Back in November I’d won the use of the Tagert Hut in a silent auction for one night. With many avalanche paths on the approach hike I decided to use the hut in the more stable spring conditions and combine it with a climb of Castle Peak’s East Face.
Pete, Sarah and I drove up Castle Creek road to just shy of the 10,200 foot creek crossing then started our hike in.
We bypassed the normal turn off into Montezuma Basin and continued on Pearl Pass Road for a short distance to the Tagert Hut.
Exploring our new digs we discovered a sled in the outhouse and soon ran a few laps on the slopes south of the hut.
Afternoon sun proved a lie to the dismal forecast as we relaxed on the deck wearing the hut’s collection of miss matched Crocs.
Kurt and Jim showed up a little after 5pm, just before the sun went behind the tall ridge to our west. Several beers were consumed, jokes told, dinners cooked, plans hatched and water fetched from the stream.
Sarah had argued strongly for a 4am departure from the hut to follow guide book author Lou Dawson’s advice “Snow climbers should start early after a cold clear night and time their ascent to be off the route by sunrise.” The rest of us tried to bargain to a later time but she stood firm. Now we just needed a cold and clear night. Our forecast was for 31 degrees at ~13,000 feet, but cloudy.
It was with great surprise and eager anticipation that a 12:30 bathroom visit featured a clear night sky full of stars. At 3:15a alarms began to sound around the hut and hot drinks were quickly produced before we made good on the 4am start.
From the hut I navigated by headlamp along Castle Creek’s south slopes through the trees then up a packed avalanche slope then along a bench. Finally we neared the 13,000 foot level at a basin beneath the east face where we broke out ice axes and crampons.
We started up a debris fan at the base then entered a shallow couloir.
The sky had lightened but clouds had re-gathered and kept direct morning rays from being a worrying influence on the snowpack.
Partway up the face I turned over the lead to Jim then Kurt in succession.
Finally, I resumed step kicking to reach the southeast ridge of Castle Peak where we regathered.
The summit was only a couple hundred feet higher and we soon strolled on top of the Elk Range.
To descend, we headed northwest to the saddle with Conundrum Peak.
After glissading into the Montezuma Basin we headed toward Malamute Peak.
After hitting some solid snow on the traverse to Malamute’s west saddle we stopped at some rocks to strap on our crampons again before continuing upwards.
Once on the ridge Jim and Kurt took over leading the third class rock towards to the summit.
From the summit we had a great view of Castle Peak’s East Face in near-profile. Whooa, did we just climb that?
Most parties appear to have descended back via the west ridge, but a steep snow couloir just east of the summit attracted our attention.
Eventually the snow ran out and our descent was finished on scree and mining relics back into the basin.
From the basin we descended back towards the main fork of Castle Creek and then returned to the hut to relax and repack for the hike out.
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