chose to come back and do Conundrum another time. Well this seemed like a good time. There was a lot more snow around when we did Castle October 3rd 2009.

The road was rough but fine for our Jeep Grand Cherokee. Some campers still around even though it was only 17 degrees!. We had stayed in Basalt and it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. We parked well below Pearl Pass to get the elevation gain.

The headwall was very icy with very little accumulated snow. I had thought microspikes would have been enough but crampons would have been best that day. We had to walk up the side of the headwall to get to the basin.

Beautiful basin. Dry on our side, icy above the lake to the saddle. One brave soul was heading up it to ski, making great time. We had to stop below the saddle gully to watch the guy ski down. Sure looked challenging.

The route to the gully was dry. There was no real trail and was loose in areas. Gaining the saddle was not difficult with microspikes. It didn't feel dangerous to us going up or down with the exception of not having a helmet. A small rock came crashing down and hit a rock in front of me. There was no one on the saddle that I knew of. Just this area would have been a good place for a helmet. The route on the ridge to the summit was straight forward. Fun checking out both summits. We were slow today. I guess from the talus walking. We summited at 1130. It was pretty chilly with some wind so we didn't stay long.

We headed back to the saddle.

Microspikes helped to get down that little gully and into the basin. The dogs did fine with it. Small pebbles could get loose easily so again, be careful if others are around.

In 2009 we were able to glissade but it was too dangerous (and uncomfortable) to be on it today which was a bummer. I had a hard time deciding which would be more dangerous, the loose talus or the ice. We took the line below the lake that was dry and it was difficult and slow. It probably would have been better to go the way we came up, the north side of the headwall. I think those rocks were more stable.

Congratulations to the Grand Junction man that has skied every month for 30 years. We watched him do half of that headwall.

Back to the truck at 330. Definitely would have been an easier hike with more snow but was great anyway.