{"id":1527,"date":"2026-08-28T22:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T22:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/?p=1527"},"modified":"2026-08-31T11:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:25:00","slug":"little-bear-peak-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/28\/little-bear-peak-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Bear Peak, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\r\n<li>Date: August 21, 2026<\/li>\r\n<li>Partner: Ross Bricklemyer<\/li>\r\n<li>Height: 14,041 feet<\/li>\r\n<li>Range: Sangre de Cristo<\/li>\r\n<li>Route: West Ridge and Hourglass (Class 4)<\/li>\r\n<li>Overall Distance: 8.2 miles<\/li>\r\n<li>Elevation Gain: 4,364 feet (car to summit)<\/li>\r\n<li>14ers climbed: 50 separate climbs<\/li>\r\n<li>14ers remaining: 3<\/li>\r\n<li>Road Condition to Trailhead: Please refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.me\/phk2e1-g5\">Blanca Peak, 2020 post<\/a> for details. Ross and I were able to make it up to ~10,100&#8242; on the Lake Como Road using a Jeep Rubicon.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\r\n\r\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\r\n<p>Let me start by saying that I am glad this mountain is behind me. With the exception of Capital Peak, this mountain was the toughest test of the 14ers. Suffice it to say, give Little Bear Peak a 10\/10 on a scale of 14er difficulty. Now that we have this out of the way, let us begin &#8230;<\/p>\r\n<p>My friend Ross Bricklemyer and I originally \u00a0went back-and-forth over which route to take to tackle this notorious peak. We eventually decided to try to use an off-route bushwhack (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.14ers.com\/php14ers\/tripreport.php?trip=23350\">see this trip report here<\/a>) coupled with a bit of the West Ridge Indirect route mixed in at the end. Our hope was to approach this climb as a day trip, rather than do the standard overnight camping at Lake Como. Little did we know our well-intentioned plans would go off the rails.<\/p>\r\n<p>Things started innocently enough. As stated above, we started at the 10,100&#8242; location on the Lake Como Road at about 6:00 AM. It was a cool morning as we chugged straight up the hill on our bushwhack, weaving our way through patches of deciduous forest mixed with deadfall and rocks as we climbed the West Ridge. Following the GPX track from the trip report mentioned, we eventually broke through the treeline into a large grass meadow. It is amazing how much slower one goes when they are not walking on a defined trail. Nevertheless, &#8220;So far, so good,&#8221; I thought.<\/p>\r\n<p>Passing a band of bighorn sheep, the ridgeline gave way to small rock fields and patches of grass. One by one, we passed five waypoints denoted on the GPX track. The terrain became more steep, more rolling, and transitioned into slabs of talus. Again, there was neither trail nor cairns to guide us.<\/p>\r\n<p>Eventually we came to the top of the gully above Lake Como. While we had successfully avoided coming up this gully, to what end? It was already pushing 10:00 AM. The route now leveled out a bit, but only a few scattered cairns and several steep gullies appeared, and any defined trail never did quite materialize, at least for any extensive stretches. A few climbers were already coming out the other way and we briefly chatted with them. Reviews of both the West Ridge Indirect and Hourglass routes were mixed. The former had more exposure, while the latter had more rockfall. In my opinion, the two routes appeared to be separated by only several hundred yards.<\/p>\r\n<p>I guess the decision was made for us because we overshot the turnoff to the intended West Ridge Indirect route. Hence, we decided that since we were virtually at the base of the Hourglass, we might as well scope it out and give it a go. Two climbers were coming down slowly and we watched them gingerly descend. One of them cried out &#8220;Rock!&#8221; and Ross and I ducked behind a boulder. A small baseball-sized rock came whizzing by (I heard it before I saw it) and ricocheted off of Ross&#8217; backpack.<\/p>\r\n<p>Once the climbers passed us, up the Hourglass Ross and I went. This geologic feature was really steep and smoothed by snow and ice over the passage of many thousands of years. Handholds, for me anyway, were scattered and I relied heavily on the friction of my Vibram soles of my La Sportiva Akyra II&#8217;s to hold me to the rock. Water was trickling down the middle and we did the best we could to avoid it. A long climbing rope also came down the middle &#8212; while it looked to be structurally intact and securely anchored, we avoided it (at least going up).<\/p>\r\n<p>Finally, the terrain eased a bit and we were able to summit around 1:00 PM. I had already polished off one of my two liters of water and was very parched and dehydrated. It was clear I had not brought enough. Ross and I discussed how we were going to descend, and opted to go back down the Hourglass. However, it is one thing to climb the Hourglass, but an entirely different experience to descend it. To anyone reading this, if you don&#8217;t like heights, exposure, rockfall, etc., then this route is quite likely not for you. Ross and I opted to descend slowly, and I mean very slowly, by butt crawling or turning to face the rock and maintaining at least three points of contact. A few times I did use the rope as a handline, being careful not to load my weight onto it. Eventually, we made it to the base and breathed a sigh of relief.<\/p>\r\n<p>Heading back west on the West Ridge, we chugged along at a slow pace. The skies opened up with sleet for 30 minutes, making the talus wet, and I was now rationing out gulps of the precious remaining water I had left. I was feeling &#8220;bonky&#8221; &#8212; rundown, mildly nauseous, and very dehydrated &#8212; as I glanced at my phone. It was now 4:00 PM.<\/p>\r\n<p>Eventually, the sun was starting to slowly set. We would walk ~100 yards, Ross would recalibrate our direction with his phone app, we&#8217;d adjust, picking our way through terrain of talus, rocks, and forest. Rinse and repeat, over and over. Finally, the road appeared and we returned to the car at 8:00 PM, some fourteen hours after embarking. I can speak for myself &#8212; I was wasted.<\/p>\r\n<p>What are the lessons learned here? Number one: a route with no trail will take you much longer than one with a defined trail. I should have read the trip report we were using more carefully; it took that group (experienced locals?) ~12.5 hours to complete the trip. Number two: consuming what amounted to roughly ~5 ounces of water an hour bordered on insanity for this trip. I should have packed at least four liters. Whether it is running an ultra or climbing a tough 14er, you must stay well-hydrated or you are going to bonk. Number three: in retrospect, we should have spent the night at Lake Como and got an earlier start, rather than getting clever and trying to do this climb as a longer day trip. I am sure I will think of more lessons as time moves on and I can reflect more deeply on this experience.<\/p>\r\n<p>This time, I got lucky, as Little Bear Peak graciously permitted me to stand on its summit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"photonic-flickr-stream photonic-stream \" id=\"photonic-flickr-stream-1\">\n<div id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1\" class=\"photonic-slideshow splide default title-display-tooltip photonic-slideshow-adapt-height-width\" data-splide=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;fade&quot;,&quot;perPage&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:true,&quot;interval&quot;:&quot;5000&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:&quot;1000&quot;,&quot;drag&quot;:true,&quot;pauseOnHover&quot;:true,&quot;pagination&quot;:false,&quot;slideFocus&quot;:false,&quot;arrows&quot;:true,&quot;direction&quot;:&quot;ltr&quot;,&quot;breakpoints&quot;:{&quot;480&quot;:{&quot;perPage&quot;:1}}}\">\n\t<div class=\"splide__track\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"photonic-slideshow-content splide__list\">\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492596055_09fdaba573_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Band of bighorn sheep on the West Ridge of Little Bear Peak.\" title=\"Band of bighorn sheep on the West Ridge of Little Bear Peak.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"Band of bighorn sheep on the West Ridge of Little Bear Peak.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55492596055\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492594980_e2bcf6bae0_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking north.\" title=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking north.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking north.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55492594980\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492374159_5fe343ba61_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking east.\" title=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking east.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking east.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55492374159\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55491217187_39d294a59c_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking south.\" title=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking south.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking south.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55491217187\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492374769_3f41ed515a_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking west.\" title=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking west.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"View from summit of Little Bear Peak looking west.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55492374769\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t<li class=\"photonic-slideshow-img splide__slide\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"splide__slide__container\">\n\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492549515_55aeb2c29b_z.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Coming down the infamous Hourglass of Little Bear Peak.\" title=\"Coming down the infamous Hourglass of Little Bear Peak.\" data-photonic-tooltip=\"Coming down the infamous Hourglass of Little Bear Peak.\" id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-55492549515\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!-- splide__track -->\n<\/div><!-- .photonic-slideshow-->\n<div id=\"photonic-slideshow-flickr-1-thumbs\" class=\"photonic-slideshow-thumbs splide thumbnails js-thumbnails\" data-splide=\"{&quot;fixedWidth&quot;:100,&quot;height&quot;:60,&quot;gap&quot;:10,&quot;cover&quot;:true,&quot;isNavigation&quot;:true,&quot;pagination&quot;:false,&quot;arrows&quot;:false,&quot;breakpoints&quot;:{&quot;600&quot;:{&quot;fixedWidth&quot;:66,&quot;height&quot;:40}}}\">\n\t<div class=\"splide__track\">\n\t<ul class=\"splide__list\">\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492596055_09fdaba573_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492594980_e2bcf6bae0_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492374159_5fe343ba61_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55491217187_39d294a59c_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492374769_3f41ed515a_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<li class=\"splide__slide\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55492549515_55aeb2c29b_m.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/li>\n\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div><!-- photonic-slideshow-thumbs -->\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><!-- .photonic-stream or .photonic-panel -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Date: August 21, 2026 Partner: Ross Bricklemyer Height: 14,041 feet Range: Sangre de Cristo Route: West Ridge and Hourglass (Class 4) Overall Distance: 8.2 miles Elevation Gain: 4,364 feet (car to summit) 14ers climbed: 50 separate climbs 14ers remaining: 3 Road Condition to Trailhead: Please refer to the Blanca Peak, 2020 post for details. Ross &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/28\/little-bear-peak-2026\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Little Bear Peak, 2025<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,55,7],"class_list":["post-1527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-colorado-14er","tag-little-bear-peak","tag-philip-turk"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phk2e1-oD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philturk.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/jpg05-copy.jpg?fit=680%2C510&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1527"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1527\/revisions\/1564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philturk.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}