Citadel & Pettingell
Traverse Citadel to Pettingell - Class 3 w/Rapel
Mostly Class 3 - One or Two Class 4 Moves - One Rappel (30 meter rope)
Our day started at the Herman Gulch trailhead on the east side of the I70 Eisenhower tunnel. From the trailhead we hiked up the main Herman Gulch trail to the lake( roughly 3 miles). We left the trail at the lake and hiked to the saddle between Mount Bethel and the Citadel. From the saddle we climbed the ridge to the base of Citadel's summit block. This is where the class 3-4 scrambling starts. We scrambled to Citadel's summit and continued along the ridge until we reached the rappel. The rappel station was easy to find and the rap was straight forward. After the rap the scrambling eases up and we hiked to along the ridge to the summit of Pettingell. This is where we made a mistake and descended a nasty scree field off of the summit. Instead we should have retraced our tracks back to a low point just southwest of Pettingell's summit and descended from there. Our round trip was 10.2 miles and 4030 vertical.
Partner: Kristi Henes
Round trip was 10.2 miles and 4030 vertical.
Kristi navigating the willows after leaving the trail at the lake. The Citadel looms large.
Alex hiking to the Bethel - Citadel saddle
Admiring the Citadel from the east ridge
We climbed the gully with the dark rock just left of center
Alex in the gully
Kristi in the gully
Kristi topping out in the gully
Looking to the Citadel's summit
Kristi walking the summit ridge with Hagar in the distance
On the summit ridge
Kristi close to the summit (top left)
Ridge scrambling begins. Pettingell in the distance.
The lichen was neon
Kristi getting ready to rap
The terrain eases up
Alex eye's Pettingell (best descent is on the green from the saddle)
Getting back to Herman Lake