Gorrell's Traverse

Gorrell's Traverse climbs up to the summit of SE Long's Peak from the upper reaches of Keplinger's Couloir. It's located almost at The Notch itself and is just above the trade route that most hikers are on, when taking Clark's Arrow.

Gorrell's Traverse is a much faster albeit harder way to get from The Loft area to the south east summit block of Longs Peak when compared to Clark's Arrow. From the base of Gorrell's,

Skyscraper

is found just on the other side of The Notch, Homestretch is found farther west, and Stepladder is found around the northeast side.

The route is not a destination route; it's usually used in combination with one of the aforementioned routes (or others, of course), and/or used in lieu of rappelling SE Long's down into The Notch. The views just below while hiking SE Long's are some of the best on the mountain. As scrambling sneaks go, this one is most devious.

Pitch 1

is easy face climbing starting out on a large boulder, then transferring to a series of ledges. After ~25', these easy ledges peter out. Traverse right on a ~6" wide ledge and into a steep, northeast-facing gully. This entire climb seems preposterous from the ground but is relatively straightforward while on the route.

Pitch 2

climbs this gully up to the summit of SE Long's. The climbing here is peculiar/interesting, especially since you have the choice of at least two different crack systems that range from offwidth to full chimney. Depending on the time of year, you'll also find snow, ice, or perhaps just a lot of loose rock and sand. What convenience Gorrell's gives, it also takes a little away with how dangerous this pitch can be. A fall here would be bad, as the gully cliffs out below.

Gorrell's is used as both an ascent and descent path. To ascend, coming from Homestretch towards Clark's Arrow, stay high on the regular trade route that'll take you to Clark's Arrow. When the trail starts to descend into Keplinger's Couloir, keep going east until you pick up a faint climber's trail to the starting boulder (see the photo).

As a descent from SE Long's, find the cairn marking the first major gully from the summit, and head down. The start will be filled with rubble, until a slippery slab is found and below that, the two crack systems appear.

Solo.