Lake Como
Blanca Massif

Lake Como is in a beautiful place. The elevation is approximately 11,780 feet. The photo on the left was taken from the top of Little Bear at midday looking straight down the valley and gives you an idea of the neighborhood.

At the west end of the lake are the remains of several old log cabins. Only one has a sort of roof and it appears that people do stay in it. There are more remains scattered around the lake and up the hill to the east. This was Commodore, one of the original gold mining camps. The mine itself is up the hill in the bowl above Crater Lake. And the road doesn't quite get there.

The lake area has many excellent camp sites and the fishing looks pretty good. I saw a couple of folks having great luck with dry flies.

This little fellow on the right kept a close eye on us the whole time we stayed. Between he and his family, a gang of squirrels and a few birds, no crumbs reached the ground. As for other wildlife, we only saw a couple of deer and a few pikas. But we practiced normal wilderness discipline and were prepared for bear.

Shortly before we arrived at the lake, some bozo on an ATV had a party driving all over the countryside and tearing up the wetlands, the stream crossings and generally running down great swaths of vegetation. For further thoughts on this issue take a look at "On Motorized Vehicles and Wilderness."