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Last Saturday, my friend Sarah (sstratta) and I hiked up Herman Gulch, summited The Citadel, then traversed over to Hagar Mtn, which involved an awesome Class 3/4 scramble at the end. This is one of the more enjoyable scrambles I've done in the Front Range, and much solitude was had, even with it being a Saturday. Several guidebooks list The Citadel as a fun scramble, but few mention the traverse over to Hagar, but it is well worth the side-trip. The scramble up Hagar was more fun in my opinion.
For beta and a more in-depth account of the day (as well as lots of pictures) check out my website.
To mix things up, we bushwhacked down Dry Gulch instead of backtracking the way we came, and this was a nice option. The bushwhacking really wasn't difficult, just hike down the valley parallel to the creek, and you probably won't see another soul (even on a Saturday in mid summer). Of course, once we reached I-70 the "wilderness experience" was gone, as we walked down the paved bike path paralleling the noisy interstate back to the Herman Gulch trailhead, but it's still a worthy detour in my opinion if you have the time and the weather is cooperating.
Oh, and if you're interested in seeing some incredible wildflowers, check out this area soon!
The Citadel and wildflowers
Looking at the traverse to Hagar Mtn from The Citadel's summit
I agree, I was pleasantly surprised how much fun this ridge was. Didn't even know much about it beforehand, as we had just planned on doing The Citadel then would ”see how we feel”. But the ridge over to Hagar was way more fun than the standard route up The Citadel in my opinion.
The other two people we saw on Hagar's summit were doing the same loop you described, starting with Golden Bear, then ending with Bethel.
One of the best in the front range 7/29/2013 6:29pm
That I know of anyway....Nice report! Love the Hagar-Citadel ridge! I did a circular route when I went: started at Loveland ski area, followed chair 4 to the ridge. Followed ridge to Golden Bear, then Hagar, Citadel, followed by a long ridge to Bethel and then down Bethel to Dry Gulch. Lucked into catching a ride back to my car, saving about 2 miles of road walking.
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