We started with a late night on July 3rd finishing up with Wanderlust Colorado and laundry and all sorts of last minute things. Then as usual the drive to the trailhead was longer than expected (which we should have expected). We didn't even try to head up the dirt road that quickly became a 4wd road but just parked at the end of the pavement and started walking. Katie Joined Raquel, Sam, and me for this day. Walking up the road was fairly mellow and I would have been able to drive part of the way although I'd have been nervous at a few spots that it would have gotten worse and I'd have to back down the unpleasantness. It was also a bit frustrating to have vehicles drive past us while we walked. Eventually the road got to the point where there is no way my little bumblebee (1999 4 cylinder 2wd Toyota Tacoma) would have made it. There were a number of more rugged Toyotas near the end of the road though.
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From the end of the road we headed across a level area and then up the morraine and onto the snow. From there we went up the ridge to the summit of Castle Peak. Then we dropped down to the saddle and up to Conundrum (which doesn't earn full 14er status because the drop between it and Castle Peak isn't large enough. We tagged a few peaks along the ridge there because we weren't sure which was the actual high point. Then back to the saddle for a quick lesson in glissading. With the relatively edgeless Altra running shoes and only trekking poles this was a bit sketchier than I'd like but I still had an easier time than Raquel who managed to get hit in the head with the "snow tool" lightweight pseudo ice axe and slide for a bit. There was a long runout so it wasn't actually very dangerous, but it was steep at the top. The longer and less steep snowfield a bit farther down was more fun, especially for me. By the time we were down off the snow there was a bit of rain that continued on and off for the rest of the hike down as well as some lightning up high (but we were down). Sam was not feeling very well with the altitude to the point that Raquel took his pack for a bit.
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Summary of July 4th, two 14ers (although one is a *), one set of tears, one altitude headache, rain, lightning (although not near us), 14.5 miles, 4,850 feet of elevation gain, and some tired slackers.