|
Having planned to hike up to Heart Lake and camp to climb Latir Peak near
Questa, New Mexico, Leah and I set out driving to the four wheel drive road
only to find that the road was closed. This was the summer that the fires of
Los Alamos occured, causing the closure of all trails in New Mexico.
Determined to make a weekend out of this situation anyway, we drove to San
Luis Lake to rest for the night and figure out a course of action in the
morning. After cooking breakfast, we thought we'd go to the visitor center
at the great Sand Dunes Monument to find out some reasonable place to hike.
That's when the trouble first started. I saw the infamous Fourteeners
guidebooks. I had been to the Sand Dunes before with Leah back in January
2000, and was struck with awe at the emensity of the Sangre de Cristos in
this area. So without hesitation (a lot on Leah's part however), we started the drive up Lake Como road. |
 |
 |
This truly is a horrible road. It is almost fair to say that the talus fields begin at the base of the road. It winds up narrowly and steeply. After negotiating switchbacks for an hour or so, we got to a pulloff before the road got even worse. I estimate that we drove to 9,000 feet elevation; far beyond where most were brave enough to continue. This was actually our first overnight backpack into a camp, and in retrospect it seems somewhat hilarious how much stuff we put in our packs- a six pack of Coors, a six pack of diet Coke, and a bottle of Zinfandel among some of our superfluous undertakings. In any case, we headed up the road hoping to arrive at Lake Como. Along the way, we spotted three Jeeps that either had flat tires or were parked in odd places on the road. Hiking this road is actually not so bad, and we made it to the Lake in a couple of hours (Little Bear & Lake Como above on right).
|
|
Lake Como was fun to explore for the rest of the afternoon after we set up camp. Little Bear's impending face gave us a lot of doubts about our attempt to summit a peak the following day. I brushed up on my reading (Roach's guide that I had purchased that morning) and we had our dinner and drinks. We settled in for the night and woke reasonably early. Setting up our packs, we started up the road towards Blue Lakes. Most of this hike is really easy to follow and isn't too difficult. We were amazed at the alpine lakes so abundant here, never really having seen such lakes before. Crater lake (visible on the left from higher up the trail) was striking with the ice and azure pitch of its water. After departing from Crater lake, the trail becomes less defined and steeper as it switchbacks up talus.
|
 |
 |
Heading slowly but surely up the trail, we crossed some snowfields which raised our adrenaline levels a bit not having dealt with them before. At this point, we still weren't sure where Blanca was. We lost the trail after crossing them, and began semi-scrambling up the talus to gain the saddle between Ellingwood Point and Blanca Peak. Close to the saddle, we were doing some Class 3 scrambling due to our inexperience with routefinding. Reaching the saddle itself was breathtaking, as the face on the other side is close to a sheer 3,000 foot drop. We weren't expecting that kind of exposure at all! In any case, I made a great effort to avoid the ridge, still being a little scared of heights (I've come a long way since). In retrospect, I ended up making the whole ridge climb class 3. Oh well...
I couldn't believe I had made it. I thought that climbing peaks of this caliber was for people with a lot more ability than I possessed. Needless to say I've learned a lot from this climb and more since. The views from the summit were spectacular, with Mt. Lindsey to the east, Little Bear to the west, the Crestones to the north, and the peaks in New Mexico we originally intended to climb. I did not acquire the highpoint of Huerfano County on this excursion, but did on my second visit to Blanca's summit 08/02/03. |