my friends were going climbing
and invited me along. I didn't even know what to pack (neither
did Pam at right). Seven of us met at the base of the jeep trail
with only one vehicle capable of making it at least part of the
way. We piled all of the camping gear and packs into the truck
and only two people could fit. Unfortunately, the two most experienced
climbers were the two in the truck and no one thought to keep
some water out with the rest of us!!! We finally caught up to
the truck about halfway up the trail where Vance decided his truck
would go no further. This was good because we could finally get
some water and a bite to eat but bad because now we had to hike
with our frame packs!!! Depending on what book you read the distance
of this torturous trail varies. I'll go with my book (it is my
story) which measures the trail to be 6 and a half miles to Lake
Como. On the trail there is a boulder which completely covers
the trail and is covered with oil from cars that just didn't make
it. When we passed this we heard a car coming down the trail.
Rick exclaimed that he was going to buy the type of car that made
it. Within a year he did in fact buy a Land Cruiser! We made it
to Lake Como in the late afternoon. We passed by two huge burly
men who asked what we were going to do. When we told them we were
climbing Little Bear they couldn't believe it and said they'd
never do it. Now remember, I had never climbed a fourteener before
and wasn't half as muscular as them. I'm now thinking that I've
totally lost my mind! We got to the other side of Lake Como and
set up camp. I'll save you from all the boring details of the
night except for one humorous encounter. Vance asked if anyone
had toilet paper so he could blow his nose. Chris pulls out a
four-pack of toilet paper, still wrapped in the original plastic,
and hands it to Vance. This was Chris's second fourteener but
was apparently still learning what to pack. The next morning at
6:00 a.m. we all awoke to a very scary scene. Norine would be
considered as the complete opposite of a morning person but she
was walking around camp in a bright cheery voice, "Good morning.
Time to get up. Let’s go climb." Pam was the only one
who came along just to get out of the city and camp in the mountains.
The other six of us headed out that morning. Dave looks up at
the mountain and feels like it is hovering directly over his head.
For the first part of the climb he decides not to look at it.
The first part of the climb goes up a prominent couloir to the
ridge. Looking at the topographic map and knowing the hike is
only 1 and a half miles I thought, no problem. Baptism by fire!!!
Besides taking the Cog Railway up to the top of Pikes Peak, I
had never stood higher than 11,000 feet! Lack of oxygen does wonders
to one’s energy level. The ridge really wasn’t that
bad. Our party , due to experience levels, seemed to spread out
on the ridge. The three experienced climbers were moving faster
than we other three. Vance made it to the biggest pain in the
butt couloir (I still haven’t climbed one tougher) on the
route. Before he went up, some fools above him pushed a boulder
down. I heard the noise it caused from back on the ridge. Vance
and Dave made it to the top first and were on their way down when
the rest of us arrived at the couloir. It was wet. The rocks were
loose. It was vertical. This couloir took more time to go up and
down than the rest of the hike! We 
hit the summit (picture
at left) late afternoon. I really didn’t enjoy much of being
on top of the peak because in my mind I knew we had to climb down
that couloir. Climbing down the couloir, I had to rely on those
below me to help me find footholds (places to put my feet). Once
we were down the couloir I got a better attitude and started to
enjoy the climb again. Rick and Vance moved much faster at this
point so they could break camp and
have everything ready for us when we got to camp. When Norine,
Dave, Chris and I were heading down the last couloir (picture
lower right) back down to camp, we somehow starting singing the
song Crazy. We got back to camp and had about a five minute
break when we needed to hike out to the cars. We made it back
to the truck where we got rid of all our gear. Now this part I’m
not sure why it happened. I was a little ticked of for some reason
so I began to run down the trail. Rick caught up to me and the
two of us ran to the cars. We all made it to the cars. We stopped
into Alamosa at about 10:00 p.m. so I could phone my wife and
tell her I was still alive.|
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