The Blanca Massif has a bit of a checkered past
in my mountaineering history. The summits of these peaks have eluded me
since my first attempt back in 2003. In August of 2003, I attempted to
climb Blanca but was turned back about 300 feet blow the summit because
my dog almost got hit with loose rock several times and I decided it
wasn't worth it (in retrospect, I should have left him at home). To
make matters worse, search and rescue enlisted my help in carrying a
body off of the base of Little Bear. When I finally returned last year
in late April, I made a summit bid on Little Bear but was turned back
just below the Hourglass because of unfavorable snow conditions. When I
once again began the long slog up the Lake Como Road, I was hoping that
the third time would be a charm.
I made it to Lake Como in the early afternoon of Sunday July 1 and
set up camp on the south side of the lake. I had forgotten just how
stunning the scenery in this area was. It almost made the road up there
worth it.
Another thing I must have forgotten were the mosquitoes. Pumping water
was rather unpleasant given the cloud of mosquitoes that swarmed around
me. Don't forget the bug spray! The one cool insect that I saw was
white-lined sphinx moth. At first I thought it was a hummingbird
sipping from some flowers but I quickly realized that it wasn't a bird
but a large insect behaving just like a hummingbird. Very neat.
I wanted to try and hit all three peaks in one go. I did not want
to have to come up that road again anytime soon. On Monday July 2, I
left my campsite just after 5:15am and headed to the base of Little
Bear's Northwest Face.
I'd
never climbed a route with so much sustained Class 4 climbing, so I was
a little anxious about the route I'd chosen. In the end, I was very
pleased that I went this way as it may have been the most fun I've ever
had on a 14er route. The lower headwall by the "Black Hand" was the only
spot I briefly got into a jam and had to do a few unprotected Class
5.2-5.4 moves in order to reach the Class 3 terrain without descending.
I should have gone up to the right of the "hand " or up the gully to
the left of it. I went up immediately to the left of it and end up just
about it on the tougher terrain. Once into the Class 3 gully, the
climbing for the nest several hundred feet was quite easy and pleasant.
I was briefly startled by some small rockfall about my and notice 3
juvenile and 3 adult bighorn sheep RUNNING across the Class 4 terrain
above me. Amazing. At about 13,700', the rock started to steepen again
to Class 4 but was solid and fun to climb. I soon reached the ridge and
head up to the summit of Little Bear, reaching it just before 7:30am,
about 2 hours and 10 minutes after leaving camp. The views were
extraordinary.
The weather was looking good, so after a short break on the summit, I
headed back down the ridge to traverse to Blanca. The ridge traverse to
Blanca is remarkable narrow in spots and has tremendous exposure along
most of it, but isn't particularly difficult if you keep your head, stay
on route and have descent rock skills. The only thing the I found
slightly disconcerting was that the rock on the ridge has fracture lines
running all through it. Even even seemingly solid blocks and holds
looks as if they could break away at any time. Nonetheless, I checked
everything I used and nothing came loose on me.
Apart from a few sections with a particularly high pucker-factor that
had me on hands and kness, I moved pretty well and was on the summit of
Blanca at 9:40am, 2 hours after I left the summit of Little Bear. I
enjoyed a snack and a 20 minute rest before sizing up my next goal,
Ellingwood Point. I descended Blanca right along the ridge leading to
the saddle it shared with Ellingwood. I wanted to take the high
traversing route in order to keep as much elevation as possible and had
little trouble following it. When I reached the face of Ellingwood, I
was unable to find the standard route and just worked my way up toward
the ridgeline. Lucky, some nice folks descending Ellingwood motioned me
to them and pointed out the best approach to the summit. At 11am, was
was happily standing on the summit of Ellingwood Point, having summited
my final remainingSangre de Cristo fourteener.
The clouds were already starting to build, so I was soon heading down
the mountain toward Lake Como. I once again ended up of route and
descended a gully straight down Ellingwood that passed by an old mine
entrance. By the time I passed Crater Lake, I could hear the rumble of
thunder. I made it back to camp at 12:45, took 45 minutes to rest and
pack, and headed down the road. I was beat when I finally got to my car
but very please that I'd finally managed to get the the tops of the
mountains.
 I owe TMathews a special thanks as his .gpx and detailed description of the NW Face of Little Bear and the traverse to Blanca were invaluable.
My wife has insisted I mention that I climb pretty fast so don't assume
that you'd also climb the NW Face or complete the traverse in 2 hours.
These are definitely places that you don't want to be caught in a
storm, so build in a bit of a time cushion.
My GPS Tracks/Waypoints on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
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Download GPX (Track) file used in this map
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