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Little Bear is one of the most difficult fourteeners, mailnly due to the dangerous section called the 'hourglass' or 'bowling alley'. It is a narrow gully that is nearly vertical with a whole lot of loose rock above it so that anything that falls funnels down into the narrow path and could seriously injure a hiker. Steve is down to only difficult (this one is class IV) fourteeners left, so fresh on the heels of attempting Mt Ranier and Mt Moran, we decided to knock this one out. I forgot my camera so we only have a few pics taken on an overcast day with a disposible, but we got a few decent ones here. We drove down to the trailhead near Alamosa Friday night and slept in the car since it was too dark to try to drive up the Lake Como road. Lake Como road is rated as one of the most difficult 4x4 roads in the state, and this is a pretty rough state for roads in general. At dawn we drove about half way up the road before we decided that Steve's Bronco was not going any further without risking serious damage. We hiked about 2 more miles to the lake where we found a comunity of 4x4 enthusiasts that were able to somehow make it up the road to 11,800 ft, and they were having a great weekend at the lake. Some were fixing their vehichles. From there the hike takes a turn up a very loose scree gully (first pic on the right) up to a notch on the west ridge of Little Bear at 12,580 ft. After struggling up to the notch, the hike along the South side of the West ridge is not too bad. It is a well marked trail and you have to do a little rock hopping and hike on some talus. You go over or near a point that is 13,580, and then down a little to the base of the bowling alley. Once you gain the area for the final ascent at 13,100 ft, the 'bowling alley' becomes apparent. I led up the class 4 route and really didnt have a problem, except staying out of the water that was running down the center of the chute. There was a fixed rope, but we neither trusted it or used it. The second pic shows me above the bowling alley on the way to the summit. We encountered a couple of other parties, and no one had summited less than 40 of the 54 fourteeners. I was going for 20 and Crash was trying for 41. Most people save this one till near the end because of the difficulty. I figure if its gonna kill me, take me now before I expend all that energy on the rest of them. At the summit we met two people that were finishing the 54 fourteeners, that was pretty cool. The next two pics are of us rappeling down the bowling alley (which we had climbed up with no ropes!). The last pics are both summit shots. The hike down wasn't too bad, going down the scree hill was not the most pleasant hiking ever, but it was better then the scree hill on Moran. We have done enough of these now that you are mentally prepared for the hike down, you take note on the way up and you done under estimate it. We got down in time to drive back to Denver for dinner. |
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