Scrambling with Colleen, Mark, Keri, Darryl, Ashraf, and Ziko.

We knew that this was going to be a long day. The 8.4 km hike to Rockbound Lake was long, but not as unbearable as I was expecting. We took a short break at Rockbound Lake, deciding how to get up the first gully. Like the previous day, the weather was perfect and the scenery at the lake was quite beautiful. We found a very straightforward route up to the first ridge and everyone got up with ease. I decided to try a more difficult route alongside a narrow chimney. It was fun, but there were a couple of dangerously steep spots where a slip would have been very nasty and I was glad to make it up without incident (descending this part would definitely require a rope and some nerve).  

From the ridge, we made our way around a short section of the mountain and then descended a little to the grassy plateau below. After crossing the plateau we went up a relatively steep gully to gain the lower ridge again. The rest of the trip was simply a long slog to the summit. Along the way there were many interesting rock formations caused by severe erosion and cracking. Our progress was slow with Ashraf, Mark, and Keri bringing up the rear, Ziko and me up on the ridge, and Colleen, Darryl and Marilyn (a girl from Quebec, living in Lake Louise, who joined us) several hundred meters ahead. Ziko and I explored the actual ridge a little, but we were eventually forced, by an enormous crack in the rock, to come down to the trail. Seven and a half long hours after leaving the car, we finally made the summit cairn, where the view was spectacular -  Temple, Assiniboine, Rundle, Pilot to mention a few. Eisenhower Tower was awesome. As the description promised, you could see forever. We stayed at the summit for almost an hour (Ashraf made a nice cup of tea), before starting back. At this point, it was 5 pm and I was very concerned that we would still be on the trail when the sun set. We made it down to Rockbound Lake in just over 2 hours and I began to feel better. The final 8.4 km to the car was unbearable this time. It seemed to go on forever, even though Colleen, Marilyn, and I were going at a fast pace. We had to jog for the final 2 km to avoid being on the trail in the dark. Keri and Ziko also had to run and arrived 20 minutes behind us. Ashraf, Mark, and Darryll were not so lucky. They had fallen at least an hour behind and were still quite a ways from the parking lot when all sunlight had gone. Fortunately, they were well-prepared and had flashlights and a glo-stick. They descended slowly and made it to the parking lot just before 11 pm. The next day everyone was in rough shape. Overall, an excellent day, with great company, and a good hike. 

    
A beautiful photo taken by Darryl; Eisenhower Tower is the peak on the right

    
Rockbound Lake far below and the summit of Castle Mountain at the right

    
The whole gang at the summit of Castle Mountain; Ashraf, Ziko, Colleen, Keri, me, Mark, and Darryl

    
Darryl at the summit, with Eisenhower Tower behind him

    
Another shot of Eisenhower Tower taken by Mark