Have had my eyes on the Blanca group for at least 3 years. Life and work made it seem like a pipe dream vs reality since I started studying the NW face of Little Bear and the traverse. With the great fall weather this year I decided to take a day off work and knock this group out. There had been only a couple of very minor snowfalls followed by very warm Autumn conditions. The conditions seemed perfect with the warmth and diminished threat of afternoon storms. Had studied and reviewed numerous trip reports and photos of the NW face. Honestly, it kept me up at night thinking about it but liked the option of solid rock vs the loose chute of the hour-glass. There was plenty of beta in many of the trip reports to give me confidence in going up the NW face of LB-Traverse-Blanca-Ellingwood. I made mental notes and downloaded relevant photos and GPX tracks to refer to if needed.

I used Jackson Cole's GPX tracks from his FKT as a guide. With an Ultra running background figured I could knock them out in a very long day (not anything close to Jackson's impressive FKT), weather permitting. Estimated 7-8 hours, depending on how far up Lake Como Road I could make it.

Was solo though did reach out to my buddy Kris but it was short notice. We have done quite a few 14ers, rock climbs, and canyons over the years. Wasn't confident taking someone else I wasn't familiar with on a route like this. Got a decent night's sleep and left the house in Monument around 0515. Found a large shoulder at just under 10,000ft and had enough of the road. Was on the trail at 0825 in the crisp cool air.

Alternated between a steady power hike and some jogging on the short downhills leading up to Lake Como. Made it to the Lake in 1:06 on easy to follow trail looking for the cut-off to the NW face. The cut-off is not obvious and there is no defined trail. Was glad to see there was no lingering snow from my vantage and began making progress upwards. Once on the face made my way around the "black hand" feature with some class 3-4 scrambling. Everything was fairly loose on the lower face so I kept making my way up on solid rock. Unfortunately, this made for a slightly more difficult ascent and never really found my way into the gully until just below the headwall.

The final pitch was exposed and easily low class 5 if not higher. Foot slipped once and didn't have a good hand hold near the top of the headwall. Narrow ledges were solid but it took me a minute to refoucs on the remaining climb to the ridge. Just kept aiming for the daylight of the ridge and finally topped out lookers left of the first obstacle on the traverse. Made it to the summit of Little Bear in 3:27. Had a snack and took a few moments to gather in the traverse to Blanca. The downclimb was slightly unnerving with the smooth granite of so many before. There was also a small amount of snow in the crevasses but easily passable without traction.

Found the traverse to be fairly straight forward in that there are just not a lot of options once you're on it. Stayed mostly left (or on top) in the beginning third, more on top in the middle third, and more right on the final third. Thought I had cliffed out on Capt Bivwacko but realized I had to go back on myself and around to the right to move past it. The exposure of the traverse is real in many areas but it is usually short lived and a few hundred feet down either side. Began to bonk about halfway across the traverse and my pace slowed to a crawl. Became so focused on the route and steeps that it put me in a hydration and fueling deficit. There was a portion before the final climb up Blanca where it relents and the trail drops off to the lower right. Easy to go too low but with less exposure and consequential terrain.

Made the summit of Blanca in 2:28 (5:58) and it was here that I debated dropping back down to basin and skipping Ellingwood. Ate a PB&J and took in another gel and a caffeinated Bai. Got my second wind and was on my way to Ellingwood knowing I did not want to repeat Lake Como road again. The route was easy to follow and made the summit of Ellingwood in 56 min (6:54). Got off trail on the descent from Ellingwood and eventually connected back to the main trail and was back at the truck in 9:21 elapsed and meticulously made my way back down the road before sunset. Was exhausted and home just after 9PM. Long day and glad mother nature cooperated on this day! This makes 50 complete and is my first of the "Great Traverses". Epic route and day on the Blanca Group!