Little Bear West Ridge & Southwest Face, Traverse to Blanca, Traverse to Ellingwood, Descend Ellingwood's South Face.

Round Trip Time from Camp at Lake Como: 8 hours and 15 minutes

Little Bear-Blanca Traverse Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes

I want to preface this trip report by mentioning a few things. This is my first time writing and publishing a trip report, so any feedback, comments, or questions would be greatly appreciated. That being said, at the time of writing this, I now realize how few photos I took of our trip. While this may be due to the fact that the day was so engaging and inspiring, I do now wish that I had more photos of some of the physical features I encountered. I will do my best to describe them in words and hope that visuals from other trip reports will serve as powerful supplements.

About a month out from Labor Day, my friends and I decided that Labor Day weekend would be ideal to climb the Wilson Group of 14ers near Telluride. It would be a three-day weekend for all of us, and we would have only been in school for a week, meaning none of us would be inundated with other engagements. However, in the week leading up to our planned trip, the weather forecast seemed less than ideal; snow was forecasted Saturday-Monday, and that did not appeal to any of us as we were planning to camp near Navajo Lake. After a quick search of weather around the state’s mountain ranges, we identified the Lake Como 14ers to be our best bet on Sunday. While Mountain Forecast’s weather predictions differed significantly from NOAA’s, we thought we would have enough time to summit all three peaks in the morning if we hiked in to Lake Como the night before. With that, we packed up on Saturday morning and left Boulder a little after noon. The group consisted of me, my regular climbing partner and close friend, Dane, another close friend, Greg, and Greg’s brother, Thomas.

We arrived at the infamous Lake Como Road a little before 6PM. We made it about 2.5 miles up the road in my friend’s Honda Pilot before deciding to pull off and hike the remaining 4-5 miles to the lake. These miles were relatively uneventful, despite being filled with plenty of elevation gain. Talk of our Mountain House dinners pushed us on to the Lake. It was also fun to watch modified Jeep vehicles tackle some of the road’s most heinous obstacles.

Some nice views from Lake Como Road! It was a hot hike in!

We made it to the lake a little after 8PM, for a total approach time of 2.5 hours. After we prepared our campsite on the west side of the lake, filtered water, and ate our dinners, it was bedtime right at 10PM. We set our alarms for 3:30AM, with hopes of a 4AM start to beat the anticipated crowds up the Hourglass gully. I slept relatively poor that night, eagerly anticipating the prospect of climbing all three 14ers in one day. As the morning alarm rang however, I was charged and ready to go!

After some oatmeal and last-minute preparations, we took off to climb Little Bear from its standard West Ridge and Southwest Face route. Our departure time was 4:15 AM. I knew to look for a cairn indicating the start of the ascent up to the notch in the ridge. With the darkness, we walked right on past it. I realized our mistake 5 minutes later while looking back at the ridge and observing a pair of headlights making their way up, along with someone who had absolutely powered up the gully and appeared to already be nearing the ridge! We hurried back, found the cairn, and began to climb. I must say, that initial gully is loose, and our whole climbing party hurriedly put on our helmets to protect ourselves from the rock fall. We quickly caught up to the party of two, exchanged some pleasantries (we would see Chris and Karissa for most of the day and had some fun conversations on the summits), and soon after we had reached the notch in the ridge. The route finding proved easy, and we followed the cairns on the right side of the ridge for the most part.

Before we knew it, we had reached the Hourglass. At this point, it was still relatively dark, but we felt comfortable climbing. The solo person who we had seen climbing, by this time, had summited. We coordinated with Chris and Karissa in order to space out climbers. We also agreed to meet at the rappel anchor in order to avoid kicking down any rocks on each other. I do not have any pictures in the Hourglass, as it was much too dark for a photo to do that thing justice. Dane, Thomas, and I climbed the Hourglass together, while Greg climbed with Chris and Karissa. I climbed to the climber’s left of the rope. I did not find the route to exceed class 4, but a fall here would still likely be fatal. To our relief, the rock was mostly dry and solid as can be. We topped out at the anchor and waited for everyone to catch up.

After reconvening, the final summit push awaited. The six of us decided to climb to the left of the anchor. We skirted to and from the most solid rock. It is possible to avoid kicking any rock down, but you have to climb as carefully as possible. I would not want to be in the Hourglass with anyone above me! Thankfully, our early start avoided this scenario. Dane and I perhaps got too far to the left after the Hourglass, as we soon found ourselves at the edge of the ridge. We had to deal with some exposed class 4 moves, but we topped out at the summit just the same.

From left to right in the photo, Dane, Greg, Thomas, and me!

We reached the summit near 6:30AM, a little more than 2 hours after departure. The sunrise view was rewarding, and South Little Bear beckoned us to climb on over. After 20 minutes, we reached its summit. Now was the time to see if the traverse to Blanca was in the cards. Shortly after I took the sunrise photo seen below, the clouds began to clear, and a window had opened for us. Chris and Karissa had already taken off for the traverse; it was nice to know someone else would be on that ridge with us! Greg decided Little Bear was just the adventure he needed and decided to skip out on the traverse. Dane, Thomas, and I took off at 7:35AM.

Looking east at the sunrise. Shortly after this photo was taken, the clouds gave way.

Before describing the traverse, I want to say that all distances are approximate and should not be relied upon for exact navigation! Please consult other trip reports and route descriptions before attempting this traverse! I also would say that, in general, the rock is solid. But when your life depends on it, test all holds thoroughly!

The initial down-climb onto the ridge proper was exposed but manageable. Like the rest of the traverse, the rock was solid and filled with plenty of solid holds. This point is probably a good gauge of whether or not you can handle the traverse. While I did not find the downclimb to be the crux of the traverse as others have mentioned, the exposure does not relent for the rest of the mile on your way to Blanca.

Looking back after the initial downclimb off of Little Bear.

For the first quarter(ish) mile of the traverse, we stayed on the ridge proper. There were a couple places where we swung to the left in order to avoid climbing up and over some smaller towers. I found the left side to be significantly better for these types of moves, due to the fact that the right side was just so sheer vertically.

Dane navigating a tricky spot before the Captain Bivwacko Tower.

If I recall correctly, we passed Chris and Karissa just before the Captain Bivwacko tower. Personally, this tower felt like the crux of the traverse. As others have mentioned, it is most easily skirted to the left via a small ledge, which requires you to grab hold to the tower itself. Near the end of the tower, there was one move where you have to swing back onto the ridge itself, which felt like the most exposed thing I did on the traverse. This was the only time where the exposure really got to me.

Thomas and I directly after passing around the Captain Bivwacko Tower, which can be seen over my left shoulder! Not sure if smiles get much wider than this!

After the Captain Bivwacko Tower, there was one obstacle which we had not expected: a 10-foot drop-off, with no plausible/safe downclimb. After backtracking 50(ish) feet, we realized that this section could once again be skirted to the left via a ledge system. Shortly after this point, we gained a large hump in the ridge, which is quite obvious and prominent from the summit of Little Bear. This section was relatively flat and stood out from anything in close proximity on the ridge proper. After traversing several hundred feet along this portion of the traverse, we dropped off to the right and followed some cairns that led us through the right face. The exposure here relented a bit but was still nothing to laugh at. While traveling through this ledge section, we reached the saddle between Little Bear and Blanca.

Taking in the exposure and views while on the right-face ledge section of the traverse.

Not long after, we reached the first of three towers which block easy passage to the summit of Blanca. This tower is best navigated by passing through a slope of talus/scree on the right, and then climbing back up its slope to regain the ridge which leads to the second tower. This section is the only viable way to bail on the traverse. However, this would drop you into Blanca Basin and require you to ultimately summit Blanca in order to drop back down into Lake Como.

Shortly before the top of the second tower, we had to find our way across a narrow(1-2ft) and highly exposed 100-foot catwalk. Other than the exposure, the most difficulty lies in getting over a small, 3-foot gap, all the while precariously balancing yourself in the midst of hundreds of feet of exposure on either side of you. This was one of the more exhilarating pieces of the traverse!

Dane walking on the catwalk! Better nerves than me, that's for sure!

My turn, I prefer to have a hand down!

Directly after this catwalk, we gained the second tower, and the remaining route to Blanca was clear. But be sure to not let you guard down! There are still several exposed catwalks which guard passage to the top of third tower, and one tricky downclimb remains directly after the third tower. The final pitch up Blanca was a class 3 climb and marked the end of the exposure which we had to deal with for the majority of the traverse. We topped out on Blanca at 9:25AM, for a total traverse time of 1 hour and 50 minutes. Shortly after, Chris and Karissa completed the traverse. We shared the summit with them and various other parties.

Summit #2 after a thrilling traverse!

A look back on the traverse we had just completed from the summit of Blanca!

After resting a bit and getting some much-needed nourishment, we headed off to Ellingwood. The skies still looked relatively clear. The route finding was simple on this portion and proved to be a welcome relief from the challenges we had dealt with on the traverse.

A cool view of Little Bear and Crater Lake from the Blanca-Ellingwood Saddle.

We opted to stay on Ellingwood’s southeast ridge beginning at the lowest point in the saddle, mainly to keep things spicy. The only challenge in doing this was downclimbing a small notch, intersected by the gully described in the 14ers.com route description. At this point in the day, I had stopped keeping track of time, but with a now relaxed pace, we made it from Blanca to Ellingwood in about an hour.

Summit #3! Woohoo! Adding/shedding layers was a common theme for the day as one can see in all the summit photos!

And a different perspective of the Little Bear-Blanca Traverse! Bad weather is starting to loom!

We stayed on Ellingwood’s summit until 11:30AM, before starting our descent back to Lake Como. Right off the summit, we met another couple who we had seen further back on the traverse and spoke briefly with them about their traverse. After descending 300 feet off of Ellingwood, graupel started to fall. While we were now on safe terrain, I was definitely glad to be off the traverse! Within 5 minutes, the rate at which the graupel was falling had picked up significantly, and thunder and lightning were now making their presence felt. We quickly hurried down the mountain, but the graupel only fell harder and the lightning only loomed closer. I thought of all the people I had seen on the summit on Blanca, Ellingwood, and Little Bear, hoping that they would descend quickly and, most importantly, safely.

Down at 12,000 feet of elevation within a matter of minutes after running down, a thick coating of 3 inches of graupel had fallen. I was particularly worried about anyone who may have been on the traverse at this point, or anyone that had to go down the now wet and slick Hourglass gully.

Yup, that much snow/graupel had fallen in a matter of 30 minutes!

I am not sure if all the snow/graupel that fell will stick. If it does, climbing Little Bear via the Hourglass and the traverse from Little Bear to Blanca may now be significantly more difficult. Hopefully someone who attempts it soon can provide an update!

We made it back to camp and were relieved to find that Greg had safely found his way down Little Bear before the weather, and had also nicely stashed all of our things to keep them dry. We reached Lake Como at 12:30, meaning our time from camp-to-camp was 8 hours and 15 minutes. After debriefing from our adventure and making sure that those we had seen on the summits of Blanca, Ellingwood, and Little Bear, were moving safely past us, we packed up our things.

We left camp at about 2PM. That hike out was a haul and something I don’t particularly care to repeat. As I sit here the day after writing this trip report, I am not sure if I have ever been this sore - I am sure the rocky Lake Como road is to blame! I am happy that I was able to safely climb all three peaks and complete my first of the four grand traverses! Certainly looking forward to many more climbs, memories, and friends to meet along the way!