Catching my breath after a swift and steep climb to the initial viewpoint, I gazed across Rockbound Lake.
I had a lot more trail ahead to reach the top of Castle Mountain. Others were behind me with the same summit plan. I imagine most were stopping at the lake for the day. As far as I could see, I was leading the way with no one ahead of me.
I glanced over at Helena Peak and noticed two hikers gingerly ascending the sloppy scree slope. For a brief moment, I considered tagging Helena Peak before Castle. That thought only lasted a moment as I put down my iPhone and continued around the lake.
I followed the cairns as much as I could but I missed many of them and I found myself veering to the right and I had to correct myself more than once. Follow the cairns with the red ribbon. Also the trail was much lower than I had anticipated so I naturally veered to the high point.
Sadly it was another smoky day but not so bad that I couldn’t breathe. Thankfully it was also a mild day because once you get around the hike, there is no more water or shade.
I was happy to have the trail to myself as I foolishly got off trail more than once. I had passed a male hiker right before Rockbound lake. I was not surprised to see him eventually in the distance as I began the final ascent up to the summit.
I sat on Castle Mountain and watcher the hiker make his way to the top. We chatted a few minutes about the trail and the smoky weather. I was happy to hear I wasn’t the only one who veered off trail more than once. (Eisenhower Tower is the big slab of rock in the first photo.)
This was a nice hike/run but I liked the views from Helena Peak better. I looked at Rockbound Lake the whole climb so it wasn’t that exciting when I reached the summit. On the other side, all you see is the Bow Valley Parkway.
But what is cool about Castle Mountain is its shape which resembles the silhouette of a medieval castle, which is how it got its name.