Just want to put up quick TR on favorite area that sometimes does not get all credit it deserves. Previous 2 trips -- Castle and Helena/Stuart -- I was too pressed with time; now it was turn for relaxed exploration of fantastic upper amphitheater, without rush dictated by summit cairn obsession. I wondered aimlessly under Helena Ridge towards Stuart Knob, then looped back towards main Castle massif and returned back via upper shelf. Few pics:



1- Tower Lake Reflections
2- View back to Eisenhower Tower from east shore of Rockbound Lake
3- Delightful hiking on karst pavement in upper Amphitheater
4- Helena Ridge
5- Stuart Knob: About an hour from here
6- Shelf leading to main Castle summit
7- Zoom on Castle summit; Eisenhower Tower left
8- Rockbound Lake; water level was the lowest I've ever seen

An idea for folks from the Coast that might be heading this way for larch season: This is nice alternative to other, perhaps more popular destinations. South shore of Rockbound Lake is full of larches and usually on fire in 2nd half of September. Hike in is very comparable to Garibaldi approach from Rubble Creek: similar distance, altitude and type of trail. You even get Tower Lake as equivalent of lesser Garibaldi. There are no glaciers and lake is much smaller, but rock is very impressive, with many possibilities for further exploration.

Really excellent set of photos here!

Great shots nice to see a report on a nice area where u don't have to make it to a summit to enjoy your day!

Oh man, have mercy. You have material for so many calendars ahead that I'm not sure the whole human race will survive that long (but I don't want to digress into politics).

Simply superb.

Man what a staggering view... and contrast to North Shore peaks you were reporting recently. Do you even feel like going North Shore after this? Thanks for sharing anyhow.

trailrunner: Yes, I still feel North Shore has plenty to offer. Big trees, sub-alpine tarns with very unique feel, and there are still cliffs and even glaciers. Just different, that's all. It is true though, Rockies are special

Marek, Mick; Thanks! I just have a good camera. But I do notice it is easier to take a quality picture in the Rockies because air is cleaner. Too much smog close to metro-Van

sparkes: Exactly the point. I was just having offline discussion with a friend about 1st photo (reflection in Tower Lake). His comment was how most people would not not notice; but I was in no hurry whatsoever. I saw surface of the lake was very still, and wanted just to sit for few minutes and enjoy the moment. When you are on the mission to tag the summit, sometimes you don't have time for such things. There are many different ways to enjoy this great outdoors western Canada has to offer.

Such beautiful photos, I first thought they were paintings or something artificial,cause cameras dont take such clear detailed perfect photos. I like taking photos of my trips too, but never get such perfect shots. You mentioned you have a good camera, do you have to set it to certain f stops and all that kinda of thing? I have been using my Kodak Z 710 point and shoot. I just bought a pentax k-30 but have no idea how to use it. ( 270 page instruction booklet came with it) I would love to be able to take pictures like you have. I think I'll take lessons on using it.
Looking at your photos made up my mind for me..

They are excellent photos, but not that hard to take.

Use a large-sensor camera with a good lens and a circular polarizer. Set the aperture at f/8-f/11 and make sure your composition doesn't suck. You should also shoot RAW and use Picasa or some program to edit the photo afterwards. You never get shots like this straight OOC - most great photos are done with good PP (post processing) technique. It's the digital equivalent of a darkroom from film days.

bang on, nothing really to add.
I want to point to this great write-up : http://www.explor8ion.com/node/25

As I was getting interested in photography this was one of first things I read. Later I browsed many books in Chapters, found nothing remotely clear and concise. Scott Kelsey wrote (5?) books that use 100s of pages and say nothing fundamentally different from what you get here, for free too.

Few words on post-processing: At a time I smirked at but it is just a tool, that needs to be used properly. Have a look at some of leimrod photos (bc board; think he had 2 in this year calendar) as an example what intelligent post-processing can do.

It's all about practice. You can know all the theory about RAW, aperture priority, this or that, but practice is the only way. Find shot you like from location you know, then try to replicate. Its all such a good fun I find relaxing and improving overall life quality (not to mention capturing lasting memories, you end up enjoying the most)