04.08.2014
And you thought Mt Albert Edward was a good hike? Wait until you do this one... This is probably the best hike you can do from Circlet Lake. A stunning and beautifully varied loop that takes in two summits. If you only have one day, then Mt Albert Edward is probably the one to tick off, but if you have two days make sure you do this hike as well. If you're already done Mt Albert Edward then the latter part of this route is known territory.
This is definitely NOT a trail for inexperienced hikers. The route is steep in places, crosses an intimidating boulder field and is not always obvious (especially on the south shoulder of Castlecrag and descending from Mt Frink). The payoff is worth every step. Just remember than cairns are your friend :-)
We did the loop clockwise, heading out to the beautiful and serene Moat Lake (where we wished we could spend more time) before a steep climb up to a lovely little plateau. The next section of the trail was really quite spectacular with various gorgeous pocket meadows, often with the largest yellow monkeyflower I've ever seen. And lo, there were glacier lilies here ;-) The only downer was the uninterrupted views of the logging clearcuts a short distance away...
The boulder field was short, but not trivial and required some careful negotiation. Aim for the nearest flagging in a patch of trees, don't be tempted by the more distant flagging towards the bottom of the boulder field. If in doubt, err on staying high. When the trail turns the corner to head up the shoulder of Castlecrag, it becomes a narrow track going straight up a tree-covered slope. More often than not we couldn't see our feet and the little trees did their best to push us back down the hill. Fortunately this section isn't long. The trail emerges onto steep heather and rock. There is a junction here that led us astray: take the right fork marked with yellow flagging tape, don't be tempted by the really obvious trail that follows the contours as it peters out within 100 m. The next section was confusing thanks to all the SAR flagging tape but just follow the terrain and you'll find another cairn.
The route up the south side of Castlecrag is very steep but it is a trail, not a scramble. It's loose but has many tight switchbacks so you're never going directly up or down the slope for very long. The drop offs from the summit are vertical and vertigo-inducing if you're prone to that. Even scarier is watching other people get close to the edge... The summit cairn was swarmed in flying ants so we didn't think to look for a register, but apparently there is one.
The descent from the summit was not as bad as I expected. Pick up the trail again and descend into the col between Castlecrag and Mt Frink before beginning a new slog uphill. Lots of flowers here to take your mind of the climb :-) Keep following the cairns (pass the sign that says "Keep going" - very inspirational!) and you'll be led to a sub-summit of Mt Frink. Good views to the south from here. Then head over, skirting another sub-summit to reach the cairned summit of Mt Frink. It's an unremarkable summit but it has great views of Mt Albert Edward and others (though the view south-east is hidden by the sub-summits).
The next section is tricky and cairns are few and far between, but we just made our way off the summit down to the ridge to try and find some cairns. Find them we did, and once more followed their guiding path (thankfully skirting a big wall of rock that appears from nowhere...). Then there's a bit of an unwelcome climb to re-join the Mt Albert Edward trail and it's time to retrace some familiar steps back to Circlet Lake.
As I said, tremendous variety, rewarding views and some wonderful surprise flower meadows. A++++, would do again.
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