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Blanca Mountain range. Sept. 9, 2005, sometime in the afternoon. The 4x4 road
leading up to Lake Como. We would
start on this road very early next morning. The car was parked just below the
tree line. At 5:30am we were afoot on the trail.
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Sept. 10, 2005, about 6am. That's one sleepy dog and owner...
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The morning sun flooding the canyon...
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We had a good rithm: arrived at Lake Como, around 8:30am.
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A local habitant at Lake Como.
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After a short break, we set for Blanca. Zoli, my hiking buddy on the way to the
Ellingwood - Blanca ridge.
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The ridge that connects Ellingwood and Blanca peaks.
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On the ridge. The impressive south-west face of Ellingwood Peak.
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On the ridge. Peaking to the other side. Lily Lake.
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Scrambling up on the north-west face of Blanca. A breathtaking view of the other
peaks to the east.
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Scrambling up on the north-west face of Blanca. Kinda steep.
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Looking back from the north-west face of Blanca into the valley we came from.
Lake Como is the last lake still within tree line.
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A "shrunk" Ellingwood from the nw face of Blanca. Blanca is one big mountain.
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A whimpering Simba. This was his first "real" hike. He was a bit scared of the
heights, especially when walking up the ridge. The rocks sometimes were too big
for him to be able to jump on them. Occasionally I had to lift him over from the
handle of his harness. Overall he took the hike up in bravely. Great dog.
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Summit, 1:20pm. Blanca Peak, Sangre the Cristo Mountains, Southern Colorado,
sacred mountain of the Navajo. Elevation
is 14,345 feet (4372 meters). Lat.37.5772, Long.-105.485 Difficulty: scramble. It
is the 5-th highest peak in Colorado and the 47-th in North America. It is the
dominant mountain of Sierra Blanca. In the background is Little Bear Peak.
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Nyam-nyam, sais Simba's face, after a well-deserved can of sweet condensed milk.
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Little Bear Peak 14,037' elevation. A killer mountain. See this link for a
list of fatalities and injuries. The injury/fatality list for Blanca is more
"modest", find it here.
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On the way down. Can you spot the two hikers on the ridge?
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On the way down. Another breath-taking view.
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Back at Lake Como. Zoli posing.
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This dude was veeeery tired. Took every chance for a nap.
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Almost arrived. The Professor explaining...
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Wheew! Gooood gooosh! Finally back from the land of the birds! WUFF!
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