Partner for Little Bear-Blanca Traverse

I'm considering solo'ing but it would be great to have a partner to share gas with (I have 4X4 truck)and of course "shit hits the fan" backup. Could meet up Friday late afternoon (or Sat am). I live in Loveland so Boulder/Denver would work. Back hm Sunday. Come on everybody knows they need to do this route! It's super classic and looks like a ton of fun.
Barry
208-215-4442

And that's Sept 8-9, next weekend.

I can't make it, but I can see the travers from my driveway and conditions are prime right now. Como road is whacked now though and you may want to consider the Lily Lakes approach

John how is the road "whacked"? Please be more specific. I was also wondering how the afternoon weather's been?

Come on folks, I'd really feel better about having a partner on this one. I have years of alpine/rock experience, a great attitude, fit and ready to go! You can record the damn Bronco's game!
Barry

Have you tried finding a partner on 14ers.com? I'd go, but I work at Sports Authority Field.

Barry Collins wrote:John how is the road "whacked"? Please be more specific. I was also wondering how the afternoon weather's been? Come on folks, I'd really feel better about having a partner on this one. I have years of alpine/rock experience, a great attitude, fit and ready to go! You can record the damn Bronco's game! Barry

I was up there 2 or 3 weeks ago, driving a 4x4 toyota pickup that typically does very well on rough roads. There's a pretty rough spot about 100 yards before the metal sign indicating the como lake 4wd road. (I'd guess about 8600'). If you've got good ground clearance and a pretty short wheelbase, you should be fine. I didnt want to risk it because it was the middle of the night and I was alone...but it wasn't too much of a slog...3 or 3.5 hrs to the summit of little bear from where I parked.

Not sure how you're planning on getting up little bear...I chose to just b-line up the face (NW?) above the second lake and it was actually pretty good climbing. From the top, the standard route looked like an awful bowling alley.

Get after it

Will

Straight up the NW face is a good way to do it IMO, much better than the regular route.

I've got a newer Nissan Frontier which is quite solid in 4X4 mode and I'll be up there on a saturday so we'll see about that road.....

I'm definately leaning towards the NW face for this solo attempt. I'll summit LB then assess the weather, sketch factor and my confidence level before I commit to the traverse.

Will did you head over to Blanca when you were up there 2-3 weeks ago? Solo?

I soloed the traverse. Pretty mellow overall. For time planning, it took me about 1:30 to get across it...and I wasn't pushing it too hard.

If you're motivated, it'd be reasonable to tag ellingwood point afterwards, but it didn't look all that inspiring compared to the traverse to Blanca.

Years ago I soloed the traverse after walking up. The walk up wasn't so bad.

On the traverse a fall would be fatal. Unless you plan on roping up I'm not sure how much having a buddy up there would help.

1-2 hours to get across is a good bet. I did it in hiking boots and found it fine. The job to Ellingwood is worth it if the weather is holding.