Here's what hiking up a trail in the wee morning hours (5:34am here) looks like. Floating orbs of light from headlamps move slowly and peacefully. You can catch the feint silloheute of Little Bear's ridge in the distance if you look really hard...
We quickly reached the Little Bear turnoff, and saw several headlamps high near the ridge already. There's probably always a race to be the first up the Hourglass each morning... We could also see several floating dots of light ahead towards Ellingwood and Blanca. Plenty of hikers making the early ascent today...
We hiked the familiar trail past the lake we ate dinner at yesterday, and up along the waterfall. We caught up with a group of three CMC folk ahead of us, and together searched for the cairned turn off for the West ridge ascent. It was supposed to be right before the lake at the top of the falls, and after a couple of stops to look around, we found it.
We were looking for a slanting bit of shelf along the ridge to follow up to the top, but it was hard to find in the dark. I did a lot of scouting ahead, and tried directing the others to the occasional cairns I found. Still the trail was difficult to follow, and so we pretty much zig-zagged up the side of the ridge. I scouted ahead, and would pass down info for what looked like the easiest path. I was having a blast just climbing straight up to the ridge for the most part. Plenty of fun class 4 stuff, which seemed entirely natural after coming from the intense LB traverse yesterday.
Here's what hiking up a trail in the wee morning hours (5:34am here) looks like. Floating orbs of light from headlamps move slowly and peacefully. You can catch the feint silloheute of Little Bear's ridge in the distance if you look really hard...
It was clear we were off trail, but no one seemed to mind the tougher scramble much, and I reached the top of the ridge a little before 6am. Cresting a ridge always unleashes a thrill, as a your "known world" doubles with the view of the other side. The simple joys in life... :-)
A look back down the ridge from the crest point, at 5:56am. Someone's headlamp is still on (the white dot). Also a look up the ridge towards Ellingwood...
Ben joins me at the top of the ridge, and looks out towards the Little Bear to Blanca ridge we climbed yesterday. We traveled right to left across the 1.5 mile long ridge in view...
After Ben and I got our fill of pictures after reaching the crest, we started up the ridge towards Ellingwood while Dave and the three CMCers continued to work up to the ridge top. The ridge started out as simple boulder hopping, and thinned a bit as the steepness increased. I was expecting a benign ridge, compared to yesterday's efforts, and was surprised to find a lot of class 4 moves, and some significant exposure along knife edge sections.
1st pic: A look back down, as Dave reaches the ridge. 2nd pic: 15 minutes later, a cool sharp part in the ridge appears... Ben in front, a couple CMC people next, and Dave in the rear. Pretty lakes in the basin...
A zoomed out and zoomed in pic along the ridge. Plenty of steep scrambling sections...
I'll be including several shots of the LB-Blanca ridge today, as I'm a bit fond of it now after spending so much quality time on it yesterday . Blanca on the left end, Little Bear on the right end...
The first glimpse of sunlight landing on a peak today, 6:36am (sunrise was ~6:20), looking out to the west (left side of the ridge)...
Still a long ways up the ridge to the peak of Ellingwood. A zoomed in pic up Little Bear, and the beginning downclimb of the LB traverse...
One of the CMC crew, Ellen, took this great shot of me crawling across a knife edge section along the ridge. Some of the knife edge sections on this ridge rivaled those on the LB Traverse. Thanks for sending the photo Ellen!
Yet another view of the LB Traverse, as the sun is about to rise to the left of Blanca...
The sun finally breaks free onto the ridge, at 6:53am, as Ben looks over towards Little Bear. Another closeup of Little Bear and the ridge...
Dave, Ben, and Ellen are drenched in the morning sunlight. It was time to bring out my ball cap and wear it under my helmet. Ben takes a pic of me walking atop the ridge...
Ellingwood peak is getting closer, but plenty to go. Dave "crawddles" (blend of crawl and straddle?) across the ridge in the sun...
More close-ups of sections of the LB traverse. Little Bear on the left, and the 1st of the three "towers" leading to Blanca on the right. We bypassed this tower on the other side of the ridge, then climbed back up to the saddle point.
The sun shines on the ridge, illuminating Dave between the shadows of Blanca and Ellingwood...
The hike up the Ellingwood ridge was pretty straight forward. There were places where hiking down below the ridge to the left or right was necessary to avoid a steep downclimb on the ridge top. At times there was no alternative put to ride the top of the ridge over an exposed section, with a class 4 climb or knife edge. I was very much reminded of the LB traverse as I scrambled over obstacles, though the nonstop intensity and overall exposure (10s of feet vs 100s of feet) was not as demanding as LB. This class 4 ridge would be a good test to see if you should consider the LB traverse (meaning if you enjoyed it, and want 40 times more of the scary parts, with a couple class 5 moves, then you should try it).
Speaking of the LB Traverse, here's another pic of the top...
Sweet shot of Ben and Dave coming up a fairly wide portion of the ridge. The LB ridge looks like a vertical wall down to the lakes from this vantage point!
We reached a notch in the ridge, and watched the CMC group ahead of us ascend up the right side of the ridge (though I seem to be looking back at the LB ridge in this pic)...
We were getting near the top, and had a few steeper pitches to climb. First the CMC group scrambles up some steps. Further up we get to the final obstacle just underneath the summit. The CMC group went up to the yellow cut-rock and ascended inside there. Ben and Dave followed their lead, but it looked simple enough to scale to the right across the red rock, and then head straight up. I choose that path, and it was fine too...
A couple more looks at the ridge and Little Bear, from just under Ellingwood's summit...
I scrambled up to just below the peak and waited for Ben and Dave, before making the final ascent together. Took a pic of the LB ridge again, this time with Blanca in full view...
Cool shot of Dave, minutes away from his 45th 14er, appearing near the top of the ridge, with Little Bear behind...
We reached the summit of 14,042' Ellingwood at 7:55am and joined the CMC group relaxing. A few minutes later two other hikers reached the summit via the standard route up the other side. Quite a good sized crowd on the peak by 8am. We could hear shouts from people on the summit of Little Bear earlier, and I wondered if people could have a conversation across the three 14ers. The sound traveled very well here. I saw a sub-peak nearby, and wandered over, enjoyed some quiet time on the 14er, took in the scenery (and plenty of pictures), and re-joined the party on Ellingwood a few minutes later.
A poorly stitched pic from the summit of Ellingwood, but captures the view and crowd...
A very wide view of all three 14ers from the sub peak I wandered to. Blanca (14,345') on the left, Little Bear (14,037') in the center, Ellingwood (14,042') on the right. Check out my shadow on the rock below all the people...
A shot of me on the sub-peak, with Blanca and Little Bear...
A close up of my shadow waving on the cliff below Ellingwood. Then the three of us on Ellingwood...
Ben and I chatted with the CMC group about the LB traverse, and they enjoyed watching the video of the catwalk on my camera. :-) After 20 minutes on the summit, people started leaving. 2 of the CMCers went off to hike Blanca, and the other CMCer and Dave began the assent down. I knew Dave would take awhile on the descent, as it's brutal on the knees, and he had already descended two 14ers yesterday, so Ben and I hung out on the summit another ~20 minutes to give Dave a head start down the rocky slope. We enjoyed the views and weather, took pics, and Ben went over to the sub-peak I had visited earlier.
Blanca's left ridge looked super steep from here, but we had just hiked down it yesterday, and it was just class 2 mainly. A self-portrait on Ellingwood...
Looking north from Ellingwood, with a cool looking cairn, and the edge of the sand dunes in the hazy valley below...
Ben on the sub-peak I had visited earlier. Another 14er, Mt. Lindsay, is on the right...
One more good look at the LB traverse. The catwalk part was somewhere in between the two left most notches...
We saw someone nearing the top of Blanca. That little speck just to the left of the tip, that looks like a piece of dust on your screen, is a person...
We could see Dave down below, and took the cairned trail from the summit towards the valley between Blanca. Pretty soon we lost the trail, and just cut straight across and down towards Dave. It was a quick descent across small boulders for most of the way. We soon caught up, and followed the cairned trail that we used from the bottom of Blanca yesterday. Descending Ellingwood was much easier than Blanca. The fact that it's 300' shorter probably played a large role.
Coming down the mountaiiiin (dunna na na neh na na na dunna na na nuh nuh nuh nuh) - My rendition of a Janes Addiction song...
Looking square down the middle of the valley. Tower #1 of 3 on the LB ridge is on the left, Little Bear is further down the ridge...
A look back at the top of Ellingwood (far left) after ~25 minutes of downclimbing...
Near the bottom of the rock trail portion, we saw a hippie looking dude and his dog coming up towards us. I was surprised to see a dog, and had a hard time picturing a dog navigating up the boulders, though I hadn't stayed on the trail much in this basin. We continued down and re-traced our path past the lakes, and this time, kept to the right side of the 2nd lake on the trail, avoiding our errant turn yesterday (where we ended up missing Dave on his way up towards Blanca).
We hiked around the right side of this lake to stay on the trail. The reflections were gorgeous...
Ben's pic of the lake with Little Bear on the left, and me overlooking the lake on the right...
The vantage point from my location in the above picture. The LB traverse straight ahead past the lake...
A look up the at the ridge we climbed to reach Ellingwood. Drawn in red is the "official" route, but in the dark we probably did something like the yellow line...
Some pics of the lake we ate dinner at last night. First from above, coming down next to the waterfall. Second from the lake shore looking back at the waterfall and Ellingwood in the upper right...
We passed a guy and girl in a parked ATV on the road in between the two lakes pictured above. They had driven 8 miles since highway 150 to reach the lake. I could hardly fathom how they could pass the huge JAWS obstacles on the way. But I've never really seen or been in ATV in action. Must have been an exciting drive up.
An easy stream crossing on the gentle road. Once you made it past Lake Como, it was smooth sailing into the basin. A majestic look at Ellingwood...
As we neared camp we ran into a bunch of CMCers who just returned from Little Bear. They were pumped (and rightly justified after completing one of the hardest 14ers). Everyone was returning back from their early morning ascents and packing up, ready to head back to civilization. We had our backpacks fully packed at 11:45am, and with so much time left in the day, and no more 14ers to climb here, we decided to hike back to the car. Originally we were thinking we'd stay til Sunday.
Good by cool camping spot next to the stream...
So before noon, we had started the unexciting down hike of the steep, rocky, jeep trail. After three 13 ascents, the last thing we wanted was heavy packs stressing our knees, but we had little choice. I stopped at the lake and took lots of pictures before departing.
Little Bear's long southwest arm extending along Lake Como. We ascended this ridge at the big notch, halfway down, and hike along the backside towards the summit...
Same description as above. You can see part of the ridge we traverse coming from the left of Little Bear...
There were loud noises down the road, and all of a sudden 4 Jeeps came grinding up the road. I had to stand off to the side, as these guys obviously didn't want to lose any momentum going up their perilous climb. A few minutes later, another group of 3 came, followed by a group of 5 later. I can't remember how many in total, but they all had New Mexico plates, so must have been a NM Jeep club outing.
Some of the Jeeps driving up the road (unfortunately just an easy part of the road here). A close look at Little Bear. The Hourglass section lays in-between the two separated ridges on the right side...
After traveling down the road a bit further I could see the entire LB traverse we crossed from right to left. Blanca on the left, Little Bear on the right...
I lucked out to pass a group of Jeeps at one of the JAWS obstacles. Looked much more intense in person (and in motion). We hoped we wouldn't run into any Jeeps coming up hill later, once we started driving back...
The hike back was long and uneventful. Knees ached a bit, but we rested and kept on. Ben pointed out several large patches of wild raspberries along the trail. They were a fun snack, and trying to dislodge the seeds from in-between my teeth distracted me from the long ongoing trail...
A pic of the raspberries on the vine, and in my hand about to be placed in my mouth...
We finally arrived at the car at 2:10pm, about 2hr 15min since leaving the lake. Right before we reached the car, we passed about college kids who belonged to a wrestling team. Some where in plain sneakers, and they had a LONG way to go still. They must have parked way down at the bottom of the hill too, cause we didn't see many cars parked on the way back. Man, those guys are in for a tough hike up to the lake.
Relief ahead! The end of our hike. The car emerges into view after the final switchback...
We unloaded our backs and ate some snacks, and loaded the car. Just before we were about to start up the car, a mid 40s looking guy comes running down the trail, and stops at our car. He's a CMCer, and tells how they loaded the Jeep that made it furthest up the road with 5 people and 6 packs, and he was running down the hill as their was no room for him (at least they could fit his pack). He asked for a ride down and we readily accepted, and made room.
Turns out this hiker had just completed his final 14er with the ascent of Little Bear today. "Had to finish them before I turned 60. Which would be in about 3 months..." Wow, this guy was very fit and youthful, a Vietnam Purple Heart recipient (I saw the purple heart plates on his car), and he had some great stories to to tell on the way back and advice on climbing and life. He was an acquaintance of Gerry Roach, and said all Roach does at parties is talk about climbing all the time, and you can never get a word in. :-) His word of advice on the 14ers: "Climb the hard ones while you're young." And he stressed avoiding getting obsessed with climbing to the point of centering everything you do around it. No arguments in our car...
Conveniently, a jeep ahead of us had stopped in front of a passing zone parking spot, and told use to head in, as there was a car coming up ahead. This was the easiest Jeep crossing ever. It probably took 45 minutes or so to reach the dirt road near rt 150. We dropped off our passenger (sorry, can't remember the name, email me, and I'll include it), and were back on paved road at 3pm. We took the I-25 way back, less scenic that 285, but ~45 minutes faster. We circled around the Blanca group as we drove east towards I-25, and marveled at these 14ers jutting out of 8000' plains on 3 sides.
A look back at the Little Bear to Blanca ridge (the left 2 peaks) from the car ride back (not a bad pic for 55 mph). You can see the 3 "towers" on the right half of the ridge leading to Blanca. Little Bear on the left...
I downloaded my pictures in the car while Ben drove back. I took 850 pictures over the 3 days! Most from the LB traverse on Friday. :-) I stitched a bunch of pictures while Ben drove back, and showed Ben and Dave some of the amazing shots from the ridge on my laptop. We got back to Fort Collins/Windsor around 7:30pm. Still plenty of time to relax and reflect on such a tremendous 14er adventure. Dave and I thanked Ben a ton for driving. His Xterra is a quality vehicle. I might have to look into one, but I'm kind of freaked out by driving on tough 4x4 roads (I had a bad experience driving my VW GTI up to the Capitol Peak trailhead last year).
I doubled my 14er total in this trip (at 6 now). Looks like I've already got a jump on the "Do the hard ones while you're young" a wise man once said. I'm definitely not focusing on all the 14ers, you can check out my summit page and see plenty of 12ers and 13ers, but I've been fortunate enough with some great opportunities to appreciate some magnificent 14er peaks.
First thing I did after arriving home was walk to the local liquor store (calling my loved ones on the way, letting them know I survived) and pick up a 6-pack of Odell's 5 Barrel (local brewed in Fort Collins, and best beer around). There would be a need to relax and reflect on the fulfillment of such an amazing and memorable quest.