Ellingwood Point 14,042' 08/02/03

Ryan and Erin had mentioned some plans to climb Ellingwood's Southwest ridge en route to Blanca's summit some weeks earlier, and I thought this would make a good last training climb for a five-peak expedition through Utah, Nevada, and California. Dwight Sunwall also joined us, which turned out to be invaluable. We arrived at 9,200' on the switchbacks when we parked, and started the hike at midnight. This was to be my first no-sleep peak bagging experience. Erin and Ryan are shown on the right near the plaque for the unfortunate 4x4 fatality on the road the previous year. We quickly made our way up to Lake Como by 2:00 a.m., though not without incident as I fell in a creek crossing and wet my running shoes and socks. We enjoyed the breakfast burritos Erin had prepared and hiked slowly up the Basin toward Crater Lake, as we had a lot of time to burn before the sun came up. Arriving near our last point of departure possible without sunlight, we attempted to bivouac, but the temperatures were much colder than I had anticipated, dropping to 40 degrees.
	My wet socks had a numbing presence on my toes, and Dwight suggested we find some wood and warm up with a fire. We found a dead stand of trees near timberline and Dwight used some packaged fuel to get it going. I was able to dry my shoes and borrow a pair of dry socks from Dwight. We spent an hour or so around the fire until it was out, anxiously awaiting our opportunity to head upward. The sun was slow to light up the sky, but eventually we were able to head up the trail without headlamps. We reached the small tarn that demarks the turn-off North to the Southwest Ridge proper at around 6:20 a.m. The slope to the ridge is shown above with Ryan and Dwight ascending. The talus up to the saddle was stable and fun to scramble. I was finally starting to warm up a little, and I think we were all happy to be moving. We contoured up ramps and ledges to finally reach the ridge at 12,900'. Twin Peaks, California Peak, Little Bear, and Blanca were a sight to behold with the morning glow from our perch.
Perhaps most interesting, however, was the view of 1,100' of ridge to ascend above us. On the right is a view of the ridge above from near the start of the ridge climb. The climb started out with class 2 with a few class 3 moves, and gradually became more consistent class 3. I was feeling a little edgy at first from lack of sleep, but felt comfortable after about 20 minutes. This ridge offers a vast array of 3rd class that I found resembled many other 3rd class fourteener routes. Some sections were stair-like as are Wetterhorn and Wilson Peak, while other sections had the appearance of the Catwalk on Eolus, and a few short knife-edges were an option as well. We continued on up the seemingly unending ridge, acquiring the goal of the summit in sections at a time, though for the most part continually moving. The weather was holding up well, and we hadn't encountered any of the storms the forecast had in store. We were all enjoying the scrambling and often eyeing the Little Bear-Blanca Traverse, which looked incredibly lengthy.
	The remaining 300 feet was attained with the last view of Ellingwood's Southwest ridge (photo on right). We were on pace to summit at 8:15 a.m. and sunlight would endure the rest of this outing. We were first on the summit, though others soon followed from the Blanca direction. Nearly the entirety of the Southern Sangre de Cristo Range was visible, and we took in the views. Ryan was identifying many peaks South of the Crestones from the previous weekend. We left he summit after 45 minutes or so and began the traverse to Blanca. I can say with certainty that I am not a fan of the rock on Ellingwood's South Face, as I took a short spill when a piece of talus gave way. A bit rattled from this, I used a little more caution on the descent. We soon reached the lowpoint in the saddle, and descended a gully to traverse around a headwall and acquire the ridge again. I was expecting to be a bit exhausted at this point, though the 5 consecutive 5,000' vertical weekends seemed to have paid off. Unfortunately, all this training was having an adverse affect on my left knee (a problem that began the previous week on the descent from Halo Ridge on Holy Cross), and I could tell the hike out was going to be unpleasant.

	On the left is a view of Little Bear from Ellingwood Point's summit. The 600 feet to the summit of Blanca went by quickly enough, and I visited the Huerfano County Highpoint that I missed my first time up. The view was familiar, and as enticing as the first time. On the right is a view of Ellingwood Point from the descent of the ridge back down to the saddle. The weather was fantastic, though we could tell that it wouldn't last long. We departed the summit at around 10:30 a.m. and began the long talus slog back to the Lake Como road.
We enjoyed a few short glissades and made our way to the Lake. Quite a few oblivious individuals were taking ATV's past the lake (past the signs instructing people not to do so). My knee was indeed a real bother, and will likely have an impact on my plans for California. Dwight came to the rescue once again by lending me his trekking poles for the final mile. We arrived at Erin's 4Runner at 2:30 p.m., just as storms were hitting the peaks in full force. We dined in Walsenburg at the "Rambler", and speaking for myself, at this point physically and mentally shot, looking forward to a bed and shower.