In my quest to finish the 14ers this week, my biggest test was the Little Bear - Blanca - Ellingwood combo as a day hike. (DISCLAMER: I make videos showing everything described below, and that's why I don't have photos of all this. I am not looking for followers but trying to help people in showing them the tough sections of hikes. The video is linked at the end of this if you want to see anything that is described here). Being that it was a holiday weekend my friend Brian and I decided to do the west ridge direct of Little Bear rather than mess with the hourglass and other hikers presumably above us. We couldn't get far up Lake Como Rd and parked 2.6 miles up the road. We started at 4:15 am, reached Lake Como, and headed up the gully to the notch, with a party of 4 in front of us.
The slog up the gully to the notch wasn't too bad as we stayed far left and used solid rock wherever possible. By the time I was getting tired I had hit the notch and ridge. I put on my jacket as it was windy and still in the shade and proceeded on the west ridge direct, as I had read multiple reports on here about this route. The ridge started off very easy and I would recommend it at least until the notch where I believe the hourglass route joins the ridge again. At this point there is a class 5 headwall that you simply skirt around to the right of and regain the ridge.
One trip report said the first tough move was the crux, and that was a slabby type face rock. I wholeheartedly disagree, and this wasn't even really a tough move at all. After this came the chimney, which was tight and more complicated because of a protruding rock at the top. Later on there is a class 5 wall that would take a very difficult pullup move, or you can take an exposed ledge around the left. This was an airy move. Later on, there is another slabby face that, while easy, is much tougher than the first one. Lastly, there is a headwall with red rock and I ended up climbing up this face on the left. It was very exposed and easy class 5, but there is an easier route around to the right. Overall about 3 or 4 exposed moves.
We met up with the party of 4 on the summit and they left for the traverse just as we arrived on the summit. After some drink and snack we started on the traverse. I was fearing the initial downclimb but this turned out to be super easy; in fact, I basically could've done it without even turning face in towards the rock (but I did near the bottom). The small towers and Capt Biv were all incredibly easy to climb up/over or around. Tower 1 was easily skirted around, and the catwalk on tower 2 didn't seem very narrow at all. Tower 3 and the push to Blanca were easy class 3 stuff. All in all I found the traverse much easier than the west ridge up Little Bear. I have lots of experience with scrambling, route finding, hiking, exposure, and long day efforts, so keep that in mind.
After Blanca bagging Ellingwood was a piece of cake, although I will say it was difficult to find the trail both on the way up and down. I ran most of the way down with Amanda from the group of 4, and thanks to the group (driver Tiff, Bill, Ben) for giving me a ride the last 2 miles down to the car.
Video of the full adventure: https://youtu.be/ECw8ZKHipoY
