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.

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). Climb up a small section of rocks, pass another small lake (Photo #6), and continue up to Crater Lake at 12,700' - Photo #7. Above the lake, continue on the left side of the basin toward ledges near 13,000’ - Photo #8 and Photo #9. Hike to the base of the ledges and follow cairns and trail segments 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 #10 looks back down over Crater Lake from above the ledges.

Once above the ledges, the trail starts to climb onto another small hill. Partway up, or near the top of this hill, look for a trail that starts off to the left near 13,300’. This is where you should leave the main trail and start hiking toward the Ellingwood-Blanca saddle. There may be several small trails in this area so here is a good landmark: In Photo #11 locate a mining hole in the rocks below the saddle. It’s the one with white-colored rock piled below the entrance. Don’t confuse it with a lower mining hole (down to the left) that has red rock piled below the entrance. Find the trail that crosses the center of the basin and turns left below the mine hole. Follow the trail as it turns left onto the South Face - Photo #12.

Continue northwest up toward the center of the South Face where the lame trail eventually breaks down. Taken from Blanca, Photo #13 and Photo #14 show the entire South Face. It’s not necessary to ascend terrain more difficult than “Difficult Class 2”. If you find yourself on Class 3 rock, you may have climbed too high below the saddle - Photo #15. Near 13,450’, you should have passed under the steep rock near the saddle. Turn right and climb dirt and loose rock toward the ridge - Photo #16. Once you reach the ridge, turn left and follow it to a false summit at 14,000’. Photo #17 looks back down on the route. From the false summit, the final summit pitch is fairly obvious - Photo #18. Drop down 20 feet on the left side of the ridge and hike up to the summit - Photo #19. Taken from the top, Photo #20 looks toward Blanca Peak.