Trail Report - Ellingwood Point - Southwest Ridge - Colorado
13.3 Miles Round Trip
5112 feet of elevation gain
Summit Elevation - 14,042'
Date Climbed: August 22, 2020
Climbers: Paul, Tommy
![Beautiful View Of Ellingwood Pt After Lake Como](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A4-BeautifulViewOfEllingwoodPtAfterLakeComo.jpg)
![Stunning Scenery On SW Ridge Of Ellingwood Pt](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C2-StunningSceneryOnSWRidgeOfEllingwoodPt.jpg)
Ellingwood Point - The Southwest Ridge!! WoW!! What an amazing route!! - The Blanca Group
in the Sangre De Cristo range in south central Colorado is so stunning. The area has 4 14ers (Blanca, Little Bear, Ellingwood
and Lindsey) and many surrounding peaks (lots of 13ers). One of the main ways to get up to the peaks is the infamous
Lake Como Road!!
As with so many of my challenging climbs, my brother from another mother
Tommy came with me, and this was our first time to the Blanca Group / Lake Como Rd. We left our rental
cabin in South Park at 2AM, arrived at the the Lake Como Rd about 4AM, and started the drive up!
The road itself is an adventure!! We had my Xterra and so were going to
give it shot to go up the road a bit. Some people will park all the way at the bottom at 8000' but
we slowly traveled up the crappy, rocky, and pothole surface to 8800' and parked there and started
walking. This still leaves you about 3.75 miles to Lake Como but it's better than the 5.5 miles
hike from the bottom.
After 10,000', the road becomes 'not really a road'... unless
you're in a crazy off road vehicle. The jaws 1-4 sections are entertaining as you imagine
trying to drive over them!! It's really more like rock climbing than a road!! ha!! At 11,750' you
finally reach Lake Como. There were some climbers and 4W enthusiasts there as lots of folks seem
to camp in that area. We took a short break at the lake before heading up to the base of the peaks!!
![Tommy Heads Up Lake Como Road](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A1-TommyHeadsUpLakeComoRoad.jpg)
![We Made It To Lake Como](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A2-WeMadeItToLakeComo.jpg)
After Lake Como, the trail is really cool with amazing veiws
of Ellingwood Point and Blanca Peak. It winds up past a couple of the Blue Lakes towards
Crater Lake. Before you make it to Crater Lake, you see the talus slope up the left
hand side to Ellingwood Point's Southwest Ridge; identified by the 'Y-Couloir' near the top!
The slope up to the ridge is straightforward.. it's rocky and a
bit of slog and took us a good 30-40 minutes, but arriving at the ridge is awesome! The
views over to Twin Peaks and the areas to the south are awesome. And right away you
get into what makes this ridge wild.. in many places it is thin and exposed!
![Ellingwood Point Appears After Lake Como](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A3-EllingwoodPointAppearsAfterLakeComo.jpg)
![Graphic Of Southwest Ridge Route Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A4-GraphicOfSouthwestRidgeRouteEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![One Of The Blue Lakes On Way To Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/A5-OneOfTheBlueLakesOnWayToEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![Talus Field Up To SW Ridge Route](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B1-TalusFieldUpToSWRidgeRoute.jpg)
![Looking At Blue Lakes After Start Of Talus To Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B2-LookingAtBlueLakesAfterStartOfTalusToRidge.jpg)
![Tommy Heads Up Talus To SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B3-TommyHeadsUpTalusToSWRidge.jpg)
![View Back To Basin From Near SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B4-ViewBackToBasinFromNearSWRidge.jpg)
![Last Bit Before Reaching SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B5-LastBitBeforeReachingSWRidge.jpg)
![Tommy Makes The Southwest Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B6-TommyMakesTheSouthwestRidge.jpg)
![Paul Makes The Last MovesTo The SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/B7-PaulMakesTheLastMovesToTheSWRidge.jpg)
****Note - You should always try to get different opinions on
a route before you try it. The trip reports and forum on 14ers dot com are great for
that. There aren't a ton of reports on Ellingwood Point's SW Ridge, but there are some
good ones. And most of them indicate it's a really fun class 3 scramble with some
exposure. But there was ONE report that a climber talked with no minced words about
how the exposure was pretty crazy in spots and that is was sustained class 3 with no
way to escape it in many places! She basically said she was terrified. I should
have paid more attention to this report. We had just done Kelso Ridge the same
week and my opinion is that this route is much more wicked. There are LOTS of
areas that are 'thin-on-top-of-the-ridge' where you have a foot or two to go
across with huge drops on the sides. If you've done other Colorado traverses, this
will be no problem for you. But if it's your first time on an extended exposed
ridge like this, just be ready to keep your wits and nerves about you ... it's
NOT for beginners!! Kelso Ridge has 'spots' of class 3 and exposure. Ellingwood
Point's SW Ridge has a LOT more of it!****
The ridge has several different fun points including the
Knife Edge, which actually does have a way you can bypass it below the ridge. Tommy
did the Knife Edge but I was sort of 'done' with the exposure by that point and
bypassed it. In retrospect, I wish I would have done the Knife Edge and could go
back to try it, but I still did to lots of thin ridge exposed climbing! The views
along the ridge are insane as you look over towards Little Bear and Blanca (and of
course the LB-Blanca Traverse!). And looking back down the ridge to UN13,100C is
really amazing!!
![Tommy Enjoys The SW Ridge On Ellingwood Pt](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C1-TommyEnjoysTheSWRidgeOnEllingwoodPt.jpg)
![Looking Down The SW Ridge To UN13100C](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C2-LookingDownTheSWRidgeToUN13100C.jpg)
![Paul Cruises Up SW Ridge Of Ellingwood Pt](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C3-PaulCruisesUpSWRidgeOfEllingwoodPt.jpg)
![Exposure On SW Ridge Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C4-ExposureOnSWRidgeOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![Tommy Continues Up SW Ridge Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C5-TommyContinuesUpSWRidgeOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
The Knife Edge on the Southwest Ridge of Ellingwood Point:
![Tommy Having Fun On SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C6-TommyHavingFunOnSWRidge.jpg)
![Paul Scrambling On The SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/C7-PaulScramblingOnTheSWRidge.jpg)
![Little Bear From Southwest Ridge Of Ellingwood Pt](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/D1-LittleBearFromSouthwestRidgeOfEllingwoodPt.jpg)
![Tommy Continues Up The Southwest Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/D2-TommyContinuesUpTheSouthwestRidge.jpg)
![Little Bear Above Crater Lake](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/D3-LittleBearAboveCraterLake.jpg)
![Blanca Looks Whack From SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/D4-BlancaLooksWhackFromSWRidge.jpg)
![Looking Northwest From Southwest Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/D5-LookingNorthwestFromSouthwestRidge.jpg)
![Tommy Reviews Terrain To Summit](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/E1-TommyReviewsTerrainToSummit.jpg)
![Overhead View Of Paul On SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/E2-OverheadViewOfPaulOnSWRidge.jpg)
![Tommy Takes No Prisoners](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/E3-TommyTakesNoPrisoners.jpg)
![More Insane Terrain On SW Ridge](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/E4-MoreInsaneTerrainOnSWRidge.jpg)
![Tommy Hits Notch And Evaluates Moves](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/E5-TommyHitsNotchAndEvaluatesMoves.jpg)
![Another Beautiful View Of Blanca](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/F1-AnotherBeautifulViewOfBlanca.jpg)
After the Knife Edge you continue towards the 'horn' (a bump
along the route) and then you arrive at the summit block. The descriptions of where
to go are vague at this point, with several pointing to some red rocks to the right
to make passage a little easier. Without really knowing where to turn right, I went
right a little too early, and Tommy stayed ridge direct a little too long. We got
separated as my way traversed around to the right. Even though it wasn't as hairy
as what Tommy described, going around to the right way not easy. Tommy said he was
in borderline class 4-5 territory staying on the ridge. So, sorry I don't have
much more to add about the summit block, but read other reports and do your
best!! I believe there is a way between what Tommy and I did that is supposed to be workable.
The summit of Ellingwood Point is so cool. The views of Blanca
are just so sick as are all of the surrounding peaks and valleys. Looking down to Crater Lake
is awesome. We loved it so much we hung out for 1/2 hour before heading down the standard
route. We're not positive that we stayed 100% on the standard route on the descent, but the
way we went was loose and no fun. So happy we took the ridge on the way up!! We also had
initally thought maybe we would go for Blanca, but we didn't have time or energy at that
point... one amazing ridge and summit was enough!!
![Paul Goes Right On Summit Block](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/F2-PaulGoesRightOnSummitBlock.jpg)
![The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G1-TheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G2-TheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G3-TheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![View NW from The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G4-ViewNWfromTheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![Little Bear Peak From The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G5-BlancaPeakFromTheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![Little Bear Peak From The Summit Of Ellingwood Point](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/G6-LittleBearPeakFromTheSummitOfEllingwoodPoint.jpg)
![Beautiful View Of Blanca Little Bear Crater Lake](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/H-BeautifulViewOfBlancaLittleBearCraterLake.jpg)
![Pano From Ellingwood Point Summit](img/200822-Ellingwood-Point-Colorado/J-PanoFromEllingwoodPointSummit.jpg)
The Summit of Ellingwood Point:
The way down all the way to the Xterra was a long slog... and we
didn't finally exit the Lake Como Rd until 8PM and back to South Park at 10PM. A long day
but SO worth it!! The Lake Como area is brutal to get to, but so worth the gorgeous scenery
and fun climbing!!
Hope this has been enjoyable and / or helpful to anyone reading it!!
Comments
Add Comment:
Name:
Comment:
Comments ReCaptcha (to verify you are actually a person)
Please click the ReCaptcha button below. Sorry to do this but we had robots posting spam messages on this blog and this prevents that.