Blanca Peak Trip Report 07/07/2016

Peak(s):	Blanca Peak - 14,350 feet Ellingwood Point - 14,057 feet
Date Posted:	07/07/2016
Date Climbed:	06/18/2016
Author:	Psemin42

Ellingwood and Blanca via Zapata Creek
It's the classic old timer saying..."when I was your age I had to walk uphill both ways, in the snow". After this trip I can finally believe that that saying could actually be true. When looking through routes and trip reports for the Sangre de Cristos I noticed that a lot of people were cursing the length and dullness of the Lake Como approach, so I started looking for alternatives. The Zapata Creek trail popped up and I was immediately interested, especially with the opportunity to attack a final couloir for the 2016 season. I knew I wanted to do Little Bear in the "safer" winter conditions so I didn't have to worry about planning a route to include in this adventure. My usual climbing partner was unable to make it down for this trek so I reached out a found a new one. After climbing with the same person for more than 30 14ers it was a little unsettling adding someone new to an unknown route but he and I made a great fit! If you can get to the Zapata Falls TH before sunset I would highly recommend it because the views open up and offer a great setting...just make sure to bring bug spray! Sunset in the Desert There is a couloir, C2 or C3, approx. 5 miles into the trip so we decided to get the usual 4am start so we could get on the snow while it was still in decent shape. We moved at a pretty good pace as you are on a nicely groomed trail for the first 3.5 miles, but once you get to a 3rd creek crossing you need to be diligent in your route finding (especially in the dark) otherwise you will lose that beautiful trail and you will have to bushwack the final 1.5 miles. Sadly we lost the route on the way up and had to scramble over some boulder fields until we reached Zapata Lake. The C2 couloir is on the far end of the lake while the C3 is directly to the right of the lake, if you are not interested in doing a couloir you can wrap around the hill to the right of the lake and find an easy yet crumbly scramble to the gain the ridge. Even with the detour off the trail we were able to reach the C2 couloir by 7:30. If you are able to get this couloir in good shape it is a really fun and enjoyable climb as it only becomes steep for the final 50-75 ft. It took us a little over 30 minutes to top out of the couloir and from there we could see the rest of the route to the Ellingwood Point. I will reiterate what the route and the previous trip reports have said...stay away from the Crossfire Couloir to the left of the C2. From the ridge we peered down at a whole lot of ice covered rock that would not be a safe option. Once onto the ridge it is a pretty straightforward hike to connect with the North Ridge, once you reach this point you can make the hike as "fun" as you would like depending on how close to the ridge you stay. The climber's bible, Roach's book, noted that the final approach on Ellingwood's North Ridge could reach Class 5 but the website notes it as a Class 3. We stayed on the ridgeline, which offered a good amount of exposure to the east side, and I would meet those two grades in the middle and call it a Class 3 with multiple Class 4 moves. The final pitch to the summit was the crux of the route and once we topped out my breath was taken away. Blanca's North Face Blanca and its massive North Face looks like an absolute beast from the summit of Ellingwood. My partner and I just looked at each other and shook our heads at the fact that we had to go down and then back up that huge face and then back down and then back up and then back down before the day was over. We took a quick snack and picture break on the summit, took a look at the ridge traverse, planned a route and we were back on our way. The traverse between Blanca and Ellingwood Immediately upon getting back to my car I realized I had forgotten to take pictures during the traverse...I sincerely apologize! On top of the ridgeline the east side offers a wide variety of exposure and it was even over hung at some points so you will get plenty of wind up your skirt if you keep the ridge. We kept it for a little less than halfway where you will run into a V-notch in the ridge that offered some good Class 4 going down the V and looked like some good Class 4/5 going back up. We decided to skip it and down climbed a short snowfield where we joined the Class 3 traverse route. This route was not bad at all and I was able to boot across the remaining snowfields, I would recommend an axe or mircospikes for anyone who is not confident in their snow footing. For how impressive and intimidating the North Face looks, the climb up is actually very straightforward with little impediments keeping you from the summit, it is just a very long long hike up. The views from this summit are amazing as you can see the classic traverse over to Little Bear, Mt. Lindsey to the East, New Mexico to the South and the Crestones to the North. Blanca and Little Bear, classic traverse in the center Like most, this summit really gives you perspective on just how far you have come. The newly mandatory hot chocolate was made and the pictures were taken before we set out to go back down then back up and then back down again. The return traverse was just as fun as we tried to stay closer to the ridge to add some more excitement to the day, still upset I didn't take pictures, and reached the summit of Ellingwood once again. We carefully continued down the North Ridge and quickly scrambled down back to the top of the C2. By mid afternoon the couloir was Charmin Soft and was just begging for a glissade. We threw on the rain gear grabbed the axes and were on our way...there were a few melted out rocks in the middle of the routes so some butt ollies were necessary to miss adding an unnecessary hole to your body. Once we got back to Zapata Lake we refilled our waters and took the time to get a high alpine tanning session in. Zapata Lake By the time we were packed up and heading back down the trail we were both exhausted and counting down the seconds until it was time for a shower, a pizza and a bed. Unlike the bushwacking we did on the way up, we found the trail and blazed down the final 5 miles in a little over an hour. We stumbled back to the car around 5pm...marking the trip down with a duration a little under 13 hours, a length of 13 miles and an elevation gain of approx. 7,000 ft. It felt like we were walking uphill both ways no matter which way we turned! Outside of Longs, I do not think I have been more exhausted coming off a trail, 35 down 23 to go! Overall, I would say we spent 8 hours above treeline and at least 6.5 hours up on the ridges of both mountains. Luckily we had an absolute picture perfect day, but if you encounter any weather on this route you have no where to go so make sure to plan accordingly! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Ellingwood and Blanca via Zapata Creek

It's the classic old timer saying..."when I was your age I had to walk uphill both ways, in the snow". After this trip I can finally believe that that saying could actually be true. When looking through routes and trip reports for the Sangre de Cristos I noticed that a lot of people were cursing the length and dullness of the Lake Como approach, so I started looking for alternatives. The Zapata Creek trail popped up and I was immediately interested, especially with the opportunity to attack a final couloir for the 2016 season. I knew I wanted to do Little Bear in the "safer" winter conditions so I didn't have to worry about planning a route to include in this adventure. My usual climbing partner was unable to make it down for this trek so I reached out a found a new one. After climbing with the same person for more than 30 14ers it was a little unsettling adding someone new to an unknown route but he and I made a great fit! If you can get to the Zapata Falls TH before sunset I would highly recommend it because the views open up and offer a great setting...just make sure to bring bug spray!

There is a couloir, C2 or C3, approx. 5 miles into the trip so we decided to get the usual 4am start so we could get on the snow while it was still in decent shape. We moved at a pretty good pace as you are on a nicely groomed trail for the first 3.5 miles, but once you get to a 3rd creek crossing you need to be diligent in your route finding (especially in the dark) otherwise you will lose that beautiful trail and you will have to bushwack the final 1.5 miles. Sadly we lost the route on the way up and had to scramble over some boulder fields until we reached Zapata Lake. The C2 couloir is on the far end of the lake while the C3 is directly to the right of the lake, if you are not interested in doing a couloir you can wrap around the hill to the right of the lake and find an easy yet crumbly scramble to the gain the ridge. Even with the detour off the trail we were able to reach the C2 couloir by 7:30. If you are able to get this couloir in good shape it is a really fun and enjoyable climb as it only becomes steep for the final 50-75 ft.

It took us a little over 30 minutes to top out of the couloir and from there we could see the rest of the route to the Ellingwood Point. I will reiterate what the route and the previous trip reports have said...stay away from the Crossfire Couloir to the left of the C2. From the ridge we peered down at a whole lot of ice covered rock that would not be a safe option.

Once onto the ridge it is a pretty straightforward hike to connect with the North Ridge, once you reach this point you can make the hike as "fun" as you would like depending on how close to the ridge you stay. The climber's bible, Roach's book, noted that the final approach on Ellingwood's North Ridge could reach Class 5 but the website notes it as a Class 3. We stayed on the ridgeline, which offered a good amount of exposure to the east side, and I would meet those two grades in the middle and call it a Class 3 with multiple Class 4 moves. The final pitch to the summit was the crux of the route and once we topped out my breath was taken away.

Blanca and its massive North Face looks like an absolute beast from the summit of Ellingwood. My partner and I just looked at each other and shook our heads at the fact that we had to go down and then back up that huge face and then back down and then back up and then back down before the day was over. We took a quick snack and picture break on the summit, took a look at the ridge traverse, planned a route and we were back on our way.

The traverse between Blanca and Ellingwood

Immediately upon getting back to my car I realized I had forgotten to take pictures during the traverse...I sincerely apologize! On top of the ridgeline the east side offers a wide variety of exposure and it was even over hung at some points so you will get plenty of wind up your skirt if you keep the ridge. We kept it for a little less than halfway where you will run into a V-notch in the ridge that offered some good Class 4 going down the V and looked like some good Class 4/5 going back up. We decided to skip it and down climbed a short snowfield where we joined the Class 3 traverse route. This route was not bad at all and I was able to boot across the remaining snowfields, I would recommend an axe or mircospikes for anyone who is not confident in their snow footing. For how impressive and intimidating the North Face looks, the climb up is actually very straightforward with little impediments keeping you from the summit, it is just a very long long hike up. The views from this summit are amazing as you can see the classic traverse over to Little Bear, Mt. Lindsey to the East, New Mexico to the South and the Crestones to the North.

Blanca and Little Bear, classic traverse in the center

Like most, this summit really gives you perspective on just how far you have come. The newly mandatory hot chocolate was made and the pictures were taken before we set out to go back down then back up and then back down again.

The return traverse was just as fun as we tried to stay closer to the ridge to add some more excitement to the day, still upset I didn't take pictures, and reached the summit of Ellingwood once again. We carefully continued down the North Ridge and quickly scrambled down back to the top of the C2. By mid afternoon the couloir was Charmin Soft and was just begging for a glissade. We threw on the rain gear grabbed the axes and were on our way...there were a few melted out rocks in the middle of the routes so some butt ollies were necessary to miss adding an unnecessary hole to your body. Once we got back to Zapata Lake we refilled our waters and took the time to get a high alpine tanning session in.

By the time we were packed up and heading back down the trail we were both exhausted and counting down the seconds until it was time for a shower, a pizza and a bed. Unlike the bushwacking we did on the way up, we found the trail and blazed down the final 5 miles in a little over an hour.

We stumbled back to the car around 5pm...marking the trip down with a duration a little under 13 hours, a length of 13 miles and an elevation gain of approx. 7,000 ft. It felt like we were walking uphill both ways no matter which way we turned! Outside of Longs, I do not think I have been more exhausted coming off a trail, 35 down 23 to go! Overall, I would say we spent 8 hours above treeline and at least 6.5 hours up on the ridges of both mountains. Luckily we had an absolute picture perfect day, but if you encounter any weather on this route you have no where to go so make sure to plan accordingly!

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Jay521	Nice! 7/7/2016 10:52am Brings back some really good memories. Thanks for posting this!
hberry	Thanks 7/7/2016 3:35pm Thanks for the report, headed up there on Saturday!
druid2112	Nice! 7/7/2016 3:56pm C2 is fun - looks like you had great weather and great results. well done
bobalob	Nice! 7/8/2016 8:15am Keep the TR's coming Pman!
BionicBetsy	mt lindsey 7/11/2016 4:54pm I am wanting to climb mt lindsey soon. I am driving from durango co, so I am wondering if the approach from zapata lake would work. How are the roads to the trailhead. Is this near lily lake? All the routes i have found for mt lindsey assume people are driving from denver area
Psemin42	Mt. Lindsey 7/12/2016 4:07pm BionicBetsy, there really isn't a way to do Lindsey from the Zapata Lake TH without doing Ellingwood and Blanca. I know Roach's book details a "traverse" between I think Blanca and Lindsey which could complete the route but you would have a lot of climbing left to get back to your car. Lily Lake is on the North side of Ellingwood and Zapata Lake is on the NW side, separated by quite an imposing ridge. Even with the road damage on Lindsey it would still be shorter to just take the normal route up Lindsey. If you want a long fun day though, I would definitely recommend taking Zapata and do Ellingwood and Blanca. The road to that TH is super mellow dirt road. Hope this helps!
zombiewolf	Zap 7/13/2016 8:16am Nice TR, we are heading up tomorrow afternoon to camp near Zapata Lake and then summit Ellingwood on Friday a.m. Lindsey via the standard route is next I think we'll take mountain bikes like the other guy did and camp overnight at Lily Lake TH and then summit Lindsey the next day. Thanks again for the TR and photos. Climb-on! Z-Man

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