"The Citadel" - 13,294'

Approach: Herman Gulch and not via the route through the willows

To the Stats, We Go!

Total length: 10.10 miles
Total gain: 3,235'

Approximate gain/mile splits:
Mile 1 = 568'
Mile 2 = 387'
Mile 3 = 551'
Mile 4 = 253'
Mile 5 = 1,135'
Miles 6 - 10.10 = 341'

Roll Call

Present! I'm only occasionally driven by the formal peak lists; otherwise, peaks end up on my ever-growing mental list by their aesthetic, an interesting route, fun scrambling, or sometimes just because they're there. Citadel's draw was 100% aesthetics. I'd moved from Oregon, and if you know anything about the Cascades, you know the ruggedness of some of the peaks having been carved by massive blow-outs of yesteryear. My favorite local peaks were Broken Top, Mt. Washington, and Three-Fingered Jack; you just knew from their distinct jagged features the eruptions had to have been good! When I first saw "The Citadel", it struck me with some sense of familiarity. I loved the towers, the ridges, all of it. I snapped the picture below.

At that time, I was VERY early in my peak-pursuing days. When I shared the picture with a friend, she asked if I was going to climb it. I said, "Are you kidding? There's no way." Granted, my exposure tolerance at the time was nil, so anything looking steep and cliffy was an automatic "heck no". However, I couldn't escape the magic of the peak's aesthetic. So, it landed somewhere on my wish list. I very casually researched the route off and on and read peoples' stories. But I never committed.

Theoretically, the peak was within my skill set by the time 2020 rolled around, but for whatever reason it never floated to the top of my mental list. Fast forward to 2022, and the likes of Pettingell, Hagar, and Golden Bear hit my radar. Three trips into Herman Gulch later (long story), I was tired of looking AT it rather than being ON it.

The Trek

The advantage of the Herman Gulch approach to Herman Lake is its straightforwardness. I'd read about folks deviating into the willows and taking a different and potentially more direct approach getting to the ascent path for the peak, but this would involve WILLOWS. We just weren't feeling it, sorry. They may as well be an army of orcs. (I'm also writing this TR a mere two weeks after the absolute worst willow bushwhacking I've ever had to do, so I'm feeling even more bitter now than I did last year!)

When things level out and you're just about to the lake, you'll see a distinct trail heading left/SW-ish. Take it! And enjoy the views of your peak right in front of you.

Once past the lake, the trail is not consistently distinct because the majority of people don't go further into the basin. But, it was still easy enough to follow at least until the minor creek/waterfall crossing. After that, it was a little bit of choose-your-own-adventure; however, directionally, easy to know where to go because you can see the social trail ascent path very clearly in the distance.

In the picture below, you can see the super faint social trail, and X roughly marks the spot you want to be heading because that's where you start ascending to gain the saddle between Bethel and Citadel.

And there you have it, you have reached the start of your main ascent. Social trail is a lot more distinct from here on up, but I've included the red route arrow just because I want to feel fancy.

Once you're on the saddle, your objective really is to just skirt the ridge. Even if you lose the social trail along the way, you understand that your objective is to go up and to just kind of follow the contour of the ridge. Don't go too far right (cliffs), don't go too far left (downhill). And, yes, things get decently steep from saddle to summit. Prepare your calves for battle!

The picture below is a great example of just continuing to follow the contour of the ridge. Once you're high enough that the summit towers start appearing, you may start getting incredibly excited and emit various high-pitched, girlish "eeks!" and phrases like, "Nature is crazy to look so cool!" and, "I can't wait to be up there!!" and, "What should we eat after we're back down???"

I'm sorry, but if you don't think the top of this peak is amazing, we may not be able to be friends! (I kid. Or do I...?) I love the rock, the nature of the rock, the contours, the jags, the splits, the towers, the drop-offs - all of it. So phenomenal!

There are multiple ways to skin the mountain. I repeat: follow the contour of the ridge. But definitely don't go off the [Helm's] deep end (right) because cliffs. (Starting to feel like I should apologize for the super random LOTR references...) Thanks to southerly aspects, you can see here that minimal remaining snow caused no issues whatsoever.

LIGHT THE BEACONS?! The mini tower below is easy to skirt around. It is the guardian before you get to the REAL towers.

The Two Towers

Which of the two is the one to rule them all? Which tower is beholden to the true summit? There's a Northwest tower and a Southeast tower. Folks online pointed me to a thread on the .com titled "Colorado LiDAR Findings". On page 34 of that highly informative thread, there is highly informative data analysis using the most recent LiDAR survey. True summit appeared confirmed to be the Northwest tower. This appears further confirmed in what's presented as the true summit on Lists of John, as well, which was referenced in that same thread, too. Our original objective was to climb both towers, but given we were subject to a typical monsoon forecast, and I was having some physical struggles, we headed for the Northwest tower as our initial/primary target just in case we wouldn't have time for the other tower (which proved to be the case).

The Trek, Continued...

The rock is decently loose as you skirt around the Southeast tower in order to get to the entrance of the gully, and things continue to be loose in the gully, as well, of course, until you hop onto the ascent rock/slabs for the Northwest tower.

The entrance to the gully awaits! It is decently steep and decently loose, so we stayed out of each others' fall lines. With the Northwest tower being the objective, I took us leftward onto the tower's more solid, terraced rock as soon as it seemed feasible to do so. I should have marked that in the pic below, but basically if you can find my partner hunched over in the shadows below, directly across from him to the left is a good "step up" entry point onto the tower rock.

And finally, the summit! Mind you, the true summit in this photo is the rock protruding above me. Prior to this picture being taken, I did actually top out on the rock, albeit kind of a leaning/draping of my torso on it. Touching the top with just my hand felt too unofficial (though I wouldn't judge anybody who does that!), but I also wasn't about to climb up and stand or sit on it considering the air on the other side and the distinct lack of surface area.

Final Thoughts

I was SO delighted to have done this peak after having had it draw me in so early on in my peak "career". And I was definitely not disappointed! While I don't particularly like the Herman Gulch approach, most people I know don't mind it. For me, the real joy started after deviating from the lake, though, and that was partly due to the constant views of the peak but also just the enjoyment of the route itself. The basin is pretty, and the ascent has great views.

I found this to be a VERY approachable class 3 and one that I would feel comfortable using as an introductory class 3 for someone. Honestly, the gully portion is annoying crumbly rock but not bad. And there again, it's a good introduction to being mindful of who's above you and below you, then the scrambling itself on the tower was a good, short-lived taste of route-finding. So, this made the list of "beginner class 3", in my mind. And I think that's specific to the true summit being the Northwest tower instead of the Southeast tower. I could be wrong, but the Southeast tower (which I can't wait to go back and do just for fun!) had the appearance of being more class 4-ish. Doable/approachable for me, maybe not for someone brand new to class 3/4. (Again, I could be wrong.)

I hope, at minimum, you found this TR to be tolerable. As always, please strive to leave no trace wherever you may roam. Happy hiking!