1. The Blanca Massif Blanca Peak 14,345’ Ellingwood Point 14,042’ Little Bear Peak 14,037’ Forth of July Weekend, 2004

2. Looking back down the six mile trail, a rough ankle twister. Then it started to rain. A lot.

3. Campsite I was soaking wet by the time I got to my base camp. I couldn’t get a fire started in the wet 40 degree morning, so I crawled into my wet sleeping bag and went to sleep. Later the sun broke out and I was able to warm up and dry out.

4. Little Bear Peak over Lake Como

5. Prospectors cabin by the lake

6. Starting up for Blanca

7. Blanca Peak in the early light

8. High alpine lake

9. Snow reflections

10. Last of the upper alpine lakes before pushing up through the talus.

11. Looking up to climbers high on the ridge.

12. Looking down on Little Bear from the summit of Blanca

13. Summit of Blanca

14. Not much of a view from Ellingwood

15. Looking rough on Ellingwood I need a bath!

16. Looking back down the “trail” from the summit of Little Bear The infamous “hourglass”. Any rock that shifted loose was funneled right down on climbers below.

17. Blanca and Ellingwood from the summit of Little Bear

18. Looking down to my campsite by Como Lake and out to the world below.

19. Not happy on the summit of Little Bear I expected this to be the last picture anyone would see of me alive. I wasn’t pleased about that. I have never been so terrified climbing a mountain, and at this point I wasn’t sure how I was going to get back down. Still, it all worked out in the end.