Route Climbed: traverse from Blanca Date Climbed: May 2002
Great, easy, fun traverse. Great view of the dunes and backside. Touch the stick for good luck! Have Fun! Upon desent, don't vear too far right. the gully is not somewhere you want to end up.
Route Climbed: Como Lake - Standard Route Date Climbed: Sept 21, 2003
A little past Como Lake are the Blue Lakes which are at timberline. From there I could see Ellingwood and Blanca (ascended it last year). There was a lot more snow up there more than I thought. I had come this far I wasn’t going to turn around now. The next lake along the trail is Crater Lake at 13,000 feet. The snow was averaging about a foot deep now. There were other people up there that day so a trail had been cut in the snow, but everybody ahead of me was going to Blanca.
The last six hundred feet to the summit was steep and difficult. I was slipping and it felt like I was almost rock climbing in snow, needless to say it wasn’t very fun. I thought about quitting numerous times but I told myself that I wasn't going to do another fifteen mile hike up here again. That excuse kept me going.
I didn’t get back to the car until 6:30 and I started at 7:15 in the morning. It was a very, very long, tiring day both mentally and physically. Ellingwood is rated a Class 2 hike but not today. I haven’t had a lot of experience in rating harder hikes but this one was harder than Crestone Peak and the Needle both of which are Class 3 hikes. All I have left in this area is Little Bear and I won’t be doing this for another couple of years. Hopefully by then I will have a truck and would be able to knock about four miles out of the day.
summiteer16 - Dec 2, 2003 8:55 am
Route Climbed: traverse from Blanca Date Climbed: May 2002Great, easy, fun traverse. Great view of the dunes and backside. Touch the stick for good luck! Have Fun! Upon desent, don't vear too far right. the gully is not somewhere you want to end up.
Grant - Nov 12, 2003 8:58 pm
Route Climbed: Como Lake - Standard Route Date Climbed: Sept 21, 2003A little past Como Lake are the Blue Lakes which are at timberline. From there I could see Ellingwood and Blanca (ascended it last year). There was a lot more snow up there more than I thought. I had come this far I wasn’t going to turn around now. The next lake along the trail is Crater Lake at 13,000 feet. The snow was averaging about a foot deep now. There were other people up there that day so a trail had been cut in the snow, but everybody ahead of me was going to Blanca.
The last six hundred feet to the summit was steep and difficult. I was slipping and it felt like I was almost rock climbing in snow, needless to say it wasn’t very fun. I thought about quitting numerous times but I told myself that I wasn't going to do another fifteen mile hike up here again. That excuse kept me going.
I didn’t get back to the car until 6:30 and I started at 7:15 in the morning. It was a very, very long, tiring day both mentally and physically. Ellingwood is rated a Class 2 hike but not today. I haven’t had a lot of experience in rating harder hikes but this one was harder than Crestone Peak and the Needle both of which are Class 3 hikes. All I have left in this area is Little Bear and I won’t be doing this for another couple of years. Hopefully by then I will have a truck and would be able to knock about four miles out of the day.
RyanS - Aug 7, 2003 2:04 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Ridge Date Climbed: August 3, 2003We loved the Southwest Ridge so much last year, we had to make a repeat run on the way to Blanca this year. A trip report is available here.
rmjwinters - Oct 5, 2002 9:00 pm
Route Climbed: Lake Como Approach and Traverse from Little Bear/Blanca Date Climbed: July 4 1999Made the classic traverse from Little Bear and Blanca in a shroud of clouds. Couldn't see a damn thing.
theplugger - Jul 27, 2001 3:30 pm
Route Climbed: From Como Lake Date Climbed: August, 1997Done in combination with Blanca Peak, an easy day since we had backpacked to and camped above Como Lake...just me and my faithful hiking partner, Jay.
climbcolorado - Jul 25, 2001 9:07 am
Route Climbed: Traverse from Blanca Date Climbed: 06/30/01I climbed this route from a high camp above Como lake. From Blanca there it is a solid class 2+ traverse to Ellingwood Point.