As many of you may have heard already, heavy rainfall has washed out the Castleton Tower trail, damaging and destroying the access path in several areas. Coming up at the end of October is an Access Fund Adopt-a-crag event focused on repairing the Castleton trail. The event is also being supported by Utah Open Lands and the American Alpine Club and is aimed at drawing support from both volunteers and monetary donations. The American Alpine Club’s website states that donations for the trail’s rebuilding will be “solicited soon,” and I hope that we as a community will offer our support so that these solicitations won’t even be necessary.
I’m not local to Castle Valley, but I take part in climbing trail maintenance and restoration efforts in my community. Most don’t realize the continual effort of maintaining trails exceeds the initial effort to create them, and crag paths require more care than most users consider. Here’s to supporting local action, and to hoping climbers in southern Utah unite.