Follow
Castle Peak's Northeast Ridge Route (#1) to the summit of Castle
. From the top, Conundrum Peak is clearly visible to the northwest -
1. Begin the traverse by descending northwest down Castle's northwest ridge -
2 and
3. As you descend, it quickly becomes clear the ridge holds plenty of loose rock. Continue down and pass some rock outcroppings along the way -
4. About half way down the ridge the pitch eases a bit (
5) as you make your way toward the Castle-Conundrum saddle. Continue along the ridge crest and then along the left side (
6) to reach the saddle (13,790') -
7 and
8.
From the saddle
, the route up Conundrum's south ridge is fairly obvious - stay near the ridge crest and follow trail segments up through loose rock and small ledges to reach the summit ridge -
9. Hike up a short distance, pass a rock outcropping (
10), and continue to reach a flat area -
11. Above this area, the terrain gets a bit steeper but the difficulty does not exceed "Difficult Class 2." Look for trail segments and breaks in the rock which provide easy passage -
12. Continue to reach the south end of the summit ridge -
13 and
14. Conundrum has two "summits" and the true one is to the north. Hike to the middle of the summit ridge to reach a notch between the two summits -
15. Drop into the notch, cross the flat area and climb the final pitch (
16) to reach the summit
-
17 and
18.
Return to Conundrum's south summit and descend back toward the Conundrum-Castle saddle -
19. Now, for your descent into the upper basin. If the pitch below the saddle is snow-free, you should consider going back over Castle and down the standard ridge because without snow, the pitch holds loose rubble and may be an uncomfortable descent for some. If it's snow-covered, put on your boot traction, pull out your axe and just before the low point of the saddle, turn left and begin your descent -
20 and
21. Before reaching the low point of the basin, stay left and traverse along the side to avoid losing ground -
22 and
23. Continue northeast out of the upper basin, descend the headwall and walk back to the road -
24.
