PETTINGELL PEAK
(13,553’)August 5, 2015
By Tim Briese
9.1 miles, 3300’ elevation gain, 6:55 roundtrip time
I left home about 530 am with my lab Abby and drove to the popular Herman Gulch Trailhead, right off I-70 at exit 218 about three miles east of the Eisenhower Tunnel. There were only a handful of vehicles there but many more would be coming later. At 715 I headed up the excellent trail that climbs northwest up Herman Gulch to Herman Lake. The traffic noise from I-70 was a little annoying at first but it didn’t take long to hike away from it and leave the mechanical din behind, and listen instead to the soothing gurgle of the stream along the trail. It was a clear sunny morning and I made good time hiking up the beautiful valley.
view of mt. sniktau to the south
When the trees opened up I had a nice view of Pettingell a couple of miles ahead.
on the herman gulch trail, with pettingell peak in the center
there were some nice flowers along the way
on the trail shortly before i got to herman lake
At 915 I reached Herman Lake, a shallow lake which lies at about 12,000 feet, below the southeastern slopes of Pettingell. There were a couple of other hikers around the lake. I walked past the east side of the lake to its north end and headed up a steep grassy slope to get past a cliff band. I then turned left and went west up across varied terrain toward a saddle on the peak’s southwest ridge.
herman lake, with pettingell above. i went up the grassy slope at the far right, then turned left and went up the slope above the cliffs.
a closer look at the grassy slope i went up, at the far right, after which i went left up the slope above
There was a climbers trail in some places, especially on the lower slopes where the terrain was rockier.
view of herman lake as i started to climb above it
a view of the lake from a little higher
Once I climbed past the rockier area there was mostly grass up to the saddle.
the slopes up to the saddle
I saw another climber coming behind me and thought he would catch up with me but he never did until the summit. When I reached the 13,300 foot saddle I climbed northeast 0.2 miles up the rocky ridge to the summit.
on the ridge approaching the summit
I arrived on top at 10:55. I enjoyed the excellent views all around on this beautiful morning.
a view of us 6 over loveland pass and the loveland ski area. grays and torreys peaks are to the left.
a view looking down herman gulch, with i-70 in the distance
The other climber arrived with his dog a few minutes after I did. He was Darrell Brown, a fellow about my age from Denver, and we had a very nice chat for a while.
abby is on high alert as darrell and his dog approach the summit
After 25 minutes I left the top and headed down. A few clouds were starting to fill the sky but were not threatening yet. On the way down the slope I met another climber coming up with his dog. When I got back down to the lake there were at least a couple of dozen hikers there now and I met many more as I hiked down the trail from the lake. The hike to the lake is very popular and with good reason, for it is a beautiful hike with very easy access from Denver.
a view of the citadel from near herman lake
I hustled down the trail and arrived back at my truck at 210, wanting to beat the rush hour traffic in Denver on my way back home.
