Distance: 4.4 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 8600' (Castle), 8480' (CT)
Elevation Gain: 1440'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.1
Round trip time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Fuller Ridge Trailhead
Difficulty: Moderate (combined, scramble, route finding)
Castle Rocks (HPS #43) is not an HPS Emblem, but I think it should be. CT Overlook is an unoffical Peakbagger peak but worth the short hike from Castle Rocks. The hike starts at the Fuller Ridge trailhead. From highway 243, I drove 7 miles on dirt road 4S01 (aka Black Mountain Road). There were a few sections with deep ruts so high clearance was needed. I didn't see any sedans that made it as far as Black Mountain. I started south on the PCT shaded by the ridge. There was a fair bit of deadfall across the trail. After about 1.6 miles, I saw some cairns marking a use trail up. I followed it a short distance before it disappeared and I just went up to the ridge. The giant boulders on the ridge were difficult to navigate so I retreated below the ridge on the north side until I was near the summit. There, I found the use trail again. The register was in a plastic jar just below the summit block. I did not find any marks. The summit boulder itself was class 3 and had a pretty big drop on the other side. The official HPS Guide lists the hike as class 1 easy, but that's a sandbag. Although the stats weren't big, it was not in the same category as hikes with a maintained trail. IMO, the close up view of the north face of San Jacinto should have earned Castle Rocks an emblem. It was better than half a dozen that did make the list.
After some drone shots on Castle Rocks, I descended just below the ridge again to make my way over to CT Overlook. I don't know the origin story for the name, but it looked impressive. I reached the summit after some class 3, but there might have been an easier way up. The summit was a collection of vertically stacked slabs. The formation reminded me of Marion Mountain. I found no marks or register. While the views were not as sublime as Castle Rocks, they were still great. I started down toward the PCT through some light brush. I was startled to hear what sounded like branches cracking and a huffing noise that sounded like a bear. The sound was down slope a couple hundred feet. I yelled out "hey bear" a few times, then continued down slowly, but never saw any sign of one. Could have been my imagination. The rest of the return trip was uneventful.
way-cool destination & rpt. nice MB register entry find--only 10x to go...!
ReplyDeleteGloop,
DeleteMB put the register book there in 2009. I should have looked for his other entries.