Castleton Tower, an almost 500-foot-high Wingate sandstone tower, perches atop an immense talus cone in Castle Valley 25 miles east of the recreational mecca of Moab, Utah. I did the sixth and eighth ascents of this monster in 1971 and even by the late seventies Castleton had still been climbed less than 50 times. In April of 1979, Ed Webster and Buck Norden went on a long desert trip. I tagged along with my wife and infant son Ian to make photographs and point them at some good routes to climb.
And they did do some darn good climbs--Sentinel Spire, Moses, and lastly they did the first completely free ascent of the North Face of Castleton. In this photograph, Buck salutes the setting sun on the square summit of the tower. In the background the light catches The Rectory, a long butte, The Priest, and in the distance the Sister Superior Group.
For more information on all of the towers and routes here, consult Rock Climbing Utah.
