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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: July 25, 2006
- Miles Hiked: 13.2
- Elevation Gain: 6,250'
- Hiking Partner(s): Jamie
Princo
- Description:
- After backpacking to just above Como Lake on Monday, we climbed the
Northwest Face Route (Class 4) of Little Bear Peak. From there, we
traversed to South Little Bear Peak (Class 4), returned to Little Bear,
and then traversed to Blanca Peak (Class 5.0-5.2) before returning to camp
via the standard route. The weather cooperated and the climb went
well. These routes have a lot of exposure and fairly sustained Class
3 and 4 climbing. The Little Bear-Blanca Traverse was my last of the
"Four Great Fourteener Traverses". In terms of quality, difficulty,
and enjoyment, I would rank the four traverses in the following order.
- Little Bear-Blanca
- North Maroon-Maroon
- Crestone Peak-Crestone Needle
- Wilson-El Diente
- I parked at 8,850' on the Como Lake Road where we started backpacking
around 4:45 pm. It took us 3 hours to reach our high camp at 11,900'
with just enough time to set up camp, eat, and scope out the beginning of
the northwest face of Little Bear before retiring for the night. We
wanted light to start the climb, so we slept until 5:00 am and were hiking
a half hour later. The hardest part of the climb for me was the
first Class 4 headwall next to the black hand watermark at the base of the
route. After looking at Jason Halliday's picture of the route on
summitpost, it is clear that we likely started too close the black hand
rather than moving farther to right. Although we took slightly
different lines, we both agreed that it started more difficult than
expected. We should have started more to the right and then worked
back left above the black hand to the shallow Class 3 gully rather than
going straight up directly to the right of the black hand.
- After seeing a cairn or two, we entered the shallow gully and were
relieved to be on the correct route. The gully went quickly, but was
more loose than I expected. The rock at the second Class 4 headwall
was much more solid and very enjoyable to climb. We reached the
ridge and proceeded up the Class 4 ridge to Little Bear's summit. It
took us 2 hours from camp to reach the summit. We took a short
break, left our packs near the summit register, and traversed over to
South Little Bear. I had already climbed Little Bear and Blanca, so
I wanted to get at least one more new "peak" in addition to the Little
Bear-Blanca Traverse.
- I stayed on the ridge for this short traverse except for right at the
low point of the saddle which required me to drop off the ridge to the
west. Jamie climbed below the ridge a bit more than I did which kept
the climbing easier. We only stayed long enough to take a photo
because we had a lot a work ahead of us. We went back to Little
Bear, picked up our gear, and started to descend the ridge. I really
don't have much to add to the Little Bear-Blanca Traverse that guidebooks
don't already cover. You stay on the ridge the entire time except
for the towers you skirt around, first to the left and then the right.
- We made
reasonable time completing the traverse in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I
mentally checked out on the summit of Blanca after approximately 5 hours
of fairly intense scrambling and climbing. The hike to camp was
uneventful and we saw a few groups on Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point.
I physically checked out on the backpack to the trailhead. I had
been very disciplined in checking my sugars, eating, and drinking all
morning, but I neglected to continue this on the way out which affected my
condition. I had a low blood sugar reaction and had to stop and eat
which stretched the hike back to the vehicle from camp to two hours.
I had a couple of cold beers at the trailhead and returned back to
Highlands Ranch around 8:30 pm.
- Maps:
- Click here
to view a
2D
map of the area where this hike is located.
- Photographs:
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