"The Citadel"

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 5/26/2024, By: sarahmariekirk
Info: We attempted the Citadel via Herman Gulch (chose this line due to the more sheltered approach due to the forecast) but we were unable to summit due to white out conditions / low vis / shit*y wind. Still a lot of snow back there, and now a few inches of powder from the last few days. Snowshoes made getting up to the lake easier than without. If you are a skier, Pettingell looked pretty filled in as well as the Citadel. 

Route: Snoopy's Collar
Posted On: 2/26/2024, By: k_fergie
Info: Snoopy's collar is in, but the choke was pretty tight and had a bit of rock poking out. One person in my group skied it Saturday 2/24 while I observed. No comment on snow stability beyond the fact that things felt fine (vibe check), there was no instability observed, but the overall snow structure was not perfect. 

Route: South Gully
Posted On: 7/24/2023, By: SherpaSara
Info: Theres only one tiny snow drift left below the south gully, but you can easily walk around below it. Traverse to Pettingell is dry. The Dry Creek approach is a little wet, as a lot of the side creeks are running well and flooding out into flatter areas. 

Route: Via Herman gulch
Posted On: 7/23/2023, By: geg86
Info: Managed to avoid all snow fields so did not need spikes/ax/crampons. Rock was particularly loose perhaps from heavy rains and freeze/thaw. Rockfall sounds audible throughout the day. 

Route: From Herman Gulch
Posted On: 4/9/2023, By: bmcqueen
Info: There is a nicely packed trail for several miles in. We put snowshoes on when we branched off the Herman Lake trail towards the Citadel. Snow was a mixed bag - some supportive, other areas sugary and other areas with a thin crust over sugar and a supportive layer. From the base of the rock, we chose to traverse into the gap between the rock and the snow, then hugged the rock until we got to a snow finger that would go. It got crappy at the top, so after doing both summits, we descended the west side of the saddle, got into our snow nook, and traversed the rest of the way back to the entrance ridge. 

Route: Southwest gulley
Posted On: 8/28/2022, By: dleflar
Info: Traversed ridgeline from Hagar and picked my way up to and over generally NE/ish , then ascended to summit. Calm day, no wind. Continued down to dry gulch TH with some nice folks I met on the summit who provided me a shuttle back through the tunnel to my vehicle. Turned my out and back into an out with company. 

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 7/19/2022, By: Sbenfield
Info: Full summer conditions, previous reports do a good job explaining how this hike works. This is more of a conditions for the wildflowers in Herman gulch, which were very impressive the entire way. If flowers are your thing, consider this peak! 

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 7/6/2022, By: ScottLovesRMNP
Info: My final tune-up before heading to attempt Mt. Kilimanjaro! The trail to Herman Lake is in great shape; flowers are providing spectacular displays already! I found the trail leading to the Bethel-Citadel saddle from Herman Lake to be much easier to follow than reports I'd read. You shouldn't have to fight willows if you follow the track, spot the trail leading up to the saddle, and just make some reasonable route choices that avoid the willows. From the Bethel-Citadel saddle, a faint trail heads up to the base of the east summit of The Citadel and is a good route. There is a little snow at the base of the wide gully that separates the two summits of The Citadel. Descend to the base of the gully, going below the snow entirely (which is no problem). Thanks to recent rains, the steep, loose gully is actually a bit muddier and holding in place better than when bone dry. You can get your footsteps into the mud a bit. I used a bit of handhold help from the solid rock on either side of the gully, but really didn't find this too difficult. This gully leads to the saddle between the west and east summits. The west summit is higher. While the climbing is relatively easy (Class 3, following the grassy ramp up), it is in high consequence terrain, and with wet grass and mud, I proceeded with extreme caution. Continue to step carefully across the summit ridge (which is narrow and exposed) to the true highest point, which is easy enough to sit on, but I would never consider standing on it, even with no wind! It is VERY small and with extreme exposure to the north. Although the bottom 20 feet of the east summit involves slightly harder climbing (say, Class 3+), it was far less exposed, and above the initial 20 feet, the rest of the short route to the summit is cruiser and there are multiple ways to head up there. The east summit has plenty of room and is not as exposed as the west one. If you are uncomfortable with the first 20 feet, perhaps have someone spot you. Otherwise, I think it's worth doing, especially if you've already done the more exposed west summit. The area is just gorgeous right now: beautiful clouds mixed with deep blue skies today, wonderful wildflowers, some lingering snowfields, and plenty of greenery. I was glad I went for this today, in spite of a less-than-perfect forecast. I enjoyed it much more than Pettingell, which I did last summer in haze and smoke in mid-July 2021. 

Route: Herman Gulch
Posted On: 7/5/2022, By: MaryinColorado
Info: Essentially summer conditions! Hikes to Herman Lake and cut across from there. Creek crossings were fine. Little patches of snow, no big deal. Ridge is holding some snow off to the side, nothing you need to worry about. And for the patch of snow still sitting below the southeast "false summit", it was easy enough to just skirt below it in order to access the gully. 

Route: Standard
Posted On: 6/24/2022, By: blueshade
Info: The Citadel and the traverse to Hagar. Brief snow that is easily walked (I only post-holed once) on the ridge just before the final summit pyramid(s). The rest of the trail is in mostly good condition (besides the normal soggy spots in spring). 

Route: NE Chute (aka Snoopy’s Backside) and NE bowl
Posted On: 5/29/2022, By: Wildernessjane
Info: Very chunky conditions in the NE chute today. You are basically climbing up avalanche debris from multiple point slides almost the entire way. We ended up traversing around the backside after carrying skis up the couloir and dropping into the NE bowl. Lots of avi debris here too but we were able to get in some really nice turns. 

Route: Snoopy's Backside
Posted On: 5/14/2022, By: toomanybananas
Info: Started in hiking shoes from Herman Gulch until 2.4 miles along the CDT, then put skis + skins on. Could probably have put skins on earlier but might have required taking skis off a few times to cross dirt patches. Snow in the couloir was firm ~9am, but warming fast and the sides of the couloir were already quite warm (could basically posthole next to a rock). Dropped ~9:45am, would not want to have dropped any later. 

Route: North East Face
Posted On: 5/3/2022, By: B_2
Info: All routes are in. Ascended from Herman Gulch and climbed/skied NE Bowl. Others we spoke to came over from south face/snoopy's collar and skied NE Couloir. Herman Gulch is dry for first 0.75ish mile. Dry gulch is continuous snow to parking (per report from another skier) 

Route: Hassel-Pettengel-Citadel
Posted On: 8/22/2021, By: daway8
Info: Despite the recent snow the route was 99.9% snow free. Just a few tiny patches seen here and there in shaded areas. One tiny patch of snow just below the bottom right of the 5.4 chimney up the Citadel and a miniscule amount in a couple tiny patches in the chimney itself which didn't interfere with climbing up it. Don't recall spotting any snow on the Citadel summits. 

Route: From Hagar, descent towards bethel
Posted On: 7/16/2021, By: -wren-
Info: Summer conditions. Don't ascend straight up the west summit from the trail coming up from herman Gulch - you will find horrendously rotten rock in a high class 3/low 4th chimney. Instead, side hill over to the saddle between the two summits, then climb them at easy 3rd for the east and easy 4th for the west.