The info sheet you can pick up at the Ranger Station for the Castle Canyon Trail (#765) says it's 0.8 miles long (one-way) and rated "Most Difficult." Love their little symbols - "Most Difficult" has an EKG linegraph through it. Anyway, that was a bit of an underestimate on distance, but the hill would give a lot of folks who just looked at the distance some pause. It turned out to be about 2.7 miles round-trip and elevation ranging from 1600-2500 feet.
While I was up there, a couple arrived in a state of some consternation and exhaustion - each had an energetic dog on leash. Not a very good place for them, unless you trust the furry ones with their own lives.
The trailhead is just up the road behind the "Mt. Hood Foods" market in Rhododendron.
Castle Canyon is named for a number of pinnacle formations found there. Eroded columns of unconsolidated pyroclastics, I think. The first mile or so is just switchbacks through the woods, ...
... but then you start following this odd ridge that's essentially a linear outcropping.
Then, there's a stretch where with these pinnacle-like monoliths start protruding up through the trees.
Along the way, there's a little scrambling. Poles really get in the way on much of the upper portion of the trail. This little guy was lucky I was looking down, as he was just crawling across the perfect foot hold on one incline.
Finally, you reach a few outcroppings with trails out along them, and nice places to sit should you feel so inclined.
From one of these outlooks, there's a view of what's probably the most photographed of all these pinnacles...
One spine had a flower growing on it that I'm not sure I've seen too often, and have no idea what it is...
Don't know what these are, either, but they were out there clinging to the sides of the rocks...
One more shot of one of the steeper spires...
The track, such as it is.
http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=1667&w=645&h=440
All in all, a pretty cool way to kill a foggy morning on Mt. Hood! I'm sure that good photos up there would be all that much more difficult if the sun was out. But beware that the trails are steep and mostly dirt - it'd probably be a real mess after or during a persistent rain.
