Climbing Ellingwood Point

Post Mt. Everest, I was desperate to return to the outdoors and get some kind of mountain fix. With no vacation days, I figured the best I could do was fly to Colorado for a weekend and climb one of its 50-plus 14,000-foot mountains. I ambitiously had my eyes set on Little Bear Peak, often considered one of the most difficult 14ers in Colorado because of its technical summit. To be even more ambitious, I brought two of my friends who had never attempted such a feat before! I told them the only thing they had to worry about was fitness, and I’d deal with the ropes. Our journey began going up the Lake Como trail photographed above. We started at 8,000 feet (2,450 meters) with a goal of camping near the base of Little Bear.

We had driven as far as we could and parked our rental truck off to the side of the trail. The road continued up the mountain on a moderate incline, but somehow Jeeps were able to pass through rocky sections that looked absolutely impossible to me. In the photo above, you can see some of the terrain they had to drive over, and this wasn’t even the worst of it!

I didn’t see how they could do it, but once we reached about 11,000 feet (3,350 meters), we saw this Jeep. The trick was to use a tow cable to pull themselves over some of the steepest terrain. Despite their motorized vehicles, our slow hiking pace was actually faster overall. The Jeeps had passed us near the beginning of the hike, and later in the day we finally caught up to them.

To be honest, I had figured the five- or six-mile trail would be pretty easy. My plan was to hike as slowly as possible and arrive at Lake Como fully charged and ready to tackle Little Bear in the morning. I had even figured we’d continue going over rope techniques during the day and maybe arrive so early that boredom might become an issue. Instead, the trail was pretty steep, and at altitudes over 11,500 feet (3,500 meters), it took a toll. Luckily, I didn’t feel the altitude at all, but both of my friends did. It took us about eight hours to reach the lake, arriving just as the sun was setting on Little Bear Peak, photographed above. Despite the difficult hike to camp, the view was absolutely amazing and the trip was already well worth it.

In the morning, we woke up at 6am. I had already decided the night before that Little Bear would be impossible for our group. Instead, I suggested we climb Ellingwood Point, one of the easier 14ers in the area, only about two miles from camp and another 2,000 feet (600 meters) higher. One of my friends said he felt drunk from the altitude and didn’t want to leave his tent. My other friend agreed to join me, so we packed some basic gear and began our climb. The photo above shows the alpenglow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Meaning “Blood of Christ,” this reddish tint is exactly what the mountains were named after!

Our hike was a bit uneventful except for the mountain scenery we passed. The photo above shows one of the two Blue Lakes. Once we left Lake Como, we had almost immediately left the treeline and entered the alpine zone. As you can see, we began to encounter patches of snow everywhere.

As we continued east on our ascent, we could see some great views of the three fourteeners in the area. Our goal, Ellingwood Point, is photographed on the left. Below is a photograph of the saddle, with Ellingwood Point again on the left and the rising slope on the right leading toward Blanca Peak, the fourth-highest mountain in Colorado.

It might not look very snowy in the photo looking toward the saddle, but the valley between these peaks is pretty sheltered from the sun. Even in October, it was already covered in snow. This was a bit misleading to me because I had followed the weather reports for the previous month, and all of them reported nothing but rain at this altitude. The photo above shows my friend climbing up the mountain with Crater Lake behind him. In the photo below, we begin making our way up some steep terrain toward the saddle.

From the saddle, my friend decided it wasn’t a good idea for him to continue. He had been feeling the altitude since the previous day, and at 13,300 feet (4,050 meters), it had only gotten worse. We were roughly 700 feet (200 meters) from our goal. My friend wanted to rest anyway, so he decided to stay put while I ran up to the summit, which was much easier with my lightweight hiking backpack. This photo was taken near the summit of Ellingwood Point, with the slope on the right leading directly up from the saddle.

From here, I had only a short climb to the summit. I had mistakenly thought that a rocky outcrop above me was the top of Ellingwood Point, but as I got closer, I could see the true summit was just a bit farther. Luckily, I had an ice ax because there were some slightly exposed sections here. The photo below is actually a still shot from my GoPro, so it looks a bit more dramatic than it was in real life, but regardless, you can see there is some exposure.

At the summit, I had perfect views of Little Bear above and Blanca Peak below. I still fully intend to return here, climb Little Bear, and do the traverse to Blanca Peak. This is supposedly one of the hardest challenges in all of Colorado, and I definitely look forward to making it a reality one day!

With no one on the summit but me, I was forced to take my first-ever summit selfie. At 14,040 feet (4,280 meters), Ellingwood Point became my second 14er after Pyramid Peak! I’ll certainly return to Colorado and climb more, but at the moment I’m not yet sure what the third might be.