Standard approach from San Luis Valley on Lake Como trail

Blanca Peak is one of the mightiest peaks on Colorado.  It was once thought to be the highest in the state.   Although Elbert is the highest, it really can’t compete with the grand nature of this mountain.  This peak was undoubtedly one of my favorites of all time – and my first major fourteener.

This was the first trip for Scott and I in Colorado.  I was planning on doing Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford in the Sawatch but we decided against it because of the incessant rain that was falling during May.  Instead, we visited EMS and saw a map of Colorado with raised features showing elevation.  In the southeast we noticed a huge spire standing labeled “Blanca Peak” and decided to head there.  As soon as we got back to my apartment, we packed up and left.

We also figured that if we headed south that perhaps we’d get out of the miserable system of clouds and rain that had been with us for a week.  We passed Colorado and Pueblo and there were no signs of letting up.  In fact, in Pueblo, the rain was coming down harder than ever. With sinking feelings we turned of I-25 at Walsenburg and headed west over La Veta pass, still no sign of any relief.

However, as soon as we came down La Veta pass the rain stopped and we were greeted with this amazing view of the Blanca Massif.  This view alone was one of the highlights in my Colorado hiking and climbing career because we saw no mountains for a week and suddenly these proud mountains opened up with such splendor.  We quickly pulled over and took this picture.  We both were so excited about the prospect of climbing Blanca.

The road that leads to Lake Como is easy to find.  However, it’s extremely rough and I do mean extreme.  It’s one of the roughest 4×4 roads.  I was even surprised that we got Scott’s car this high because the road was filled with bowling ball through tennis ball sized rocks that wreaked havoc on the poor automobile.  Higher up, I would swear that the road was impassable for any 4×4.  There were 3 feet high rock shelves all over the place.    There was even an old 4×4 rolled over in a gully, someone was not so fortunate on the trail.   However, someone made it up there because we saw scour marks on the rocks.

We arrived at the trailhead rather late – around 6 o’clock.  So we didn’t have much time to pack in.  We hiked until around 9pm and ended up camping on the road near someone’s 4×4.  In the middle of the night, I heard the dreaded sound of raindrops.  I got up and looked outside to see that snow that resembled bean bag pellets was falling instead.  Relieved, I went back to sleep.  In the morning, we pushed on all day to our high camp near the Blue Lakes.

This shot was taken in the morning after the evening snowfall.  It’s a nice shot because the aspens already have their leaves on them.  We met a couple of hikers who were trying to day-hike Blanca.  The returned later on in the afternoon very tired and without even starting the mountain.  It’s a long hike from the trailhead to the mountain.  Especially if you don’t have a 4×4.  This road may even be closed to 4×4 roads now.

As we emerged out of treeline we received this awesome view of another fourteener, Little Bear.  Apparently, Little Bear is one of the toughest fourteeners in the state.

When we arrived at picturesque Lake Como, it began snowing pretty hard.  There were a few campsites down at the lake so we decided to go for seclusion and altitude and pushed on above treeline and above a set of lakes called Blue Lakes.  We found an awesome campsite with great views of Ellingwood Peak and Little Bear.  Blanca Peak was still hidden from our view.   In fact, because of the weather, we never actually had a full view of Blanca.

Scott decided to take a nap and I marched around the campsite taking pictures and observing the multitude of Marmots.  Aside from the constant wind, it was very quiet.   From time to time, I heard rocks tumbling down this steep west face.

We also had to go out into the night for more water.  The wind was blowing and it had begun snowing again.  This trip was giving us the most alpine mood that we’d ever experienced.  We were worried that the weather would not be good enough for a summit bid to the top but when we awoke, we were relieved to see that the weather was holding somewhat.

So we set out for the summit.

We started having to scramble quite a bit.  And with the ice and wind, it got pretty treacherous.  Very 4th class.   At this point, we were totally immersed in clouds.  About five feet below the summit, the wind really started to blow.  I mean really hard.

This is some of the hardest winds that I’ve been in on a mountain.   We were in the middle of doing this tough scrambling and and were literally blown against the side of the mountain.  The snow was stinging the exposed parts of our faces.  We inched up a little more, peeked onto the summit and came down right away.

We continued down the ridge to a chute and glissaded the rest of the way.  After a nap and packing up, we began our long march back to the car.

What an epic!