Castle Mountain Lookout

BOU AVENUE
Castle Mountain Lookout

On 20 June 2021, Zosia Zgolak and I hiked up Castle Mountain Lookout in Alberta's Banff National Park. While Zosia had never hiked to the lookout before, this would be my third time but first since 2002. Starting from the signed trailhead located along Highway 1A about 4.8 kilometres west of Castle Junction, we enjoyed a stress-free ascent on the well-maintained and easy-to-follow trail all the way to the lookout site.

Since we had a lot of energy to spare, Zosia and I extended our hike by following the climber's trail beyond the lookout. Without any climbing gear, we had no illusions about going all the way to the Alpine Club of Canada hut situated halfway up the cliffs of Castle Mountain, but we were curious about how far we could get. Unlike the gently-graded trail to the lookout site, the climber's trail is relentlessly steep. Due to some confusing side trails, we actually went off-route when we prematurely crossed a prominent gully (the climber's trail crosses this same gully higher up), but ultimately, we ended up at the foot of the cliffs not far from the access point for the hut. To get slightly better views above the last trees, we climbed up a short but steep rock step to reach a scenic perch. This would be as high as we would go as the terrain became increasingly more technical beyond this point.

After taking a break on the perch, Zosia and I carefully down-climbed the rock step and descended the climber's trail back to the lookout site without any issues. Our subsequent hike back to the trailhead was uneventful.

	The official trail to Castle Mountain Lookout is wide and easy to follow.
	Raindrops seem to weigh heavy on this violet.
	Partway up the trail are the remains of an old cabin.
	A mule deer looks up while still chomping on some vegetation. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	The forest begins to thin out a bit revealing some of the impressive cliffs of Castle Mountain.
	Another break in the trees along the trail reveals far-reaching views across the valley.
	Zosia arrives at Castle Mountain Lookout (2016 metres) to find a man painting the landscape.
	Zosia follows a steeper and less defined trail beyond the lookout site.
	Zosia approaches the base of Castle Mountain's cliffs.
	Zosia briefly enters a steep gully but would soon turn around.
	Zosia scrambles up increasingly steep terrain.
	Sonny and Zosia crouch on their tiny perch (2196 metres) near the base of Castle Mountain's cliffs.
	Sonny stands triumphantly on a prominent pinnacle just below the tiny perch that he and Zosia reached. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Some familiar peaks are visible to the southeast.
	Mount Ball is barely visible behind an intervening outlier of Storm Mountain.
	More familiar peaks are visible to the southwest.
	Zosia descends the steep trail back to the lookout site.