Posted by: dave c
at 23:51, November 26 2014.
I was honored to be asked to join a small group of friends on a climb of Castleton Tower to celebrate our friend Beth’s “significant” birthday. The plan was to climb the famous Kor-Ingalls Route, then spend the night on the summit of the tower. I was excited to not only have the opportunity to climb this iconic route, but also to be able to photograph sunset and sunrise from this unique location.
The morning we were supposed to climb the tower, we woke up to a downpour that rapidly turned the parking/camping area into a river. My old Coleman stove was flooded out and was left with an inch of mud in the bottom. We decided to wait a day for things to dry out. Unfortunately that meant that Bob wouldn’t be able to join us on the climb due to time constraints. He did, however, generously help us the following morning carry all of our gear up the 1000 foot talus slope to the base of the tower.
The four of us, Wally (ropegun), Cindy, Beth and I enjoyed perfect weather on the climb and arrived at the summit in the late afternoon. Since we had hauled two “pigs” (haul bags) with us, we had all the amenities to enjoy a birthday celebration on the summit, plus all the gear needed for a bivouac. The weather continued to be perfect with warm temperatures and no wind, and we were treated to an splendid sunset.
The following morning we rappeled the North Face of the tower, carried our significantly lighter packs back down the talus and drove to Indian Creek. I decided to spend the next day hiking in Canyonlands and let my body recover from what I thought was a very strenuous climb of Castleton. Guess I’m getting old!
A wonderful adventure and a great opportunity to photograph a very special place. To see photos click on the image beow.
