Route Description

To get to the Lake Como road, take the Colorado 150 road off of the Colorado 160 road east of Alamosa. Colorado 150 goes north towards the Great Sand Dunes. Drive over 3 miles and turn right onto Lake Como road (dirt). There is a small parking/turnaround area at the beginning of the road. The type of vehicle you are driving up Lake Como road will determine how high you can park. Most cars and trucks have to park between 1.5 and 2 miles up Lake Como road before the road turns nasty. If you have a very high clearance (and small) 4WD vehicle, you can drive higher - maybe even up to 11,000' or more. An ATV or heavily-modified jeep can go to Lake Como. Total distance from a parking spot near 8,000' to Lake Como is approximately 5.25 miles.

Details:

Photo #1 is a distant view of the route. Hike up the nasty Lake Como road to reach Lake Como at 11,750’. Continue around the lake and up through the trees - Photo #2. The road soon leaves the trees again at 12,000' where you enter a large open area. Little Bear Peak is above you to the right, Ellingwood Point is ahead, and Blanca is hidden ahead - Photo #3. Photo #4 is another look at the remaining route. Near the Blue lakes at 12,200', the road ends and a trail begins. Follow the trail through the grassy area until you are below a waterfall - Photo #5 and Photo #6.

Left of the waterfall, climb 250’ up talus, small ledges, and grass. At 12,500', the terrain flattens out near a small lake and the trail stays near the base of steep talus to your left (north) - Photo #7. Climb up a small section of rocks, pass another small lake (Photo #8), and continue up to Crater Lake at 12,700' - Photo #9. Above the lake, continue on the left side of the basin toward ledges near 13,000’ - Photo #10 and Photo #11. Hike to the base of the ledges and follow cairns and a vague trail up the steep terrain. The easiest route may be to angle up through the ledges to the right side before turning left on a trail near the top. Photo #12 looks back down over Crater Lake from above the ledges. Continue east on the trail as it ascends onto Blanca’s West Face. In early summer, there may be snowfields I this area – an axe may be helpful.

From 13,300’, on the lower portion of the face, your goal is to follow the trail east and northeast to reach Blanca’s Northwest Ridge just right of the Ellingwood-Blanca saddle. The trail will disappear in spots but just keep searching for it. Taken from Ellingwood, Photo #13 and Photo #14 show the terrain leading to the ridge. You do not want to hike to the lowest point of the saddle, but you also don't want to climb too far up to the right before reaching the ridge. Continue northeast, and north, up steep talus to reach the Northwest Ridge at 13,750’ - Photo #15.

Once on the ridge, things remain fairly straightforward as long as you pay attention to the terrain. Turn right and begin climbing on or right (west) of the ridge crest. It is about 650' of gain from where you hit the ridge to the summit. Photo #16 looks down on the ridge and Photo #17 shows the remaining climb. As you ascend, do not climb over the left side because it doesn't take long to encounter steep terrain with loose, rotten rock. There are a few spots where you have to scramble around some large boulders, but it’s always possible to keep the difficulty at “Difficult” Class 2. Photo #18 shows the terrain near the top of the ridge. From the top, Photo #19 looks north and Photo #20 looks east.