| Bad weather made the two lowest named summits in Jefferson county reasonable as an outing. Parking at the east end of 16th street, the steep but short hike begins up South Table Mountain. On the right, Castle Rock looms above the trail's base. The snow and recent rain made the trail slick in spots, but very manageable. The summit as shown and listed by USGS is actually the named spire Castle Rock, which was miy first destination - an easy walk to the rock top. The highest protrusion was a little sketchy with all the wet snow covering it (the highest ground is the cliff edge), but I managed to stand on it. Now, on to the other purpose for reaching the mesa top - The true highest contour.
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This was very similar to plains highpointing. A quick romp from Castle rock following another trail/road leads to the highest ground, just north it. Someone else was up here this morning, but I never saw them. The entire morning had poor visibility until the descent, but the pea soup would return for the next locale for the day. A short drive over to the Golden Cliffs trailhead, and the next hike was underway. The aspirations of most who hike this trail are usually much more commendable than mine, being that the area is so rich with rock climbing opportunities. The well-maintained trail efficiently switchbacks up the otherwise steep slope, and soon the trail arrives at the base of the cliffs. A short distance to the east, an easier way up is available - a break in the cliffs. Atop the mesa, I expected plains-like terrain.
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I followed a road north for about half a mile, and then left it trending slightly northeast to arrive a quarter mile from the highest set of contours. The first appears interesting from the south side, which was the direction I climber it (photo on right). The north side gently slopes off to the saddle with the next contour, which I visit, though it appears shorter. This is the representation on the map as well, however the USGS location for North Table mountain is the North end of the mesa. That point is outranked by three separate points on the mesa, all tread on today, thus my reason for not continuing another 1.3 miles north to visit. I am content to acquire the highest contour (summit shown below) and return the way I came.
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