Castle Dome Peak

17-Feb-01

By: Linda McDermott

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Ron and Ellen met Jim and I a few miles down on the dirt road to Castle Dome on Friday night, February 16. It was actually kind of funny, because there's always this thought in the back of my head that it would be very easy to run into an unsavory character out in the middle of the deserts where we camp, and Jim and I were camping alone. We were just getting to bed about 11:30 pin when we _ saw headlights. Hum ...unsavory characters or hopefully Ron and Ellen. It was Ron and Ellen, and they couldn't believe Jim was sitting on the tailgate of the truck at such a late hour when we were supposed to have left mid-afternoon for Arizona.

We took a very leisurely trip up the peak on Saturday. Hard to miss that HUGE rock arrow pointing up the gully to the right where you leave the main wash. Huffed and puffed to just underneath the Class 3 part of the peak. This was where a kind soul had kept my Casie five years ago. I was afraid to take myself up this part, much less her.

I had brought my rock climbing shoes with me to do the exposed part. They made me feel more secure while Jim and Ellen and I climbed to the top and Ron kept Bogie with him below the Class 3 part. Good to find the register ammo box in concrete at the top. We boogied (not Bogied) on down and had lunch with Ron, and back down. Had a terrific campfire with absolutely wonderful stories. and great company. Drove home on Sunday, stopping in Quartzite for breakfast. It- was fun to see the locals out there, and have a good meal on the way. Talking about Casie still is hard. You never quite understand that you could be signing up for a 15-year commitment when adopting a pet, or understand the impact they can make on your life. Casie would always sneak out the door at the first chance and jump in the car, never to be left behind. She had over a dozen DPS peaks and was a fine rock scrambler. It was fitting to remember her on top of Kofa.


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