The Citadel - 13294' - East Face Class 4
Pettingell Peak - 13553'
TRAVERSE FROM CITADEL CLASS 5.4 - June 2020
Decided to play a little hookie from work in the morning, and met up with Devin, a friend of Kelly's (who joined me for the Operation Dark Snake trip I did the previous weekend) at 4am at the Herman Gulch Trailhead shortly before the tunnel on I-70. Believe it or not, this was to be my first visit into Herman Gulch despite knowing about it for over a decade. Skier friends of mine routinely make dawn patrol in this basin in spring, but I never got the chance to join them.
I arrived at the trailhead right at 3:45am and Devin was already there sleeping in his car. Without much hesitation we packed up and were off at 4. Knowing there would be a short rappel along the traverse from Citadel to Pettingell, I brought my lightweight 30 meter rope and a couple harnesses. We made quick work up the very well maintained trail , reaching Herman Lake as civil twilight neareda close. A thin layer of clouds were going to offer for a very vibrant sunrise, which we saw in full glory as we hiked into the upper basin to the southwest of the lake. Just before we made a short bushwhack through some willows, the sun rose and we stopped for a brief moment to enjoy it.
I arrived at the trailhead right at 3:45am and Devin was already there sleeping in his car. Without much hesitation we packed up and were off at 4. Knowing there would be a short rappel along the traverse from Citadel to Pettingell, I brought my lightweight 30 meter rope and a couple harnesses. We made quick work up the very well maintained trail , reaching Herman Lake as civil twilight neareda close. A thin layer of clouds were going to offer for a very vibrant sunrise, which we saw in full glory as we hiked into the upper basin to the southwest of the lake. Just before we made a short bushwhack through some willows, the sun rose and we stopped for a brief moment to enjoy it.
We noticed a trail that traversed up the slope directly to the 12,450 foot saddle we had to get to on the east ridge of The Citadel, which enabled us to avoid ascending the slow slopes directly below the saddle, and make a more gentle ascending traverse up the surprisingly well trodden trail. Once we arrived at the saddle the breeze started, and we were greeted with an incredible view to the south, where the Sawatch, Gore and rest of the Front ranges came into view. Holy Cross was even visible clearly in the distance, with the cross couloir still snow filled!
We started making our way up the east ridge of The Citadel following a nice boot path. I guess this is popular enough to form a trail almost the whole way up. Before too long, we came upon the crux 40 foot step on the east ridge, and I spotted a steep V shaped gully leading right up through the middle of it and after inspecting where others generally went, I proclaimed it to be likely the best way to climb. It was a pretty sustained class 4 climb up blocky terrain, at one point having to smear feet on a downward sloping slab. My taller reach enabled me to grab good hand holds without too much trouble and make it up pretty quicky. This being Devins' first venture onto Class 4 terrain, he fought through it and made it up, and experienced the standard cold hands you get when scrambling on a cool morning at elevation. Definitely a little spicy that early in the morning but super fun. Above that step, the terrain eased and we tagged the east summit, then made the short traverse over to the higher west summit, which involved crossing a deep notch, and following a diagonal ledge cutting across the east side of the summit blocks. We stood atop the west summit at 6:45am, and had plenty of time to continue on the traverse to Pettingell Peak. We both needed to be back to the cars shortly before 11 but given our quick ascent time we were all good to go!
We started making our way up the east ridge of The Citadel following a nice boot path. I guess this is popular enough to form a trail almost the whole way up. Before too long, we came upon the crux 40 foot step on the east ridge, and I spotted a steep V shaped gully leading right up through the middle of it and after inspecting where others generally went, I proclaimed it to be likely the best way to climb. It was a pretty sustained class 4 climb up blocky terrain, at one point having to smear feet on a downward sloping slab. My taller reach enabled me to grab good hand holds without too much trouble and make it up pretty quicky. This being Devins' first venture onto Class 4 terrain, he fought through it and made it up, and experienced the standard cold hands you get when scrambling on a cool morning at elevation. Definitely a little spicy that early in the morning but super fun. Above that step, the terrain eased and we tagged the east summit, then made the short traverse over to the higher west summit, which involved crossing a deep notch, and following a diagonal ledge cutting across the east side of the summit blocks. We stood atop the west summit at 6:45am, and had plenty of time to continue on the traverse to Pettingell Peak. We both needed to be back to the cars shortly before 11 but given our quick ascent time we were all good to go!
The crux 40 foot step on the east ridge of Citadel. We climbed directly up the V shaped gully in the middle of the photo (Class 4). Easier options may have existed further left but the snow was steep and hard getting over there.
Devin climbing up the Class 4 crux
We pressed on, making some class 3 traverse moves around some small gendarmes, trying to stay on the calm, sunny east side when possible to stay warmer. The so called class 4 drops enroute to the rappel I never found, and was able to keep the traverse to class 3. Staying right on the ridge crest did get airy at times, and the scenery was fantastic! Overall, the rock quality was decent, with a few rotting spots interspersed along the way. We reached the top of the rappel, and we put our harnesses on. Since Devin had not rappelled before, and I had only one ATC, I decided it was best to lower him down, then rappel down myself. I clipped into one of the two bomber anchors we found and slowly lowered him down the 40 foot drop. I then fed the rope through the lower anchor and made a quick rappel. The 30 meter rope was plenty long enough, with perhaps 5 extra meters to work with.
After the rappel, there was a couple short scrambling bits left before the terrain eased considerably back to class 2. Green tundra grass was plentiful, as was tiny wildflowers that made for a very vibrant morning. We passed the 12980 foot low saddle between The Citadel and Pettingell and continued up ~500 feet to the summit of Pettingell. The total traverse length was not super far in distance, however it looked further than it was. The Citadel looked super small from the top of Pettingell, where we took our first real break of the morning. Longs Peak was clearly visible to the north, and the Torreys group dominated the east from here.
After the rappel, there was a couple short scrambling bits left before the terrain eased considerably back to class 2. Green tundra grass was plentiful, as was tiny wildflowers that made for a very vibrant morning. We passed the 12980 foot low saddle between The Citadel and Pettingell and continued up ~500 feet to the summit of Pettingell. The total traverse length was not super far in distance, however it looked further than it was. The Citadel looked super small from the top of Pettingell, where we took our first real break of the morning. Longs Peak was clearly visible to the north, and the Torreys group dominated the east from here.
At 8:45am we started the quick descend down the east slopes of Pettingell, boulder hopping down talus until we reached the grassy bench that we followed on a descending leftward traverse until reaching the NE corner of Herman Lake. Scores of people greeted us back at the lake but we wasted no time chatting, and started fast walking down the trail. The hike out was uneventful apart from the occational people we saw wearing masks hiking up the trail (say what??....bang head here sign needed; insert facepalm emoji here lol). At 10:30 we reached the cars and parted ways for now as I had a meeting at 11 to catch. Totals were about 10.5 miles and 3800 feet of gain in 6.5 hours. Decent morning that's for sure!
Map of our route