Little Bear to Blanca Traverse 14er Hike Trail Guide

Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse is one of Gerry Roaches four great Colorado 14er traverses. After completing all four, my opinion is that this is by far the most difficult, most exposed and most dangerous of all four. The traverse from Little Bear to Blanca starts off with a steep down climb and then sustained climbing across a 1-10 foot wide ridge for about a mile. The exposure is real and there are very few breaks from it during that mile long ridge. Hiking this ridge involves a lot of climbing and down climbing on rock that, in my opinion, could never truly be trusted. This hike requires significant mental focus and is only recommended for expert hikers with lots of experience on exposed terrain. 

Little Bear to Blanca Traverse Quick Facts

Virtual Trail Guide: Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse

Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse Hike Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)

Distance: 10-12 Miles RT to Lake Como, 13 – 15 Miles RT to Little Bear Peak, 1 Mile to Blanca Peak, 3 miles Back to Lake Como

Elevation Start: Various – depends on your starting point – lowest is 8,000 feet

Highest Point: Lake Como: 11,750, Little Bear Peak: 14,035 ft, Blanca Peak: 14,344 ft

Total Elevation Gain: Various – maximum: 3,900 ft to Lake Como, 6,200 ft to Little Bear Peak, Additional 500-600 ft of gain on traverse 

Estimated Time to Complete: Usually hiked in multiple days: 4-6 Hours RT to Lake Como, Additional 2-4 Hours RT from Lake Como to Little Bear Peak, 2-6 hours on traverse, 2-4 Hours From Blanca Peak to Lake Como Total: 11-20 Hours RT (depending on starting point)

Difficulty: Strenuous What does this mean?

Class: Class 1 to Lake Como, Class 4 up Little Bear Peak, Class ⅘ on Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse, Class 2 on Blanca Peak back to Lake Como

Season: June – October (Expect snow/ice, especially in the hourglass outside of this period) – I highly recommend a completely dry ridge to attempt this hike

Check the Weather Forecast

Directions to Little Bear to Blanca Traverse

Trailhead: Lake Como

Getting Here: From the North: Take I25 or US285 to CO150 or US160 until you are just outside of Alamosa, Colorado. Turn onto Lake Como Road and continue as far as you are capable of/your vehicle is able to handle. Read the parking instructions below on details for the road. You can enter Lake Como Road into your favorite navigational device – this will bring you a couple of miles up the road:

Fees: None

Parking: Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse offers several parking options depending on the vehicle you are driving. If you have a car, either park right off Colorado 150 or continue another ¼ mile to a larger lot. Both are accessible to 99% of vehicles. Once you get past this point, Lake Como Road gets very dicey. If you have a stock 4×4 or AWD vehicle with higher clearance, you should be able to drive up to 9,000 feet or so (1.5 miles up the road). The road is very nasty to start off, but does ease up eventually and basically turns into a dirt road. If you are able to make it to a point where the road goes downhill (around 8,800 ft), you should be able to continue on up to about 10,000 feet to find a few pull-offs that can fit 2-3 cars at each location or make it all the way up to about 10,300 feet and find a larger lot that can fit 10 or so cars. 

Ultimately, all of this depends on your driving skills, experience with off-roading and tolerance to scrape your car. Once you get past this larger lot at 10,300 feet – only continue if you have a modified vehicle with very high clearance which could make it all the way up to Lake Como.

Important Note: The approach to Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse and Lake Como road is very narrow so please drive carefully. There are also no bathrooms at any point of the road. 

Summary

Camping: By far the most popular spot to camp during a hike to Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse is at Lake Como. Lake Como is usually very busy on weekends, especially major holidays (Labor Day, Memorial Day etc.) Camping options on the west side of the lake are generally hard to come by, but if you hike around to the east side you can usually find more dispersed options with less crowds. If you are looking for a quite, secluded experience – Lake Como is not your best bet unless you visit during the week. 

Dogs: Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse is absolutely not acceptable to bring a dog on. If you like to hike with your furry friend, you can hike up to Lake Como and even Blanca Peak or Ellingwood Point with an experienced mountain dog. Please pick up after your dog if you do bring them up to Lake Como, its dirty enough with human trash. 

Make it a Loop: The Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse is a lollipop loop. If you wanted to add additional hiking, you could pair this hike with Ellingwood Point which is located about a mile RT from Blanca Peak. 

Trail X Factors: The two x factors while hiking the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse are moisture on the traverse and the significant amount of exposure. If this traverse has any kind of moisture on it: rain, dew, snow etc. I would not recommend hiking across it. Can it be done? Sure, people have hiked this harrowing traverse in the snow, but I would not recommend it. 

The second x factor and without a doubt the largest one is the sheer exposure on this hike. The entire ridge is extremely narrow and in 90% of this mile traverse there are drops of over 1,000 feet on both sides of you. If you are not comfortable with exposure, do not attempt this hike. If you happen to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the traverse, you are fully committed and there is no way to exit this hike, you must complete the entire traverse. 

Hike Tip(s): When hiking the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse, take your time. Listen, if you are reading my site, chances are you are not a professional athlete and you are not setting any speed records. Take your time to test each hold (there is a lot of loose rock on this traverse), take deep breaths and enjoy this awesome hike. There are a number of “cruxes” on this route, but without a doubt the most challenging for me was the Blanca side (aka the 2nd half), so save your strength, hydrate and be sure to stay focused until you are standing on the summit of Blanca Peak. 

Best Views: From the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse you can get amazing views of a handful of alpine lakes in the area, especially on the west side of the ridge. However, when you are hiking this traverse, your focus is probably going to be on the narrow ridge line around you and not the landscape views. 

Little Bear to Blanca Traverse Hike Route

Gear Needed

• 14er Day Hike Packing List
• Men’s Trail Runners
• Women’s Trail Runners
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
• La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
• Backpack
• Food & Water
• Optional: Garmin inReach
• Optional: Hiking Poles
• Optional: Headlamp
• Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
• Optional: Camera and Lens
• Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
• Optional: Gloves to protect hands on rock – personally, I did not find it necessary but some do
• Optional: Overnight camping items (sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, bear bag/container, headlamp, water pump/filter, cooking items, food etc.) 
• Optional: Bug spray and bug net – bugs can get bad in July/August
• *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.

Mick’s Trip: Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse: August 2019

For part 1 of this hike (TH to Little Bear Peak, visit this blog) 

Editor’s Note: During this hike description, I want to try and describe each section as best as I can and provide pictures from each section and challenge. Reading this will be great to see what challenges await, but watching the video (above or below) will give you a much better idea of what the entire traverse looks like. 

After enjoying some summit views and the accomplishment of my 57th unique 14er, my mind immediately shifted towards the gnarly looking Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse ahead of me. I had been attempting to plan trips, watching videos and doing as much reading as I can about this traverse for nearly two years. I had knocked out the other 3 great traverses and this was the last one left. From what I had read/watched, the initial down-climb was supposed to be the crux of the route. I knew that if I did not start the traverse ASAP, I would start to overthink it and that would probably mean negative things for me mentally. 

Initial Down Climb

From the summit of Little Bear, there was very little trail finding to start the traverse, you basically just followed the ridge north. The trail started through rock fields that had a ton of loose rock and slowly worked down to a large slabby section of the down climb. We tended to stay on the left (west) side of this section until we reached what both Nick and I believed was the crux of the down climb. The large rock slabs basically forced you to stay directly in the middle of the ridge and this was our first taste of the drastic exposure that the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse offered. There was literally 1,000 feet of air on either side of us, a fall here would mean automatic death. 

We scouted out the holds, which all appeared to be solid and when ready, I turned my ass into the air and started to downclimb. Each step down was small and I made sure to have rock solid holds with three points of contact before moving my fourth. It was only about 10-15 feet, but boy was this like drinking 10 Red Bulls at 8AM, talk about a wake-up call! 

Various Towers

During the down climb, we met up with another hiker and the three of us hiked a bit together. The ridge here was about 2-3 feet wide and we were now faced with our first tower of the day. After initially thinking we could skirt around to the left side, we quickly realized that we would have to climb this one directly. It wasn’t terrible, but boy does the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse give you no warm up period, it just throws you right into the deep end. 

After the first tower, we had to traverse to the right side of the ridge and walk across a narrow ledge to regain the ridge proper. From here, the scrambling was about 30 minutes of hiking which I would later describe as “blah”. A lot of down climbing, some climbing all while working across a 2-3 foot ridge, many sections which were a knife edge. Although the exposure was quite drastic the entire time, we started to realize that the rock on this ridge was not super “bomber” and required to be tested at all times. Not exactly how we wanted to start our day. 

This section of scrambling involved very little route finding because frankly, there were almost no options. However, we did tend to stick to the left side a lot during this section of the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse. There were a handful of towers along the way, but they would be hard to individually describe without being on the route itself. 

Captain Bivouaco Tower

Maybe about ¼ of the way across the ridge, we ran into the Captain Bivouaco Tower which many also call the crux of the route. You can easily spot this tower because there is a large reddish flat rock field right before it. There were a number of options to bypass this rock tower, but we decided to take the standard way and go left. It was a narrow and exposed walkway which forced both Nick and myself to duck our heads under an overhanging rock to get to the other side. However, the holds were very solid and neither of us felt that it was that difficult or scary and certainly not the crux of the route (so far at least). The yellow rock after the corner signified that we were done with the small obstacle and could continue working along the traverse.  Overall, both of us felt that the standard way around the tower was a bit over hyped in terms of difficulty. Sure, it was an exposed move, but really did not stick out as anything we hadn’t been consistently scrambling on for the previous hour of traversing. 

More Towers & Exposure

After the Captain Bivouaco Tower we took slightly different routes to regain the ridge. Nick stayed up high and I decided to work along the slabby section on the left side of the ridge. In reading about the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse, some described the section after the Captain Bivouaco Tower as the highway. I agreed with this but felt that there was another section of extremely exposed climbing and traversing that needed to be described. 

This section involved the first super exposed climbing of the day and a series of  knife edges. There was one point where we had to go back to the left side of the ridge because there was about a 4-5 foot gap and then other sections were we stuck left because of a comfort level with the rock. While filming, I talked about a section where we stayed on the left side of the ridge because it felt more traveled. This may not make sense to some, but my logic was that if more people hiked on this side, the loose rock would have been shed by now. Towards this point of the traverse my faith in the solidity of the rock was at an all time low. 

The Highway

Finally we reached a section of the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse known was the highway. I think it is named this as a joke because of how wide it is (maybe 5-6 feet). Surely whomever named this section felt the same way that we did because although this would be some of the most difficult hiking on any other route, it truly did feel like this section of rock was 60 feet wide. 

It was around this point of the traverse that I realized I had not eaten anything all day and had almost no water. I had been so hyper focused on the ridgeline to this point that when my brain finally took a break, I realized I was very light headed. Nick and I took a break here so that I could eat something and rehydrate a bit before continuing on. 

Down to the Ledges/Rock Fields & Around Blanca’s First Tower

After a quick break, we continued along and got to yet another tower. There were cairns here that told us to go right and I remembered reading about a tower that you did not have to climb. We hiked around this tower on the right side and found that we still had a very exposed class 4 maybe low 5 move to get around a gully that was on the right side of the ridge. We continued across the ridge staying lower but being careful not to go too low. This section of trail would take us around the first tower of Blanca Peak. 

We round a few cairns that were helpful to guide us across and eventually to the first of a series of large rock/boulder/scree fields that sat on the doorstep of Blanca Peak. Although we had no problem following the cairns for 90% of this section, we did have a few sections were we kind of had to guess. The overall focus for us was to not hike up too high and cliff out or go too low and have to regain unnecessary elevation. We round that sweet spot about half way across the first field and eventually saw a few cairns that led us to the second of the larger rock fields. 

For the first time all day, I felt like we were truly hiking instead of climbing and it did feel like a nice break. However, the conditions here were less than ideal. It was broken ankle heaven with all of the loose rock and dirt so we still had to focus on every single step. 

Eventually, we reached the end of this crappy rock and around the first tower of Blanca. From here we followed yet another handful of cairns to reach the start of the 2nd Tower of Blanca. This section was class 3 climbing with lots of great hand and footholds along the way. Around this time, I was joking that we would not even be able to tell what the catwalk was because we had been doing that type of climbing all day. Boy was I wrong. 

Catwalk

After topping out of the first section of the 2nd tower of Blanca Peak on the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak Traverse, the catwalk appeared right in front of me. It was absolutely no joke. From the initial section I could see, it was about a hundred yards long and was no wider than a foot. Unlike many sections of the traverse that had exposure where the mountain kind of slanted down underneath you, this section was straight down 1,000+ feet on both sides. Any kind of balance loss in this section would mean sure death. I wanted to wait to tell Nick that we had reached the catwalk, but I knew that if I did not start this section right away, I would mentally psych myself out so I just went for it. 

I had read the catwalk described as unstable before and boy was that description accurate. The narrow pile of rocks seemed to have a lean to it so that you were never actually standing straight up. In sections it leaned left, in others right. To make things worse, the rock was not completely solid either. There were a number of rocks that I felt could not handle my full weight. In an area where your options were extremely limited in terms of hand and footholds, this was not thrilling. 

The catwalk was also not flat, in fact it gained elevation, so while you were focusing on this narrow and seemingly unstable ridge, you were also climbing up it. I climbed up the first section of the catwalk and for the first time in my life, truly felt that my life was in the hands of the mountain. If this mountain wanted to kill me, it absolutely could. It did not matter how cautious or skilled I was, if a rock went loose here – I would fall and die. 

After the first climb, I looked back to check on Nick who seemed to be in the same mental state I was in: “dear god, this is intense.” I realized that we had yet another section of catwalk to go and it was just as narrow and exposed as the first. This section again involved more climbing to slowly gain that 2nd tower of Blanca Peak. 

If you hike the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse and are wondering why its called this section is called the catwalk – pay attention to your body as you are working your way across it and it will make a lot of sense. My joke though was that this section was so narrow, a cat could barely walk across it. #dadjokes 

Second Tower of Blanca Peak

Looking back on the catwalk, I can watch the video I filmed from it, but was so locked in mentally I hardly remember it. It was without a doubt the crux of the route for both Nick and I and the most exposure I had ever dealt with while not being roped in.  We continued hiking for another couple hundred yards and eventually topped out on the 2nd tower of Blanca Peak on the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse. From here, we had to be in the last quarter of this ridge but still had some challenges in front of us. 

After we gained the second tower, we continued along and were thrown immediately back into the fire of high exposure, loose rock and narrow sections. However, after scrambling across the catwalk, this all seemed like relatively easy hiking. Still though, it required all of our focus and testing of holds. We continued hiking and the pitch of the mountain eased a bit until we were walking on, what I thought was flat rock. This section was short though and we eventually had to work back to the right side of the ridge so that we could down climb and start the third and final tower of Blanca Peak. 

Third Tower of Blanca Peak

The third tower on the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse started with solid class 3 climbing. The rock appeared to be stable in most sections and had minimal exposure. We stuck to the left side and sort of just worked our way straight up it. As we rounded the top of the third tower, the summit of Blanca Peak seemed so close and we were both thrilled to be off this traverse. However, after a few more minutes of hiking, we realized we had one final knife edge to cross. This section was very similar to the catwalk (narrow rock that leaned to the right and then to the left) but was much shorter so we quickly dealt with it and moved on. 

After what we both hoped was the final exposure of the traverse, we had one final down climb to conquer. It was nothing terrible, but the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse seemed to not want to let us go until we were standing on the summit of Blanca. We were careful with our holds and completed the down climb with just a couple hundred yards of class 2 hiking to go to reach the summit of Blanca Peak and complete the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse! 

There were a few other hikers on the summit so we got a chance to relive our last 4 hours of hiking and gloat a bit to ourselves. Nick and I were thrilled with our accomplishment and I had now officially completed all of the great 14er traverses according to Gerry Roach. It felt so nice to be able to relax a bit and mentally check out. We both fueled up and Nick decided to head over to Ellingwood Point as he had not yet summited it. I wanted no part of that so we decided to meet back at Lake Como. 

Summary

Overall, the Little Bear Peak to Blanca Peak traverse was a doozy of a ridge line. It lived up to all of its reputation for being dangerous, mentally taxing, having lots of exposure and being the most difficult of the four great 14er traverses. Reflecting back, I don’t believe we did any class 5 moves along the way, but we also could have avoided some of the towers that others climb. Much of life can become a pissing match, but neither one of us were in the mindset to make this traverse any more difficult than it already was. 

During our time on the traverse, we both said we would never do this again but looking back, both Nick and I have already agreed that if the opportunity came up, we would both probably do it. Such is the life of two mentally unstable hikers! 

Little Bear to Blanca Traverse Virtual Trail Guide

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