Follow
Castle Peak's Northeast Ridge Route 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 the Conundrum-Castle saddle -
19. Now, for your descent into the upper basin. If the pitch between the saddle and the small lake is not completely snow-covered, don't descend that way. It's a common shortcut but without snow it's a dangerous, unpleasant descent on unstable terrain and the safer option is to reclimb Castle Peak and descend Castle's standard, northeast ridge route. If the pitch is snow-covered and you want to take this direct descent, pull out your axe and begin your descent -
20 and
21. Before reaching the small lake, stay left and traverse along the side of the basin to avoid getting too close to the lake -
22 and
23. Continue northeast out of the upper basin, descend the headwall and walk back to the road -
24.