Little Bear Peak Trip Report 08/17/2007

Peak(s):	Little Bear Peak - 14,041 feet
Date Posted:	08/17/2007
Date Climbed:	08/08/2007
Author:	Kinesiologyman

Little Bear - Standard Route
Little Bear Peak was my first real introduction to "mountain climbing". At a rating of class 4, it challenged me unlike any of the other 20 some 14ers I‘ve climbed. This mountain is NO JOKE. It demands respect. Four of us decided to escape work for four days and embark on a 14er extravaganza. The goal: Little Bear Peak, Ellingwood Point (via SW ridge), Blanca Peak, Crestone Needle, and Crestone Peak. We drove about two or so miles up the Lake Como road. Like Little Bear, this road is no joke. Bring a Jeep or similar vehicle with a 6-inch lift and 33-inch tires if you expect to drive the entire road. Otherwise, you can hike it like we did once we couldn‘t drive any farther. Camps sites are plentyful around Lake Como and, by golly, the scenery is absolutely amazing! Watch out for the fiesty mosquitos, though! We set up camp and at about noon we decided to climb the 600 foot gully that starts Little Bear‘s standard route. We wanted to see if the weather was going to hold out. Sure enough, it did! We summited Little Bear at around 3:00pm. Yes, I know, that is way late to be on top of a 14er, let alone Little Bear. But, we knew the weather was going to hold and it paid off...not a single other person was climbing Little Bear while we were on the mountain. This was key, as rock fall from other climbers is typically what injures someone on this mountain. As is, one of my partners got a rock in the chest (in the Hourglass)that caused some decent swelling. Route finding is pretty simple on this beast. Climb the gully, hang a left at the saddle. Do an ascending traverse to a rust colored rock band (horizontal). There, you will find the base of the Hourglass. Climb this sketchy and scary section. Once at the top (where the rope anchor is), climb left for a bit and then come back to the right (over the anchor) and hit the summit. The ropes in the Hourglass were solid and a climber the day before had tied off any "questionable" sections. All four of us used them to downclimb the Hourglass. Careful, though, water is running right down the center of the Hourglass and the rock/rope is wet. Hold on tight! After climbing Little Bear, I thought it was the toughest mountain I had ever climbed...until we did the sporty SW ridge to summit Ellingwood...and then the ante went up exponentially two days later when I climbed Crestone Needle! Have fun with this one and DO NOT climb it Thursday - Sunday. People are the biggest danger on this mountain. On Friday when we left Lake Como, there were around ten people climbing this peak. WAY TOO DANGEROUS. Plus, we talked to two guys that both got hit by rock fall from a solo climber not being considerate of other climbers. One of the men got hit in the hip and the other right on the helmet...almost causing him to fall down the Hourglass! The best advice I can give you is: 1. Climb this mountain with someone who has already done it. 2. Climb the mountain on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. 3. Do some bouldering or rock climbing to get mentally and physically prepared for this one. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Little Bear - Standard Route

Little Bear Peak was my first real introduction to "mountain climbing". At a rating of class 4, it challenged me unlike any of the other 20 some 14ers I‘ve climbed. This mountain is NO JOKE. It demands respect.

Four of us decided to escape work for four days and embark on a 14er extravaganza. The goal: Little Bear Peak, Ellingwood Point (via SW ridge), Blanca Peak, Crestone Needle, and Crestone Peak.

We drove about two or so miles up the Lake Como road. Like Little Bear, this road is no joke. Bring a Jeep or similar vehicle with a 6-inch lift and 33-inch tires if you expect to drive the entire road. Otherwise, you can hike it like we did once we couldn‘t drive any farther.

Camps sites are plentyful around Lake Como and, by golly, the scenery is absolutely amazing! Watch out for the fiesty mosquitos, though!

We set up camp and at about noon we decided to climb the 600 foot gully that starts Little Bear‘s standard route. We wanted to see if the weather was going to hold out. Sure enough, it did! We summited Little Bear at around 3:00pm. Yes, I know, that is way late to be on top of a 14er, let alone Little Bear. But, we knew the weather was going to hold and it paid off...not a single other person was climbing Little Bear while we were on the mountain. This was key, as rock fall from other climbers is typically what injures someone on this mountain. As is, one of my partners got a rock in the chest (in the Hourglass)that caused some decent swelling.

Route finding is pretty simple on this beast. Climb the gully, hang a left at the saddle. Do an ascending traverse to a rust colored rock band (horizontal). There, you will find the base of the Hourglass. Climb this sketchy and scary section. Once at the top (where the rope anchor is), climb left for a bit and then come back to the right (over the anchor) and hit the summit.

The ropes in the Hourglass were solid and a climber the day before had tied off any "questionable" sections. All four of us used them to downclimb the Hourglass. Careful, though, water is running right down the center of the Hourglass and the rock/rope is wet. Hold on tight!

After climbing Little Bear, I thought it was the toughest mountain I had ever climbed...until we did the sporty SW ridge to summit Ellingwood...and then the ante went up exponentially two days later when I climbed Crestone Needle!

Have fun with this one and DO NOT climb it Thursday - Sunday. People are the biggest danger on this mountain. On Friday when we left Lake Como, there were around ten people climbing this peak. WAY TOO DANGEROUS. Plus, we talked to two guys that both got hit by rock fall from a solo climber not being considerate of other climbers. One of the men got hit in the hip and the other right on the helmet...almost causing him to fall down the Hourglass!

The best advice I can give you is:

1. Climb this mountain with someone who has already done it.
2. Climb the mountain on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
3. Do some bouldering or rock climbing to get mentally and physically prepared for this one.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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