Aug 27, 2016 — Rather than take the standard route to Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point from the Lake Como approach, I wanted to get a lesser-traveled experience. In addition, this route passes the very pretty Zapata Falls, as well as Zapata Lake.
I started up the South Zapata Creek Trail, taking the super short detour to Zapata Falls in a slot canyon before heading along the well-maintained trail through pretty forest and meadows all the way to Zapata Lake. From here, I located the couloir I would be ascending to get to the west ridge of Ellingwood Point. It's easier to locate the closer you get. A Class 2/3 boulder-hopping scramble brought me into the couloir, where I passed a couple wearing helmets and momentarily wished I had one. There's a lot of loose rock. A couple of Class 3 moves and I was on the ridge, heading east to Ellingwood Point. The traverse along the ridge was Class 2, but had a ton of talus and was slow-moving. From the summit of Ellingwood Peak, I followed a trail that just south of the ridge. There were some light Class 3 moves, but the hardest stuff was definitely over (at least until I descended later). I merged with the official Blanca Peak Trail and headed up to Blanca Peak with the many others summitting that day.
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